When the prophets of old spoke out against the people they often asked, “How did we offend God?” Blinded by cultural norms, social customs and institutionalized religion they had lost touch with personal faith and spiritual imperative.
So when I say the Church is weak today because of its focus on buildings, budgets, boards and bylaws the response is almost always justifying these as though they were spiritually necessary! Yet the early Church had none of these and spread the Gospel far and wide in one generation.
The buildings used as church today are monuments to human pride and cultural expectation. When Peter wanted to built monuments to Jesus, Moses and Elijah on the Mount of the Transfiguration Luke reports, “Peter did not know what he was saying” (Luke 9:33). The same applies everywhere because structures do not help in “bringing in the sheaves”.
Congregations focus on the budget. How many arguments I have listened to about a few dollars someone wants removed or moved to another line. When the early Church appointed The Seven to look after money (Acts 6:3-5), least two (Philip and Stephen) were amazing witnesses of the Gospel, even to the martyrdom of Stephen. What finance committee in our time is chosen for the evangelistic zeal of its members?
Indeed, most Congregations end up begging people to be on Boards and committees because Canada Revenue Agency, or the denomination, specify how many people must be on the Board. So Boards have members who are simply a body count, but who do not have the calling or gifts for a job of oversight and planning, or “bringing in the sheaves”. They make decisions by a vote, not prayer and fasting. The Church was never intended to be a democracy, but rather a theocracy, where our love for God and others permeates everything discussed and decided without politics or hidden or personal agendas to do what God appoints of us, “bringing in the sheaves”.
The Manuals of churches are hundreds of pages long. Canon Law is volumes. These bylaws to the Bible cover how to present a motion, magic words for ordination, how to fill in reports, and membership so that undesirables are excluded… The Councils of Jerusalem, however, presented this as Church rules (Acts 15:28-29): “The Holy Spirit and we have agreed not to place any additional burdens on you. Do only what is necessary by keeping away from food sacrificed to false gods, from eating bloody meat, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual sins. If you avoid these things, you will be doing what’s right” (God’s Word Translation©, see also Acts 15:20 and 21:25).
Bylaws also state at length what you must believe, yet Paul stated clearly: “I passed on to you the most important points of doctrine that I had received: Christ died to take away our sins as the Scriptures predicted. He was placed in a tomb. He was brought back to life on the third day as the Scriptures predicted” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 God’s Word Translation©), no elaborate statements of faith or theological brain exercises.
Now if I told you this, what would you reply?

In the God’s Word Translation the word “wait” occurs 162 times in the Bible! Why?

Because people, wanting to be like God, want to do when God wants to do it for us and through us. We are constantly forced to review the Garden of Eden sin, lusting “to be like God” (Genesis 3:4).

Today is the anniversary of Pentecost, the day the Body of Christ (Church) was truly born.

In a spectacular way God demonstrated that God can do it, and people can join in.

“Once, while [Jesus] was meeting with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait there for what the Father had promised. Jesus said to them, ‘I’ve told you what the Father promises: John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’|” (Acts 2:4-5 God’s Word Translation©)

The Church (not congregations) exists because God is at work, NOT because people are smart, skilled, or simply sensational.

Wait for God to lead, call and do. Serve God. Do not chase your need to be a famed or noticed champion deserving accolades and honour!

“Do good things everywhere you go. After a while the good you do will return to help you” (Ecclesiastes 11:1 International Children’s Bible)

It is rarely noticed how cultural expectations and theological interpretations form a large part of Christian religious teaching.

Consider these 2 things:

1. “Application – application – application” was not used or advised by Jesus. Jesus used parables which touched the listeners in different ways, imposing on them the responsibility to face the implications of the teaching and obey the Spirit in how that would be lived out in the life of the one “who had ears to hear”. Paul, Peter, John taught what Jesus taught (Matthew 28:20), but never said, “Now the application of this teaching of Jesus means this…”
   True, the parable of the Samaritan ends with “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
   “The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
   Jesus told him, “Go and do like likewise” (Luke 10:37 NIV) which might be considered an application, but the statement does not interpret or add to the story a layer of human insight, but is rather a call to obedience.
   What is a preacher to do, then, in Biblical terms? “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Ephesians 4:11-12 NIV).
   This idea of advising the congregation to interpret and understand a Bible story or passage in one specific way does not come from the Bible, because a person with the spiritual gift of helps would need to practice a given teaching in a different way than would a teacher or healer. It requires all the body of Christ to apply the Bible because it speaks of heavenly, infinite things to earthly finite people. Consider 1 Corinthians 12, which of course leads into Chapter 13.
   According to John 16:13 the job of leading people into truth is the work of The Spirit, not the preacher.
2. Another common tool used by religious teachers/preachers is to invite listeners to imagine themselves in the situation described in a Bible story, or to put themselves in the place of one or other of the characters in that event. Since Jesus never suggested the disciples should put themselves in the place of Abraham, or Moses, or any other of the spiritual ancestors, this cannot be considered an appropriate teaching technique. People will “feel” they have learned something, but they have imposed on the Bible story their own modern, cultural, biased interpretations of the event, without getting any insight from the Bible itself, trading that for their own emotional thinking or memories.
   This human imagination is not needed to grasp the Bible truths. After all, “the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12 NIV). The Bible doesn’t need our imperfect imagination to make it “come alive”. Any exercise which calls people to use their imperfect knowledge or finite intelligence or cultural context limits God’s Spirit rather than opening us to the leading of that very Spirit.

In the end, the “word that goes out from [God’s] mouth will not return to [God] empty, but will accomplish what I [God] desire and achieve the purpose for which I [God] sent it” (Isaiah 55:11 NIV). Trust that God will do that without any human editorial additions or imaginations of the flesh.

There is a common story across religions of humans wanting to be gods resulting in rebellion, pride and division. Still today there are people who claim to be spiritual, but live with a lust for personal power, not service. They show no respect to anyone (despite deceptive words to the contrary) and use personal perspective to judge everything and everybody. And they are so wrapped up in their infinite wisdom and unshakable “rightness” they have no room for empathy or humility, despite verbal claims of loyalty to these principles.

So, after decades of experience (including much formal training) and a history of victimization based on my race, gender, religious affiliation and economic status I have something to say:

I chose, and still choose, heavenly love. I remain loyal to The Almighty, not to any religious institution, dogma or doctrine. Service to Creator and creation costs everything, but I would rather be tormented as a child of The One Who Made me than have an inflated public image of importance and power. I will continue to confirm the accuracy of my observations of others before I complain about, or condemn, people. Reconciliation with the Family who share this Earth is far better than humiliating others for personal advancement or “proving” superiority of personal ideology. To alter a famous line from a famous poem (“Paradise Lost”), “I would rather be the lowliest servant in the household of The Divine One than a governor in the world of evil and hate.”

I pray I would start hearing people tell me stories of humble collegiality instead of betrayal and self-aggrandizement. I would be filled with a soul-joy if I met more people who thought social responsibility was a higher ideal than personal rights and opinions.

The life I have chosen is to follow, without religious trappings, the Jesus of the Bible: Saviour and Only Judge.