Rethinking - church

I am fortunate to be part of a very loving Christian family.  When I was a child, our place of worship was ‘The Salvation Army’.  I was involved in all the activities and enjoyed being part of it all, in my early twenties entering into full time ministry in this country and in South America.  Returning to England we attended the local Methodist congregation and again I was involved in various activities.  When I retired I moved to the south west of England and joined with fellow believers in a charismatic community church.  Again I participated where possible and helped in the charity shop connected with them.

I’m not what is known as a ‘church hopper’ going from one congregation to another but not settling in any.  My experience has been that wherever I was living at the time, to go where I felt comfortable and participate as much as possible and help in whatever way I could.  I soon realised that not all Christians are the same!  I mean that some groups expect certain attitudes about things while others take a different stance, some being more free and easy than others.  All this has led me back to the Bible and often I have found that what has been insisted by a certain group has in fact no real biblical foundation but is rather a tradition of that particular denomination.  Much of the activity and projects within a denomination are for the benefit of that particular group or their building and very often doesn’t lead to any benefit to God’s Kingdom.  It too often is all too self-centred, congregation-wise, to numerically build up the group – more bums on seats, as they say.   

It is so easy when attending a ‘church’ to be caught up in their particular teaching without question and live in a kind of spiritual bubble.  We accept whatever teaching we are given, being quite passive in our own search for God.  Our leader can often become more like a mini infallible pope where he/she can do no wrong and whatever he/she says must be taken on board and we are somehow accountable to them for our actions.  The ‘church’ comes to mean the building where a congregation meets – we often hear the question, ’which church do you go to?  In fact the Bible is very clear that the Church is not a building but people – the followers of Jesus, the Way.  Wherever we are as Christians, there is the Church.  For a few years now I have had no attachment to a particular denomination or group.  God is my Teacher and He is more than capable of revealing Himself to me.  And I am answerable to Him for my actions.  I don’t have to belong to a congregation in order to help others. My offering, instead of going to maintain a system with building and salaries, now actually goes to help those in need.  I search for God’s intimacy without any ‘thought police’ telling me what I should or shouldn’t think, read or watch.  I am not under law but under grace and it’s this grace that gives freedom. 

‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again with a yoke of slavery.’ (Galatians 5:1)