Institutional Discipleship
I feel sorry for those who don't, can't, or won't see the difference between Christianity and the institutional church of the present or any other time in history. Instead of trying to help shape the body to look like Jesus, they are busy trying to make people look like their institution. And in the end, they wind up with people who are converted to, conditioned by and adhere to the doctrines of the institution and not to becoming disciples of Jesus and his teaching.
It's sometimes easier to see this behavior in other institutions and not our own. I grew up thinking the Catholic Church's system of priests and rites were so foreign to anything that we read about in the N.T. and it was easy to criticize them and expect them to see their short comings when compared with the Bible. Why is it so hard for us to examine our own shortcomings when using the Bible and Jesus' teaching as our guide? Maybe we have formulated our own doctrine and practice which have become our traditions. Traditions are hard to change even if one has a sincere desire to seek God's will. Look at the Pharisees. They were trying to bring God's people back to a relationship with God but in so doing they created burdens that God had not ascribed and missed the simple and important things that God desired of man. Jesus' description of their attempt was a scathing rebuke of their methods and priorities.
Institutional churches, unable to attract the large numbers they desire with Jesus' sacrifice and God's love for man, instead attract people with culturally relevant issues and programs. Looking like Jesus just doesn't "play" to the audience that they seek. Instead, they provide a culturally relevant haven of a health and wealth gospel, spending more time on good marriages, growing finances, fun and exciting activities, and assemblies that promote entertaining but meaningless rites that are meant as an offering to God. They divide the group based on their own desires and tell others to find a place that they will be comfortable, not understanding the significance of unity. They sacrifice nothing of their own wants for the good of others but carve out a niche for the group they service.
Matt. 16:6 "Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."..............
Matt. 16:12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Rom. 16:17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
Rom. 16:18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
It's sometimes easier to see this behavior in other institutions and not our own. I grew up thinking the Catholic Church's system of priests and rites were so foreign to anything that we read about in the N.T. and it was easy to criticize them and expect them to see their short comings when compared with the Bible. Why is it so hard for us to examine our own shortcomings when using the Bible and Jesus' teaching as our guide? Maybe we have formulated our own doctrine and practice which have become our traditions. Traditions are hard to change even if one has a sincere desire to seek God's will. Look at the Pharisees. They were trying to bring God's people back to a relationship with God but in so doing they created burdens that God had not ascribed and missed the simple and important things that God desired of man. Jesus' description of their attempt was a scathing rebuke of their methods and priorities.
Institutional churches, unable to attract the large numbers they desire with Jesus' sacrifice and God's love for man, instead attract people with culturally relevant issues and programs. Looking like Jesus just doesn't "play" to the audience that they seek. Instead, they provide a culturally relevant haven of a health and wealth gospel, spending more time on good marriages, growing finances, fun and exciting activities, and assemblies that promote entertaining but meaningless rites that are meant as an offering to God. They divide the group based on their own desires and tell others to find a place that they will be comfortable, not understanding the significance of unity. They sacrifice nothing of their own wants for the good of others but carve out a niche for the group they service.
Matt. 16:6 "Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."..............
Matt. 16:12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Rom. 16:17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
Rom. 16:18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
posted by Don Campbell at
7:09 PM
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