the problem with religious groups

"It's not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. 

What's important is that God makes the seed grow. [...] 

What do you have that God hasn't given you? 

And if everything you have is from God,

why boast as though it were not a gift?" 

(1 Corinthians 3:7; 4:7b NLT)

What I am seeing in Evangelicalism is a very unhealthy trend towards a large distinction between clergy and laity.  I don't see that distinction in the early church; it is a "newer" phenomenon, started perhaps from the era of Constantine, and obviously not challenged very well by the Reformers.

There are always different roles in life and in the church, but pastors are always accountable to other leaders and to their congregations as servant-leaders. 


Peter was rebuked for unsound doctrine by Paul, and Paul wasn't afraid of hurting Peter's feelings or looking bad, he knew that what mattered was the people who would follow the example set by a leader!  And we know that even Paul had his theology checked on by a local church (the Bereans).

The culture of fear to speak out has to be challenged in our churches; it is a sad comment on Christianity when atheists can see the truth better than we can, even though they don't believe it.  It is disheartening for me as a believer and a woman to think that if I was abused in a church, religious people might not believe me over their leader, and my only solace would be the worldly, who aren't clouded in judgement by toxic control.

The problem is that religious groups have forgotten the grace Christ-followers were given in the person of Jesus; we have forgotten the Head, who is Christ! 

No leader is superior to God,  much as their behavior proves that they (think they) are.  Grace is radically available to deal with sin at the moment of true repentance.  There is a place for counselling, willingly sought and humbly offered- with the caviat that "there but for the grace of God go I".  But counselling should not replace the work of the Counsellor that Christ-followers believe indwells believers! 

Control of people by leadership through their delving into the depths of depravity of their members so they can "work them through things" is appalling, obscene, and ridiculous.  Members who repent will be proved in their repentance by their behavior, not by their "submission" to something so unhealthy as toxic control.  The work of God is not subject to an authoritarian leadership, but we are all equally accountable to Jesus, privately and publicly.

We are interdependent, we belong to one another in the Body of Christ.  However, we are not codependent, and we aren't required to stay in one local church throughout our life.  There come times to move on, as we grow and as God leads us practically.  The beautiful thing is that God made us all unique, gives us all his free grace, and the Body of Christ has never been primarily about a paper membership.  If you are of the truth, if you love Christ, if you love your brothers and sisters in Christ, you are part of the Body no matter where you attend, what transition you are going through, or even what sins you may be struggling with! 

I've used enough exclamation points in this note for now, but my conclusion is this:  the problem with religious groups is that they are religious, not acting in grace.  Jesus dealt with sin on the cross, so we should know better that man-made rules don't help us beat sin any more than the Law could.  Church discipline is for the unrepentant evildoer, not the questioning thinker.  As we grow in maturity, we can only become more and more uniquely who we were created to be, as God leads us in freedom. 

If we allow ourselves to be controlled by a human being, we are not being allowed to grow (and part of growing may mean making mistakes and learning from them); we are simply being religious-following the rules, and there can be no guarantee we are truly of God.  That's how serious the problem in the church today has become; this is why we must all take responsibility to examine ourselves, and be unafraid to watch and challenge the direction in which our churches, and especially the leadership(s), are heading.