Church today is BACKWARDS! We have LOST the definition of Church!
First of all, the enemy doesn’t care too much about your corporate church attendance, and God cares more about you reading the scripture, listening to the Holy Spirit, praying and spend time with him, then going to a corporate church. No where in the bible does it tell you that you need to go to a corporate church to get saved or stay saved. And you will see why that’s true as you read on.
CHURCH ISN’T BAD!
The RIGHT kind of CHURCH is SUPER BENEFICIAL, but it’s NOT the church most people think it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let me explain…
The concept of church has become a bit backward. Early churches were not created to teach people the Gospel Truth – they were created to equip and strengthen people who knew the Gospel Truth, repented, and had the Holy Spirit to share the truth with others. Therefore, you would go attend church after you believed and repented. Because after you repent and receive the Holy Spirit the scriptures say you become the church (Ephesians 2:21, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19 & 12:27). Yes, the church is in you.
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. – 1 Peter 2:4-5
Church was when those saved came together to learn, pray, and grow to spread the truth.
When you have the church in you…
After you are saved, you are responsible for going out into the world, sharing the truth, NOT getting people to a corporate church to learn the truth. You are responsible for sharing the truth (planting the seed), and of course God is the one to make it grow. You want to get people into the scriptures!
Likely it is a team effort, you are likely planting the seed or watering it, maybe you are doing both. However, God is always the one who actually saves people.
Paul writes: “I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.” – 1 Corinthians 3:6
You NEED to share your testimony!
Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
– Psalms 66:16
When you are born again you have this transformation that happens internally, and you know it wasn’t from your own efforts. You have this testimony of God transforming you on the inside. A testimony isn’t how God has blessed you with external stuff (even those unsaved God blesses), it’s how you changed internally through God’s grace. That’s HUGE!
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. – 2 Corinthians 5:17
(There is A LOT of scripture on what it means to be born again, I just picked one for now)
BIBLICAL TIMES VS NOW
As we discussed, in biblical times, a person had the church in them (the Holy Spirit), they would go to a church to learn how to spiritually grow and eventually share the truth with people outside the church.
BUT STAY WITH ME, THIS IS NOT THE CHURCHES AROUND TODAY!
Somewhere in history, we were taught that church is where you go to become a Christian, when it should have always been your neighbor, friend, or family member who teaches you the truth and tells you to read the scripture. Maybe it would be okay, if the churches haven’t been so corrupted over time, but this is where we are right now.
So Taking Part in Church is…
Scripture talks about where two or more are gathered there is church (“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” — Matthew 18:20). Therefore, Chris and I have church together often. The two of us talk about God and things we are learning and we have church. We also have church with the mentor God gave us.
Yes, it does BENEFIT us to have church with more people, IF they also have the church in them. As scripture also talks about (1 Corinthians 12:12 – 12:27), we are different parts of a body that when we come together, we are stronger. Christ is the head, you might be an arm, an eye, a foot, etc. Paul explains that believers have different roles, gifts, and purposes, but all are necessary and united in Christ. Spiritual gifts work in harmony with each other. Therefore, a small community of people with the church in them can benefit you more than just learning with your spouse, by yourself, or with your best friend, etc.
Please stay with me though, there is MORE!
I’ve witnessed a church pastor who I could tell with 100% certainty that he had the Holy Spirit water down the part about salvation. I don’t know why, money? or maybe being blinded by what he learned in pastor school? I can listen to him for spiritual food, but it’s not a good community – if the truth about salvation is being watered down.
Our spiritual mentor (God gave us) wanted us to find a local church last year, but we knew we were not ready. We trust in what he is teaching us, but we knew with God where we are at in our journey. And we both knew we were not ready for that – we didn’t feel we had the discernment yet!
BUILD Discernment & Trust FIRST
Therefore, the best thing to do after you repent and receive the Holy Spirit is to just spend time reading the scripture, listening to the Holy Spirit, and just learning from people you already know who have the Holy Spirit (“2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” — 1 Peter 2:2). This means be passionate about reading, studying, and understanding the Bible, it is food for your growth. I’ve read the scripture almost every single day since I’ve been saved. I recommend avoiding physical churches right away, even if you know of one. Let me explain…
You want to learn to trust God, trust the Holy Spirit, and then you can discern whether other people are saying things that align with scripture. You have to build your discernment.
“But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”
— Hebrews 5:14
When You Have the Holy Spirit – You Can Learn A LOT on Your Own
You will gain confidence in your ability to learn things for yourself. Because when you have the Holy Spirit and you read the scripture, still not everything is going to make sense, but more will make sense than previously. “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.” — 2 Corinthians 3:16
When your heart is transformed by grace, you will no longer being spiritually blinded. I used to think, “I will never be smart enough to explain anything biblical, it is so confusing to me” Now look at where I’m at!
YOU DO NOT WANT to become more reliant on a church pastor, than what you learn from reading the scripture yourself. Reading scripture for yourself and prayer time with God comes first!
Holy Spirit is Your Guide
There is no perfect Christian out there, the Holy Spirit is your guide. Your guide is more equipped to help you if you read scripture. The Holy Spirit helps to remind you of what you learned in scripture.
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. – John 14:26
The Holy Spirit gives you discernment. So, after some time, you will be able to learn a great deal from others as you will be able to feel inside of you that they are sharing truth. When I’m reading or hearing something that is false, the Holy Spirit reacts, I feel this discomfort inside of me because the Holy Spirit is notifying me to turn away from it. I might even get a message in my head warning me.
ALSO, VERY IMPORTANT!! You want to be FREE from Religious Mindsets!
Many believers even with the Holy Spirit are trapped in religious mindsets, and if you grew up in a corporate church, you will have some. It doesn’t matter if it was Non-Denominational, Catholic, Baptist, or never attended a church. EVEN our culture creates religious mindsets and lies that keep us from truly embracing God’s amazing gifts. The demonic forces have been at work for thousands of years infiltrating everything in the world to blind people, deceive people, and keep them from the Gospel truth.
So, you don’t want to yoke yourself with people who are not going to help you grow. You want to make sure you are learning from people who have found freedom from religion. I can provide people with resources to help break religious mindsets, feel free to ask.
Over time you can tell what people have the Holy Spirit! You don’t want to be at a church that does not have the Holy Spirit!
“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” – 2 Corinthians 6:14
Paul also warns people about doing church with unrepented individuals who claim to be believer in: 1 Corinthians 5:1-13
Our Journey…
Everyone’s journey is different, but Chris and I just started walking into corporate churches again for community after a year of avoiding them. We did find churches online to learn from, but we didn’t want to go in person and accidentally yoke ourselves with people still in religion because we knew we were not yet free from it. We are finally in a place where it feels religion is no longer in us, and we can’t be influenced and brought back into it.
Now we have the discernment to know right away if a church has some truth, but not the whole Gospel truth. We can tell which churches are still pushing religion.
Spend Time in the Wilderness – Jesus did!
As a saved, born again Christian, you are not meant to be separated from society, but it is better to spend time in the wilderness learning alone for a while, than to yoke yourself with the wrong people.
Who went into the wilderness to be alone? Jesus? Who else (I will let you think about that)?
Right? Jesus spent time alone a lot with God in his ministry, so if he did, we definitely need to. So, time alone isn’t a bad thing.
Reach out to me if you have questions.
I would love to help people. I love sharing, writing, talking about God, and I just want everyone to have the Holy Spirit, freedom from religion, and God’s amazing peace, and more!!! It doesn’t matter if we haven’t spoken in years. What I do not know I ask my Father, my God.
I LOVE ALL OF YOU!!!
I have a Wellness Coach Certificate, I'm an entrepreneur, an innovator, writer, and artist. My expertise includes over 7 years of marketing, research, and developing content for holistic health businesses. Plus, my own personal journey of becoming chronically sick: understanding what went wrong, and finding a way to heal and live a healthier life. I have a passion for wellness with a wealth of knowledge surrounding: wellness, flaws in healthcare, root causes for chronic illnesses, and alternative treatments.