This past weekend, I had the opportunity to experience worship and the renewing power of the Spirit in the midst of a people where many are serving in worship ministry in what is considered by some to be a “dead” mainline denominations. Not knowing what to expect when I was invited to attend a “worship conference” put on by the organization, I suddenly realized that I was privileged to take part of something special in seeing what Acts 2 proclaimed and the prophet Joel foresaw in the last days----God’s Spirit being poured out upon all flesh! Although it is evident that Christianity in America is declining, there is a remnant of believers who are determined to be baptized in the fire of the Spirit and walk in the true path of worshiping the Lord by living surrendered and abandoned lives to His glory.
Whether we are from a Pentecostal, Charismatic, or Mainline traditions, we all share a common thread: we are all in need for the Spirit of the Lord to encounter us and empower us once again. I could find many flaws, say with the United Methodist church, but if I were to take an honest look at the denominational affiliation that I subscribe to, I guarantee that I would find the same stale traditions and godless compromises that look no differently in the eyes of God. The problem that the church has is a universal problem. The church that ordains homosexuals and the church that no longer accepts the gifts of the Spirit suffer from the same root problem as the church the believes that God exists to create wealth on this earth and the church that believes it has the corner market on the “Spirit.” This problem is coined by one little word that has damned countless of souls to Hell and continues to be the church’s fiercest enemy----religion!
Religion seeks to define God. It seeks to define His role in our lives. It seeks to put God and all that He is in a neatly confined structure that makes Him a deity that can comfortably dwell with man. Religion is us trying to control God and if you take a look at the condition of the church, we have done a stellar job of limiting what God truly wants to do in us and through us. If we do not like what the Bible says or suggests, we reinterpret the Bible to make it mean what we want it to mean (isn’t that correct Mr. Bell?) If we’d rather become more embracing of cultural standards rather than embracing the life of holiness, we simply make God accepting and even endorsing our way of life. In essence, we create a “God” that we want instead of serving God as He is. In the end, it becomes a form of idolatry using religion at the foundation and dressing it up as “Christianity.”
1 John 5:21 states, “Dear children, keep yourself from idols” and in the case of the church, the greatest idol which we have erected is “religion.” It is the serving of a god that is based on our preference rather than “Spirit and Truth” which is demanded of God for true worship to become a reality. Image if the church in America, regardless of denomination could come together with that single thought in mind---to worship our King in Spirit and in Truth. I’m not suggesting an ecumenical movement, but I am suggesting a movement of Pentecost and Revival among the people of God. We need to be radically transformed by the power of the Spirit and to be fully indoctrinated with the truth of God’s Word in order that the idols in our churches can be destroyed and Jesus can take His rightful place among His Body. God never asked us to “figure Him out!” He simply asked us to follow Him in obedience. We need to stop making God what we want Him to be and allow Him to the freedom to become who He is. To do this, we must lay down our preconceived ideas and our petty preferences that place us at the center of our universe to illicit a religion that is safe, comfortable, and accommodating to our desires and needs. It’s time to let go and return to the beginning before “church” became a religious institution and do what believers did at first-----seek the heart of God and allow the Spirit of God to consume us with holy fire that will forever change our lives and make us into a people who not only say they “know God,” but actually live as a “witness” to His presence in their lives. My cry is simply----for a true ecumenical movement where the church is once again a people who worship in one Spirit and in one Truth: that Jesus Christ is Lord of All and all other gods that our "religion" has fashioned will bow their knees in submission and worship to our King.
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