The
So what is wrong with the
This subject can be broken down into two basic
categories; systemic problems and individual problems. The systemic problems
are those which apply to the whole of the church and the individual problems
apply to individual gatherings.
Some of the major systemic
problems are as follows.
The word church is translated from the Greek word
ecclesia which means called out ones, referring to all believers called out of
the world. This word does not refer to a place but a people. This is not
buildings of corporate structures but all believers. Other that the portion of
the church that meets at such and such a location there is no Biblical concept
of the church referring to a building, or a corporate structure. Thus you
cannot go to church, we are the church.
Likewise there is no Biblical concept of church
membership other that being born again. If you are a born again believer you
are a member of the Church. Any other membership is that of men and man's
structures, not ordained of God, thus originating from Lucifer. These
structures and organizations are taught as though they are Biblical, of God,
but are not and thus are doctrines of demons and cause a great deal of division
in amongst the saints. Just as there is one God there is only one Church,
comprised of ALL born again believers. Man has created
divisions in the Church by his organizations based unique beliefs and
membership requirements. These divisions are the work of Lucifer, not the work
of the Holy Spirit who builds the Church in the Spirit of unity.
The concept of a single pastor leading one of these
organizations is just as faulty. The Ephesians 5 passage that mentions the word
pastors the only time in the entire New Testament text is plural not singular.
The Greek word translated in the Ephesians 5 passage as pastors (poimen) is translated 16 other places in the New Testament
as referring to Yeshua or as literal shepherds of sheep and in two cases as
elders. Poimen never refers to a man as a shepherd
over other men, other than Yeshua, in the New Testament but men are told to
feed (poimen) His flock. So an accurate translation
of this passage should be that He gave gifts to men; apostles, prophets,
feeders (elders), teachers and evangelists. The Biblical (both Old and New
Testament) concept of elders was for a group of old men (like granddads) who
lived in a particular city. These elders knew each other and worked together
and sat at the city gates watching over the activities. They were literally the
old men who watched over. The assembly of the saints is actually an assembly of
priests overseen by the High Priest, Yeshua. The elder brothers are there as
trouble shooters to lend a hand if things go astray, otherwise the Holy Spirit
is the leader and teacher. Not just through one man but through all the
believers as He, the Holy Spirit, sees fit.
This leads to the next problem, that is, the sin of
the nicolaitians. This is where there are two classes of believers, the clergy
and the laity. The word nicolatian in the Greek is comprised of two words
translated, nike and laity. Nike means conquer and laity means common man.
Since we are given the position of priests as a nation of priests and there
were no differentiation in the priests of the Old Testament other than the High
Priest, there us none in the New Testament. The High Priest of the New
Testament is Yeshua. All believers are priests, some younger, some older, but
all equal. There is also the concept of sovereignty in the scriptures. We are
made in the image of God; in part we are made to be sovereign individuals. We
are responsible solely for our own decisions. We cannot blame anyone else for
them and we will pay for the consequences of our decisions. That is, we are
each the king of our lives and He is the King of kings. We are also called to
submit to one and another. So we are therefore to treat each other as sovereign
priests by serving each other. So the greatest in the
As sovereign priests, who each answer directly to the
High Priest, we have no need for a go between, nor another priest. We each have
access to the High Priest, Yeshua. Now the question comes up of who are we a
priest for, if not for each other? We are anointed as priests for our
unbelieving neighbors. This is why we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.
We would not condemn ourselves to hell so why should we condemn our neighbors
to hell? No, God forbid, we are to stand before the High Priest for the sake of
seeing our neighbor's sins forgiven and our neighbors coming into relationship
with their Creator. This is our high calling as priests. However, it seems that
the church as we know it is more of a convention for inactive priests lead by a
false high priest who carries out the priestly duties for the inactive priests
and wants those priests to support him. This is not what the Lord had in mind
when He died to make us a nation of priests.
The hierarchal structure that we see in the church is
not what Yahweh had in mind for His children either. His ideal is family
structure. He is our individual Father, with Yeshua as our eldest Brother and
all of us a His children. There are no grandchildren in the Family of God.
Yahweh is the Head of Yeshua, Yeshua is the Head of EVERY man and man is the
head of His wife (and family). There can only be one head. If another man attempts
to displace Yeshua as a man's head, he is impersonating Yeshua and is an imposter.
This is why you see more women than men in the church. Women are accustomed to
being under a man's headship, because they are designed to be under their
husband's authority however, men are not, thus they instinctively resist coming
under another man's headship, rightly so. They are threatened by being called
rebellious and independent and prone to deception by the devil (if not already
deceived) if they do not submit to the false head, the king, if you will of the
group. Interesting enough Yeshua never warned His disciples about being
deceived by the devil but only by men.
If a man submits to another man's headship he gives
up his masculinity and enters into voluntary servitude, becoming the slave of a
sin prone man and of Yeshua, thus trying to serve two masters. We all know how
that ends up. Seldom if ever does the man being served stop being the master
and turn the servant over to Yeshua, where he belongs. This emasculation of men
has turned the church into a subdued social gathering instead of a powerful
army bring down the Gates of Hell. If there was anything the Disciples were not
it was a domesticated social gathering. Those guys were MEN and they severely
damaged the Gates of Hell in their day. Oh that we had some men today.
The church, as a result has fostered religion instead
of relationship. The focus of most pastors is upon his sheep DOING their duty,
not upon BEING Yahweh's son. You see NO MAN can teach relationship between
Yahweh and one of His sons, only the Holy Spirit. All man can do is teach
people to conform to a set of beliefs and actions, but ONLY the Holy Spirit can
transform a man's heart and soul. This takes supernatural action. When a man
does come into relationship with his Father, Yahweh, he becomes a threat to
religion and to the king of the assembly. The pastor is secretly afraid that
the son might not agree with the pastor's teachings and decisions, so the
covering/ authority theology solves the problem. If the son does not agree with
the pastor then he is rebellious and can be rightfully chastised and put away
if he continues in his rebellion. This effective insulates the pastor from any
correction himself, since he is the king of the assembly. True plurality of
elders goes a long way toward solving the deceived leader problem. Religion
loves the hierarchy, follow the leader, ritual. Its
easy, clean and safe and leads straight to hell. Relationship with Father, on
the other hand is much more dangerous and difficult. We each must learn to hear
His voice and obey Him. We, like Peter, never know what the Master might want
to have one of His other sons do. You remember the story when Yeshua was
telling Peter about his death and Peter said, well what about John? Yeshua
essentially said; none of your business. In religion everything is everybody's
business.
This is all because of the unbiblical practice of
placing a single man in the headship position of a group of believers who are
obligated to financially support him. Instead, a group of mature and tested
older priests are to lovingly watch over the assembly of other priests as big
brothers, who watch over their brothers and sisters assisting them as needed,
always loving them at their own expense, while EVERYONE loves and submits one
to another. This is AGAPE. This is the Church.
Religion requires the tithe as a duty, for without it
religion cannot exist for long. The tithe was to be given to the Old Testament
priests to be distributed to where the need existed, such widows and orphans.
The priests did not tithe. The priests were not allowed to own anything, nor to work outside of the priesthood. The priests obtained
their food and clothes from the sacrifices and tithes of the non-priests.
Now, since we are all priests, to whom does the tithe
belong, to the Lord of course, as does everything else we have. We priests are
to distribute the tithes and offerings as the High Priest directs, for every
priest is accountable to the High Priest for all of his actions, for He will
judge every man according to his deeds.
The incorporation of the church is another problem.
Where in the Scriptures does it tell us to appeal to the government to create a
corporation to lead the
These are a few of the problems of the church system
that are almost universal and hence systemic. These problems have their origin
in humanism and trace back to