Quote:
Originally Posted by Dante
Thus you are defending pastoral-autocracy, or the belief that a local church is governed solely by a single executive.
The fact is, the modern church is America is greatly flawed. Then again, so am I. So are you! We are all flawed. But I know the flawless One, and I am determined to stick with Him, and Him alone.
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The thing is, though, sticking with Him also means loving His people. You can't love God and not love people, and love is an active thing. You don't love people by refusing to be around them. I find it odd that Jesus could fellowship with sinners and publicans and we can't even fellowship with our brothers and sisters if they think, believe or speak something disagreeable.
I think it's great to find a church that suits you; we did that. If the old church doesn't fit you anymore, find a different one. However, it is in God's plan that we fellowship with and worship with other believers. It isn't just about Him; it's about His people, too. The church isn't just God and me; it's God and me and a whole bunch of other people--including the pastors who lack great revelation.
Part of God's amazing plan for the church is that we be unified as a people, and one of the major reasons we can't be unified in the modern church is that folks think they have to agree 100% to attend somewhere. Really, it isn't all THAT spiritual. It's just about worshiping God together, listening to someone expound the Word together and fellowshipping with one another. I don't normally get divine inspiration from church, although it happens occasionally. I get that from my personal walk with God. My own prayer and Bible reading. My own research and study. At church I get community, support, fellowship and both an awareness of and an obligation to people and efforts outside myself. From the pulpit, I get provocation, admonition and conviction; reminders and prompts to better myself as a Christian. Church isn't the spiritual part of our walk with God, IMO. It's the practical part, at least mostly. It's the working part. It's the part that requires time, effort and selflessness.
For that matter, I can worship God in just about ANY body of believers. Of course I prefer to go to an assembly that is more closely aligned with what I believe and my personal values, but I don't go to church so someone there can help orchestrate my relationship with God. That's my own personal thing. It's autonomous. I wonder if people maybe feel that their walk with God is somehow threatened when the church doesn't line up with their personal views... I say make church about being involved with people and outreach and community and charity work and corporate worship/prayer and submitting your ears to someone else's ideas and teachings out of the Word. Find your personal satisfaction in God on your own. Then it won't matter so much if the preaching or teaching isn't up to snuff.
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