Rethinking

Wow! Just finished reading Pagan Christianity? by Frank Viola and George Barna. This book has really rocked my world for the last week. If you have heard negative things about it, just hear me out. This book has more footnotes than any other book I've read. It is rich with scripture and historical fact that support a compelling argument that we should retrace our steps as part of Christ's church and return to a model of church based on the New Testament.

In the book, practically every practice we hold dear in the evangelical church today and even the air we breathe as Christians, is examined in regards to scripture for its biblical basis. Surprisingly, every one was shown not to come from the New Testament or the First century church, but from pagan influences surrounding the church during its formation. Everything from the church meeting in a large building which has now taken on the name "church" to the practice of having paid clergy(distinguished from the laity) to even the institution of tithing.

I feel like I've been lied to for the better part of three decades. In all honesty I have been led astray by people with the best intentions who have been led astray by people with the best intentions who have... well, you get the idea. It has caused me to really examine the church methodology that I have embraced, even as a professional minister, for its biblical foundations or lack thereof.

I have come to the conclusion that almost everything I think of in regards to the church is steeped in pagan tradition and has no basis in the Bible. It is all a result of God's people exchanging the way God set things up to work for the way the pagans do it. I'm reminded of the nation of Israel when they begged God for a human king to lead them instead of being led by God. They wanted to be like "the other nations." It is so easy for us to fall in line with the way the world does things and forsake what God has called us to be: his bride - different, set apart, holy. May we violently and ferociously war against this tendency of our flesh. May we seek God's will for how we live our lives - for how we worship. Romans 12:1-2.