One aspect of Christianity at large that I’ve considered throughout my life are all the “Church” buildings. Why are there so many? Why do they all have different names somehow distinguishing them from all others? What purpose do they really serve beneath the appearance of being a “Christian” church? Why are the more ostentatious buildings looked upon as some type of manmade marvel to be revered by the common believer? Why do some of the largest organizations hold so much capital, and assets, and money when our lord and savior, Jesus Christ instructs us to remember the poor?
I ask because after centuries and centuries of these buildings being built, their very existence and labeling putting forth the notion that they are all, indeed, “churches” where God dwells; their primary purpose, from outside looking in, seems to be to take tithes from their congregants and enrich themselves. They also seem more inclined to spend on building improvements than on remembering the poor. I know, I know… Very judgmental… Very critical… But stop and think about it instead of just getting defensive and defending “your” church and how it has this mission and that mission, and community outreach, and how “my church” is always open to new people… Blah, blah, blah.
Case in point, the catholic church down the street from my house just added a new, higher reaching, spire than it had before. I wondered, “Why did you decide to do that?” “Who was that for, those in the pews or the poor and indigent in and around our community?” “How much did it cost?” “What reasoning led you to decide that it would be money well spent to pay for the addition rather than where the money might be used to benefit the poor the most?”
Now look, I need to be clear about something here and probably need to repeat it often lest I come off as just being this hypercritical, anti-church guy that only sees the negative in everything and never sees the “good”. For the record, I think the intent of the so-called “churches” and the churchgoers who fill their pews are well-meaning and well-intentioned. I believe that with every part of my being.
You might think, “Ok, well why do you keep harping on this whole “Cows In the Pews” crap?” That’s very “offensive” to those who choose to express their “religious” conviction through membership/affiliation with their denomination of choice. See what I did there? If you are offended by my characterization of the typical religious Christian predicated solely on the idea that I’m standing in judgement of you and everyone else who “attends church”, then you are missing my point in its entirety.
My point has been and always will be a matter of the actual doctrine that is put forth by each denomination compared and contrasted with the written word of God on the pages of the Bible. Nothing more and nothing less. I say that to say this- and I’ve said it before- you, whoever you are, are free. You are free to choose to believe what you want, practice that belief the way you want, and try to proselytize others into “your faith”, participate in missions, etc. You are also free to be ignorant. There I go again being offensive…
What I mean by ignorant is to be unaware or uninformed. I’m not trying to offend anyone, I’m simply and accurately describing many who go to church more because churchgoing is the “accepted” and most prominent form of expressing Christianity than a basis in knowledge and understanding of the real content of the bible. I’m trying to warn people, I’m trying to wake people up, trying to shake them out of their, what I consider to be, complacency. A clarion call of sorts… After all, there are counterfeits among us, right? Why else would Jesus Christ, Paul, and Peter all warn us of false Christs, false teachers, and false doctrine:
Mark 13:6
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am [Christ]; and shall deceive many.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15
For such [are] false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
2 Peter 2:1
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
And more importantly why would Paul make such a grave warning to those who would preach another gospel:
Galatians 1:6-9
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
As we said before, so say I now again, If any [man] preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
So, you see, while my approach is clearly unorthodox to say the least, it seems necessary when you think about the complete and utter control of the “Christian narrative” held by the largest denominations by virtue of all of the history, tradition, orthodoxy, church buildings, and the like.
To illustrate, let’s consider the situation discussed in Acts 17 between Greek philosophers in Athens and Paul when he addressed them on Mars’ Hill in Areopagus. There are a number of things to notice in this passage that I hope will cause you to assess your understanding and, in turn, where you place your faith, i.e. the unadulterated word of God or organized religion, and specifically your participation in the practices put forth as the way to worship god.
I also hope it will encourage you to answer the question, “Why do I sit in the pews?” And I mean answer it beyond the conditioning that goes hand in hand with the common religious practices offered by most denominations. The conditioning that puts forth the idea that the church building is the “house of God”, where the symbolism connotes his presence somehow, that Sunday is the day we all are to attend “service”, and do “religious” things… pray now, give here, listen there, sing this, etc.
And above all, I hope you would ultimately turn to the word of God to know Him, to trust Him, to put your faith in Him and His Son, Jesus Christ instead of the many different doctrines offered by so many, in so many “churches” across the world. So many to choose from; too many to choose from…
For what purpose…?
Ephesians 4:14
That we [henceforth] be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Acts 17:16-31
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.
Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, [is]?
For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
(For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)
Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, [Ye] men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by [that] man whom he hath ordained; [whereof] he hath given assurance unto all [men], in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Notice the first thing he says to them; … I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. From Strong’s concordance entry G1174, the Greek word for the phrase “too superstitious” is deisidaimōn. It appears only one time in the new testament of the KJV. Thayer’s Greek lexicon offers this definition: as being devout without the knowledge of the true God. It’s also important to notice who he’s saying this to. He’s speaking with philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, and other Athenians who essentially invited him to speak the doctrine he proceeds to deliver. If you need to, do some research to understand who the Epicureans and Stoicks were. In a general sense, they represented the predominant philosophies in Athens offering contrasting explanations/theories of the existence of man and the universe.
The next thing I want to call your attention to is verse 23 where he tells them of the inscription he found that says, “…TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” and follows in verse 24 and 25 with “God… dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing…”
Now stop there and put this together, Paul is talking to the Greeks who are well known for their belief in Greek gods, mythology, and what have you, and here you have Paul coming along telling them in no uncertain terms that they’re wrong. Look up the word ignorantly used in verse 23 and that’s one of the definitions, “to be wrong”. And not only are they wrong, but that God does not dwell in Temples made with hands nor is he worshiped with men’s hands. Understanding that, think of all the so-called “churches” built by the hand of man as a supposed dwelling place for God and I would guess as an expression of worshipping him.
The practice of building structures and calling them churches has a long history throughout the world. Yet, here we have Paul teaching the Athenians that God’s not there and no, building a temple is not a form of worship. And goes on to tell them that through the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, God has accomplished the following:
Acts 17:26-29
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
I know I’m repeating and it bears repeating. This, for me, is the thing that in the deepest way possible tells me how disjointed, how un-unified, how broke, how wrong organized religion is. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, thirty three thousand plus denominations in the world when God tells us that he has made us all of the same blood and that we are His offspring. We are brothers and sisters who should all be speaking the same thing, thinking the same thing, but alas, we don’t… not even close.
We go to church, follow the script, as if doing so demonstrates that we are living in God’s will when in actuality we have become captive to the dictates of man’s religion, and man’s superstitions, and man’s form over function, and not life… and not life.
Last thing for this post. Notice what Paul does when he goes to all the places he visits during his travels as the Apostle to the Gentiles. Each and every time he enters a city, he goes to the synagogue and is described as disputing with whoever is there. Read the first part of Acts chapter 17 and notice that he went into the synagogues of the Jews and reasoned with them out of the scriptures. The Greek word for reasoned is Strong’s G1256, dialegomai which is also translated as disputed in Acts 17:17.
Act 17:1-13
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, [one] Jesus.
And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.
And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.
And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming [thither] went into the synagogue of the Jews.
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.
But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.
You ever notice how disputing, reasoning, discussion, questioning, or any other type of discourse is not allowed in the typical Sunday “Church” service? I wonder why that is?
