For years I have grown more dissatisfied with church life. It isn’t that I don’t enjoy listening to sermons or participating in worship. It is just the gnawing sensation that there had to be more. There had to be more than just a weekly church service that was supposed to bolster my life so I could make it through another week of life. I could not wrap my mind around why a loving Father would allow His Son to die in our place so we could have church. There has to be more!
Have you ever been hungry but didn’t know what you wanted to eat? You may mention that to another person, and they will try to give you suggestions. “Would you like a donut? French Fries? Tacos? Ice cream? Steak? Chicken?” But nothing sounds quite right.
When that happens to me, I usually do one of two things: either try various foods to satisfy that hunger or eat nothing. It may be better for my physical body to choose option two, but I’m not sure either option is the best for spiritual hunger.
As I sought more than just another church or service, my relationship with Jesus was as close as ever. He spoke clearly to me for much of this journey, and I heard with the same clarity. Some weeks, when I served as a local pastor, I would have such enthusiasm heading into a weekend that I couldn’t wait to share what God had revealed. Then Sunday arrived, and the air went out of the balloon as I stared at people who didn’t understand or had little interest in what I was attempting to express. It was as if they were saying, “This is church, and that’s all there is to it, buddy. We go to church, and then we go home. That’s it. Get used to it.”
I was never dissatisfied with Jesus or even my relationship with Him. I was dissatisfied with churchianity. The services. The rituals. The powerlessness. The message is to try harder, and you’ll get there. The idea is that it will be worth it all when we get to heaven.
Plain and simple, I was dissatisfied with the church system. His church, or so I thought.
I often wondered how I could have such encounters with him alone, but when His body gathered together, it was like Jesus slept in that morning. How could this be?
For years, even as a so-called ministry leader, I battled to go to church. I knew I was supposed to go, and I had heard sermons telling me I couldn’t be a Christian if I didn’t attend church. Heck, I had told other people the same thing. “You know the Bible says, Don’t forsake the assembling.”
Millions of people trudge into church buildings because they feel obligated or guilted to do so, and it’s how they were taught. Some go to appease others, and some go because they think they are appeasing an angry God. Still, others go because they genuinely enjoy it.
I know there are many reasons people go to church. Even that phrase, “Go to Church,” seems odd.
Even that phrase, “Go to Church,” seems odd.
I am not telling anyone not to attend a “Babble-Beleevin’ Church” on Sunday morning, but isn’t there more to it than just going to a building on a Sunday morning and listening to or watching a few people on display, and then everyone goes home?
Before I make every church-employed sermon presenter mad, I believe many church leaders genuinely want their Sunday morning gatherings to be far more than just a form of godliness. I certainly did, but while that was my heart’s desire weekly, no matter how much I prayed and sought the Lord, it didn’t happen. There had to be more.
Even when I brought in the newest Rev. Power Pants to preach, any life that may have blown in the building blew out as quickly as it came. At some point, we must be honest and ask ourselves, “Did someone forget to pay the power bill?”
In seeking more than just church, I discovered things in the Word of God that I had never read before. It’s not that I hadn’t read them, but they had been somewhat veiled to me. Or, more likely, they had been splained away by years of religianty and teaching.
I realized that what Jesus said He would build was not what was being built. I read how the first disciples in Acts were powerful. Miracles happened, and lives were changing. Even more, the world was changing. And not just because a few thousand people got saved and are on their way to heaven, hallelujah, bless God.
Roman officials were taking notice. The armies were on edge. Even the Emporer was impacted. Why? Because a hundred thousand people were having home Bible studies and pot-luck dinners?
No, it was because of a new king in town named Jesus. He had already left the earth physically, but He had left His Holy Spirit here to dwell in the people who chose to follow Him, who were radically changed and empowered. They were the Ekklesia.
And what instructions did He leave? Go and preach the gospel of the Kingdom and make disciples of nations. Heal the sick. Raise the dead. Cast out demons. KICK THE DEVIL OUT OF THE TERRITORY. (Not, sit in the upper room and hold on ’til Jesus comes.)
Those are the marching orders for the Ekklesia. Jesus gave His Ekklesia the keys to the Kingdom and said, “Here are the keys. Take it for a spin.”
For the first 300 years or so, the Ekklesia did just that. The gospel message that there was a new kingdom on earth, which wasn’t Rome, was spreading fast. Lives were changing, but the amazing thing was that the culture was changing at such a rate that the culture said this new Ekklesia was turning the world upside down.
After several years, I finally began to realize what I was missing.
What was missing wasn’t church or better preaching, more sermons, more conferences, faster music, or more powerful testimonies. While these can be encouraging and uplifting, they can also be the biggest waste of sixty minutes you’ll never get back.
I was missing the Kingdom and His Ekklesia. I was involved in church. I attended services. I heard preaching, and I preached, too. I followed the weekend routine and criticized those who didn’t. But even with the busyness of church life, it felt empty.
Several years ago, I began learning that Jesus didn’t preach a gospel of salvation. He preached a gospel of His Kingdom. I realized that His Kingdom wasn’t just available in the by-and-by, but it’s in the here and now. I recognized His Kingdom was near, and His Kingdom was now within me.
I realize there is more to the kingdom than getting saved, sitting in a church service each week and hanging on until Jesus returns to save us from this horrible world, or until I die and fly away (oh glory).
As I began growing in understanding of His Kingdom, I began to learn about Ekklesia. I discovered how the word was mistranslated (on purpose) to keep the congregants in their place. You wouldn’t want them to think they were priests, kings, or anything. We have pastors, bishops, and deacons to run things. You church peeps need to show up, warm a pew, and drop an offering in the plate, and maybe we’ll let you help park cars, open the doors, or make coffee if you’re super spiritual.
As I learned more about Ekklesia, I realized how far off the path today’s church had moved. Instead of impacting the culture for His Kingdom on earth, the church had hunkered down into private clubhouses all over the landscape. Instead of the Body of Christ functioning as one body, they began to hold secret competitions to see which clubhouse could get the most members, have the most remarkable building and charismatic performers, and ultimately raise the most money.
As I grew in my understanding of Ekklesia, I began to move full circle and realize that they are not two different topics as I had initially thought. The Kingdom is Jesus’s plan, and His Ekklesia is His living organism (body) by which He will establish His Kingdom.
As I see Churchianity more clearly, I realize it is missing the Kingdom. Churchianity is focused on building a local church and corresponding denominations. It focuses on getting more people in our buildings, even if it has to entice them away from another church congregation to do so. It focuses on dividing the Body of Christ into segments and labels rather than uniting it into one family. Unfortunately, that was not Jesus’ plan.
While I still attend a few church groups regularly, I realize there is far more to following Jesus than what Churchianity offers.
Maybe you are looking for more than Churchianity. Maybe you are tired of the religious services, traditions, and man-made worship settings. If that is you, I encourage you to take off the religious glasses of your tradition and begin to read scripture anew. Begin to seek out the Gospel of His Kingdom and not just a gospel of getting saved.
For many, many years, I have thought that there has to be more. What I have discovered is that there is more. I have not discovered everything that is available to us by any means, but at least I am on the journey. Maybe you should, too.
