Last time we looked at ‘is church planting scriptural’ – we finished off with a bunch of scriptures that proponents of church planting use to ‘prove’ this is what we all should be doing.
Taken from a church planting manual.
Why plant churches
JESUS TOLD US TO DO IT.
Matt. 28:19,20. “Go therefore and make disciples....baptising them...teaching
them to observe all things I have commanded....”
We cannot effectively make disciples and teach them the commands of Christ
outside a church setting.
An evangelistic campaign declares the gospel. It brings people to a place of
decision but it doesn't fully teach them all the things that Jesus commanded
us. This can only be done in a church setting.
When properly understood we see that the Great Commission is specifically a
commission about Church Planting.
2. THE EARLY CHURCH SET THE PRECEDENT.
Throughout the book of Acts, we see that whenever the disciples went about
fulfilling the Great Commission, they planted churches.
Illustrations
i) Acts 8:5-12 Philip plants a church in Samaria.
ii) Acts 9:1-2,19 Believers had planted a church in Damascus.
iii) Acts 9:31 By now there were churches throughout all Judea, Galilee and
Samaria.
iv) Acts 9:32-35 A church was planted in Lydda.
v)Acts 10:24-48 Peter established a Gentile church in Caesarea.
vi) Acts 11:19-26 The persecuted believers planted churches in Phoenicia,
Cyprus and Antioch.
vii) Acts 13:2 - 14:28 Paul's first missionary journey - the biggest single
church planting venture up to that point.
viii) Acts 15:40 - 18:23 Paul's second missionary journey - all to do with
church planting and strengthening existing churches.
ix) Acts 18:24 - 21:25 Paul's third missionary journey - again he planted new
churches and strengthened established ones.
(a full transcript of this whole course on church planting [taken from a church planting movements website] can be requested by replying to this email)
We can see from these scriptures used to promote church planting that unless you have a ‘church planting’ mindset or a presupposition towards ‘church planting’ that they have nothing to do with church planting.
The great commission of Jesus has nothing to do with planting / building churches - but everything to do with building people.
The highlighted comments are not only misinterpreting scripture but are statements of error.
It is called heresy when you assume and teach scripture to be saying something it is not. While I have been wrongfully accused of heresy myself for exposing the idol called the church, the proponents of church planting continue to promote such huge assumptions of scripture – which is indeed heresy and is welcomed by the majority of western church leaders who seem to be blindly bent on finding programs to bring ‘success’ to their ministry, it seems at any cost – even misrepresenting scripture.
I can say this because this is exactly what I did for years along with thousands of others caught in the trap of performance, trying to find success and significance in a system that doesn’t deliver (because its an idol). I believe this is why so many pastors and leaders burn out, some have even committed suicide – surely if this ‘system’ was of God there would not be the huge rate of burnout. The system is set up for failure - that is why thousands of ministers leave the ministry every month, feeling like a failure. If you are serving the idol you will fail. Not failing God, but failing the unattainable expectations the idol puts on you.
I know of a Pastor of a very large church, very successful in the eyes of his peers, commit suicide because of the pressure to perform. Yet on the other hand, another pastor who confided in me and basically said “I have never felt so free and fulfilled since I got off the treadmill of trying to be successful in the system”, his peers would say he was a failure yet he has seen more fruit of souls being saved and baptised since he was freed from the idol he served.
Almost every Christian is taught an absolute basic rule of interpreting scripture – ‘never assume’.
In this instance, assuming Jesus meant the great commission was all about planting churches, we see the great commission turned into an industry of churning out ‘clones’ of the idol.
The assumption, in effect, causes the great commission to be denigrated to building church organizations, instead of building people. While some would argue that churches build or look after people, if you go back to what ekklesia means, (assembly) it is people, the assembly, that builds people – people serving people, not organized systems and programs seeking to help people.
In fact in many places it is people serving the vision of the church rather than an assembly serving others.
It in many cases, is people serving leaders instead of leaders serving people. The word Minister actually means servant.
Simply - its either people serving the church or - an ekklesia (assembly) serving people.
This church planting ‘industry’ is worth millions of dollars in books explaining the whole ethos of church planting and with speakers promoting it to leaders and people that are blinded by the idol.
Churches and whole movements invest a countless amount of hours and money into learning how to plant or how to grow churches, because it is the ‘in thing’ to do, without realizing they are being taught the ways of the idol.
You cannot grow an organism with organizational principles. A body cannot be built by business strategies.
But when you concentrate on building the body of Christ, the ekklesia, instead of building an ‘organization’ the body grows into an incredible ‘organism’ – instead of a ‘business’ you get a ‘body’.
The great commission is all about the body moving in divine power establishing disciples. To say this is not possible outside of a church setting is absolutely ludicrous. It is the body (people) doing the ‘work of the ministry’ that fulfils the commission, not setting up church programs or structure. The idol called the church has taken the place of the body. It has taken the power away from the body.
Many leaders complain of the lack of response from people in their ‘churches’ – complaining that people just don’t want to get involved. Maybe if those leaders trained people to ‘be’ the body (instead of spectators on a Sunday) and release them to fulfil ‘their’ call and gifting instead of training people to fulfil the church’s vision, the body would rise up in new found zeal and power.
Maybe if people were encouraged to move in the Spirit, to use the gifts out in the market place instead of the four walls of a church building on a Sunday morning, to share the goodness of Jesus, His love and saving power to people instead of trying to get them to join their club (church), maybe, just maybe, we would see the revival of souls that we see in many nations where the organizational church is not in control. Where people are walking in the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, into situations that He wants to minister into.
Oh to see the body, as an organism, walking in divine power. An organism multiplies by itself, it can be contagious, infectious even. My desire is to see the body released into what the Lord has for it, not being shackled by religious routines and man made methods.
I have said for many years that I believe the coming revival that many talk about is about people – its not about a church, a city or a ministry – its about the body of Christ rising globally in the power of Christ to do the works of Christ.
It is a revival of the body of Christ, to be the body of Christ.
A revival which sees the uncontained impact of the Kingdom flow from person to person, from town to town and from nation to nation – an unstoppable force that many leaders dream of but will never attain by learning the ways of or serving the idol.
I understand now that my part in all this revelation is to train and release the body into their God given call. Eph 4:12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;
A few years ago we started off conducting schools of the Spirit in many places – with many different topics or themes, instructing people how to flow in the Spirit instead of being bound by Greek philosophical mindsets. Many testified of seeing the power of Christ manifest outside the four walls of church, as they stood in faith to heal the sick, or get a word from God for an unsaved person. The course of whole assemblies changed direction and they are now journeying into uncharted waters, some plunging into the deep end, others finding the transition difficult.
Jeannette & I are committed to continue to help anyone transition from the bondage of the idol to freedom in Christ. We will continue to conduct the schools of the Spirit anywhere the Lord specifies.
We have also had the privilege of helping leaders to become ‘presence based’ instead of ‘performance based’ and will continue to do this as the Lord leads.
It would be so easy to fall back into the system ourselves, doing religious routines that we have been taught for so many years, but we are determined to push into those uncharted waters ourselves and are desperately wanting to be led of the Holy Spirit so much more and to help others do so –
Your comments are appreciated.
Taken from a church planting manual.
Why plant churches
JESUS TOLD US TO DO IT.
Matt. 28:19,20. “Go therefore and make disciples....baptising them...teaching
them to observe all things I have commanded....”
We cannot effectively make disciples and teach them the commands of Christ
outside a church setting.
An evangelistic campaign declares the gospel. It brings people to a place of
decision but it doesn't fully teach them all the things that Jesus commanded
us. This can only be done in a church setting.
When properly understood we see that the Great Commission is specifically a
commission about Church Planting.
2. THE EARLY CHURCH SET THE PRECEDENT.
Throughout the book of Acts, we see that whenever the disciples went about
fulfilling the Great Commission, they planted churches.
Illustrations
i) Acts 8:5-12 Philip plants a church in Samaria.
ii) Acts 9:1-2,19 Believers had planted a church in Damascus.
iii) Acts 9:31 By now there were churches throughout all Judea, Galilee and
Samaria.
iv) Acts 9:32-35 A church was planted in Lydda.
v)Acts 10:24-48 Peter established a Gentile church in Caesarea.
vi) Acts 11:19-26 The persecuted believers planted churches in Phoenicia,
Cyprus and Antioch.
vii) Acts 13:2 - 14:28 Paul's first missionary journey - the biggest single
church planting venture up to that point.
viii) Acts 15:40 - 18:23 Paul's second missionary journey - all to do with
church planting and strengthening existing churches.
ix) Acts 18:24 - 21:25 Paul's third missionary journey - again he planted new
churches and strengthened established ones.
(a full transcript of this whole course on church planting [taken from a church planting movements website] can be requested by replying to this email)
We can see from these scriptures used to promote church planting that unless you have a ‘church planting’ mindset or a presupposition towards ‘church planting’ that they have nothing to do with church planting.
The great commission of Jesus has nothing to do with planting / building churches - but everything to do with building people.
The highlighted comments are not only misinterpreting scripture but are statements of error.
It is called heresy when you assume and teach scripture to be saying something it is not. While I have been wrongfully accused of heresy myself for exposing the idol called the church, the proponents of church planting continue to promote such huge assumptions of scripture – which is indeed heresy and is welcomed by the majority of western church leaders who seem to be blindly bent on finding programs to bring ‘success’ to their ministry, it seems at any cost – even misrepresenting scripture.
I can say this because this is exactly what I did for years along with thousands of others caught in the trap of performance, trying to find success and significance in a system that doesn’t deliver (because its an idol). I believe this is why so many pastors and leaders burn out, some have even committed suicide – surely if this ‘system’ was of God there would not be the huge rate of burnout. The system is set up for failure - that is why thousands of ministers leave the ministry every month, feeling like a failure. If you are serving the idol you will fail. Not failing God, but failing the unattainable expectations the idol puts on you.
I know of a Pastor of a very large church, very successful in the eyes of his peers, commit suicide because of the pressure to perform. Yet on the other hand, another pastor who confided in me and basically said “I have never felt so free and fulfilled since I got off the treadmill of trying to be successful in the system”, his peers would say he was a failure yet he has seen more fruit of souls being saved and baptised since he was freed from the idol he served.
Almost every Christian is taught an absolute basic rule of interpreting scripture – ‘never assume’.
In this instance, assuming Jesus meant the great commission was all about planting churches, we see the great commission turned into an industry of churning out ‘clones’ of the idol.
The assumption, in effect, causes the great commission to be denigrated to building church organizations, instead of building people. While some would argue that churches build or look after people, if you go back to what ekklesia means, (assembly) it is people, the assembly, that builds people – people serving people, not organized systems and programs seeking to help people.
In fact in many places it is people serving the vision of the church rather than an assembly serving others.
It in many cases, is people serving leaders instead of leaders serving people. The word Minister actually means servant.
Simply - its either people serving the church or - an ekklesia (assembly) serving people.
This church planting ‘industry’ is worth millions of dollars in books explaining the whole ethos of church planting and with speakers promoting it to leaders and people that are blinded by the idol.
Churches and whole movements invest a countless amount of hours and money into learning how to plant or how to grow churches, because it is the ‘in thing’ to do, without realizing they are being taught the ways of the idol.
You cannot grow an organism with organizational principles. A body cannot be built by business strategies.
But when you concentrate on building the body of Christ, the ekklesia, instead of building an ‘organization’ the body grows into an incredible ‘organism’ – instead of a ‘business’ you get a ‘body’.
The great commission is all about the body moving in divine power establishing disciples. To say this is not possible outside of a church setting is absolutely ludicrous. It is the body (people) doing the ‘work of the ministry’ that fulfils the commission, not setting up church programs or structure. The idol called the church has taken the place of the body. It has taken the power away from the body.
Many leaders complain of the lack of response from people in their ‘churches’ – complaining that people just don’t want to get involved. Maybe if those leaders trained people to ‘be’ the body (instead of spectators on a Sunday) and release them to fulfil ‘their’ call and gifting instead of training people to fulfil the church’s vision, the body would rise up in new found zeal and power.
Maybe if people were encouraged to move in the Spirit, to use the gifts out in the market place instead of the four walls of a church building on a Sunday morning, to share the goodness of Jesus, His love and saving power to people instead of trying to get them to join their club (church), maybe, just maybe, we would see the revival of souls that we see in many nations where the organizational church is not in control. Where people are walking in the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, into situations that He wants to minister into.
Oh to see the body, as an organism, walking in divine power. An organism multiplies by itself, it can be contagious, infectious even. My desire is to see the body released into what the Lord has for it, not being shackled by religious routines and man made methods.
I have said for many years that I believe the coming revival that many talk about is about people – its not about a church, a city or a ministry – its about the body of Christ rising globally in the power of Christ to do the works of Christ.
It is a revival of the body of Christ, to be the body of Christ.
A revival which sees the uncontained impact of the Kingdom flow from person to person, from town to town and from nation to nation – an unstoppable force that many leaders dream of but will never attain by learning the ways of or serving the idol.
I understand now that my part in all this revelation is to train and release the body into their God given call. Eph 4:12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;
A few years ago we started off conducting schools of the Spirit in many places – with many different topics or themes, instructing people how to flow in the Spirit instead of being bound by Greek philosophical mindsets. Many testified of seeing the power of Christ manifest outside the four walls of church, as they stood in faith to heal the sick, or get a word from God for an unsaved person. The course of whole assemblies changed direction and they are now journeying into uncharted waters, some plunging into the deep end, others finding the transition difficult.
Jeannette & I are committed to continue to help anyone transition from the bondage of the idol to freedom in Christ. We will continue to conduct the schools of the Spirit anywhere the Lord specifies.
We have also had the privilege of helping leaders to become ‘presence based’ instead of ‘performance based’ and will continue to do this as the Lord leads.
It would be so easy to fall back into the system ourselves, doing religious routines that we have been taught for so many years, but we are determined to push into those uncharted waters ourselves and are desperately wanting to be led of the Holy Spirit so much more and to help others do so –
Your comments are appreciated.
Part 6 – Is ‘church’ planting scriptural
Before we get to this teaching:-
I have been discussing an idol called the church. Sometimes I feel I am like a flea trying to bring down an Elephant. That the idol is too big, it has been around for centuries and who am I to tackle it. I am encouraged by those that are doing likewise and those who are seeing the idol for what it is and seeking to get from under its deceptive power and alas I am saddened by some of my ‘friends in ministry’ that have vehemently opposed me and actively sided with the idol they serve.
I could have used the term ‘an idol called religion’ and few would have objected because they don’t consider themselves ‘religious’– the religious ones are of course ‘everyone else’. (Religious in the negative sense of the word). I could have used the term ‘an idol called Catholicism’ and everyone outside the Catholic church* would say Amen.
*It was in fact the Catholic church that first began using the word ‘church’ for a Christian gathering place or Christian organization. The Catholic bible was written in Latin and is where we find the word ‘church’ used in context to a Christian meeting place. This is why we cant find the equivalent word for ‘church’ in the Greek as it was a term adopted into the Latin catholic bible. Incidentally the reformers, including Luther, were opposed basically to the organizational structure and error of the institution called the ‘church’.
But because the term ‘an idol called the church’ hits at the very roots of what we have been taught to believe, it becomes personal. Because it is personal we can’t fob it off onto someone else, we then have to deal with it ourselves. How we deal with it determines what happens in our lives. The choices are clear.
1/ dismiss it without even seeking God as to its truth
2/ seek God about it, pray and study the word.
3/ change
Many have said the term communicates what they have been feeling. Many others have expressed the term in different ways over the years, even as I am learning more, over hundreds of years.
Some are having difficulty understanding the concept because of the old ingrained mindset which continues to cloud the truth.
I need to stress some points, again.
1/ I am not against the body of Christ which is commonly called ‘the church’ – I love the body of Christ and want to serve wherever I can.
2/ I am not against the body of Christ assembling together to worship God in buildings. I love being part of corporate gatherings of worshipers.
3/ But I am against this idol that masquerades as ‘the Church’ – it looks like ‘the church’ but it isn’t. It is very deceptive; it makes people believe in it in so many ways. People vehemently protect it. Many don’t have a true relationship with God because of it. It is treated and acts in the place of God in so many ways. (I have mentioned some and will be continuing revealing more aspects of this idol as time goes by)
I believe one of the most subtle deceptions the idol uses to protect itself is the word ‘church’ itself. I have taught where we got the word from, its original meaning and the correct use of the Greek word Ekklesia (that it doesn’t mean church, never has).
Some statements that may help. We don’t ‘go’ to church. We don’t ‘have’ church. We don’t ‘attend’ church. We are not ‘in’ church or ‘out’ of church. We don’t ‘belong’ to a church.
We ‘ARE’ the church. (old terminology) - We ‘ARE’ the assembly of the firstborn.
I have suggested that because of the history and the meaning of the word church, because of the error it represents and the confusion it brings that we simply stop using the word.
While it seems to be a very simple suggestion it has been met with different reactions like “you are just word playing” or “does it really matter what we call it” or even spiritualized comments like “the Lord knows what I mean when I say church”. What these comments actually do is dismiss the whole revelation about the idol instead of engaging it.
What do people mean when they say things like “I love Jesus and I am still going to go to church like I always have done”. Well they are actually dismissing the Love of Jesus from delivering them from the power of the idol. When people don’t want to change they pre-empt their statements with things like “I love Jesus” or “Jesus knows my heart” or “Jesus knows what I mean”.
Is ‘church’ planting scriptural
Is church planting in the Bible? Have you ever researched this without a church planting mindset? Did Jesus say “go and plant churches”? We have attributed the Apostle Paul as the greatest ‘church planter’ – did he actually plant churches? If not what did he actually do? We attribute the gift of Apostle to church planting. Did the Apostles plant churches? If our mindset of church planting is incorrect what do we do to get back to the commission of Jesus?
I have planted numerous churches over around 30 years of ministry, I have trained people to plant churches, I have been involved in a senior leadership role of a church planting movement. When the Lord spoke to me and said “Church planting isn’t in the Bible” I was shocked but then soon realized there are actually no scriptures that talk about church planting.
The great commission is to “go into all the world and make disciples” – not plant churches.
Matt 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-18, Matt 10: etc
There is NO command, NO scripture where Jesus said to go plant churches rather go preach the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the body of Christ’s commission to proclaim the gospel and make disciples. As we do this He said I will build my assembly.
It is very simple, if we plant churches the emphasis is on the church. If we proclaim the gospel the emphasis is all about Jesus and people.
If the emphasis is planting a church its all about how we go about this – what musicians do we have, what leaders do we need, what Sunday school class is needed, the building, the advertising, the signs etc. We put an advert in the paper or door knock to let everyone know a new church is in town. What sort of ‘programs’ will we use to attract people. How are we going to be ‘relevant’ to our community? There are many, many programs available from the ‘church’ that successfully used a program that ‘grew’ their church.
We attend church growth seminars, seminars on how to break through to the next level (of the membership role), we do everything we can and strive to get our church filled with bums on seats. We get to 500 members and now we can attend the 500 club to learn how to get to the next level. Church planting in the west is all about the organization, the success of numbers, how well we perform and the achievement of ‘building a church’.
Conversely Jesus said go preach about the Kingdom (not preach how to get a better lifestyle) – make disciples – I will give you power to heal the sick, cast out demon’s – I will validate what you says by signs following. In scripture, the result of this is that those that got saved assembled together for prayer, worship and fellowship. The intent was for people to be saved and delivered from bondage not sign up for church membership.
Have a church planting mindset - the emphasis is on the church.
Have a gospel mindset – the emphasis on people.
You say well the church helps people in lots of ways – yes, so do hundreds of other humanistic organizations helping people in their need while Jesus delivers people out of their bondage.
I am coming from a ‘Pentecostal’ standpoint here (I got saved in a Pentecostal assembly and have ministered mostly in that stream) – let me ask you when was the last time you saw someone delivered from demons in ‘church’. When was the last time you saw a miracle, healing, sign or wonder done in ‘church’. When was the last time you saw someone truly repent and get converted in ‘church’ (not just say a little prayer).
The answer for many, sadly, is many years ago. Why, because the idol has infiltrated the Pentecostal assemblies and shut the power of the gospel down. It has become more about the idol than the gospel of Jesus.
For most churches the program goes like this – 3 fast songs, 3 slow songs, 10 minutes of an offering, 15 minutes of announcements, 20 minutes of a lifestyle sermon, sing a song and go to the coffee shop – and we call that the power of the Gospel designed to save people and set them free – no this is designed to build a club we call church.
Now don’t get mad at me for saying the way it is – you may remember when you went excitedly to meetings where the presence and power of God was so real, now all that is real is the smell of coffee wafting in.
You may be a pastor or leader wondering why God has left – its because you let the idol in.
You may say well I still feel the presence of God in my church – I’m not talking about an emotional kick because the music is good I am talking about the manifest presence of God present and His power being displayed as people earnestly seek Him. (and forget about the coffee)
Did the Apostles, including Paul, plant churches – the short answer is no. When Paul talked about planting he was talking about the Word of God. Again there is NO scripture that talks about church planting. It is a term conjured up probably by the idol to recreate itself. There are a number of scriptures that can be used out of context to prove church planting should be pursued but in context they fail to convince.
This is not an exhaustive study to refute all the scriptures used to promote church planting so please do a study yourself and you will see it very plainly. (see below for scriptural examples used in a church planting manual – note how these can only be interpreted as plating church scriptures if you already have that mindset – they don’t actually indicate church planting rather the spreading of the Gospel.)
You may say well churches were planted and visited by Paul and the other Apostles, elders were set in place, letters written to the churches etc etc.
The truth is that the ‘result of’ Paul and others preaching the Gospel with signs and wonders was that people were saved and delivered. They began to assemble together to encourage one another, break bread, to teach the word etc from house to house, in the temple at the riverside etc. Their motivation was to see the Kingdom established on Earth, not build churches. It wasn’t even in their thinking – their mindset was not to create an organization (Jesus never said I will build my organization) It was to see an organism called the Gospel flow into every corner of the world. As that happened the Apostles and leaders went and strengthened the assemblies.
Rev. Sam Pascoe’s short version of the history of Christianity goes like this:
Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship;
it moved to Greece and became a philosophy;
it moved to Italy and became an institution;
it moved to Europe and became a culture;
it came to America (the west) and became an enterprise.
Churchianty is not Christianity – churchianity is all about the church, Christianity is all about Christ.
I can define either by one statement – who gets the glory of what is done – the Church or Christ. Who is promoted the church or Christ.
_____________________________________________
Taken from a church planting manual.
Why plant churches
JESUS TOLD US TO DO IT.
Matt. 28:19,20. “Go therefore and make disciples....baptising them...teaching
them to observe all things I have commanded....”
We cannot effectively make disciples and teach them the commands of Christ
outside a church setting.
An evangelistic campaign declares the gospel. It brings people to a place of
decision but it doesn't fully teach them all the things that Jesus commanded
us. This can only be done in a church setting.
When properly understood we see that the Great Commission is specifically a
commission about Church Planting.
2. THE EARLY CHURCH SET THE PRECEDENT.
Throughout the book of Acts, we see that whenever the disciples went about
fulfilling the Great Commission, they planted churches.
Illustrations
i) Acts 8:5-12 Philip plants a church in Samaria.
ii) Acts 9:1-2,19 Believers had planted a church in Damascus.
iii) Acts 9:31 By now there were churches throughout all Judea, Galilee and
Samaria.
iv) Acts 9:32-35 A church was planted in Lydda.
v)Acts 10:24-48 Peter established a Gentile church in Caesarea.
vi) Acts 11:19-26 The persecuted believers planted churches in Phoenicia,
Cyprus and Antioch.
vii) Acts 13:2 - 14:28 Paul's first missionary journey - the biggest single
church planting venture up to that point.
viii) Acts 15:40 - 18:23 Paul's second missionary journey - all to do with
church planting and strengthening existing churches.
ix) Acts 18:24 - 21:25 Paul's third missionary journey - again he planted new
churches and strengthened established ones.
I would have to say that you can poke huge holes in this whole presupposition
I would love to hear about your comments.
Before we get to this teaching:-
I have been discussing an idol called the church. Sometimes I feel I am like a flea trying to bring down an Elephant. That the idol is too big, it has been around for centuries and who am I to tackle it. I am encouraged by those that are doing likewise and those who are seeing the idol for what it is and seeking to get from under its deceptive power and alas I am saddened by some of my ‘friends in ministry’ that have vehemently opposed me and actively sided with the idol they serve.
I could have used the term ‘an idol called religion’ and few would have objected because they don’t consider themselves ‘religious’– the religious ones are of course ‘everyone else’. (Religious in the negative sense of the word). I could have used the term ‘an idol called Catholicism’ and everyone outside the Catholic church* would say Amen.
*It was in fact the Catholic church that first began using the word ‘church’ for a Christian gathering place or Christian organization. The Catholic bible was written in Latin and is where we find the word ‘church’ used in context to a Christian meeting place. This is why we cant find the equivalent word for ‘church’ in the Greek as it was a term adopted into the Latin catholic bible. Incidentally the reformers, including Luther, were opposed basically to the organizational structure and error of the institution called the ‘church’.
But because the term ‘an idol called the church’ hits at the very roots of what we have been taught to believe, it becomes personal. Because it is personal we can’t fob it off onto someone else, we then have to deal with it ourselves. How we deal with it determines what happens in our lives. The choices are clear.
1/ dismiss it without even seeking God as to its truth
2/ seek God about it, pray and study the word.
3/ change
Many have said the term communicates what they have been feeling. Many others have expressed the term in different ways over the years, even as I am learning more, over hundreds of years.
Some are having difficulty understanding the concept because of the old ingrained mindset which continues to cloud the truth.
I need to stress some points, again.
1/ I am not against the body of Christ which is commonly called ‘the church’ – I love the body of Christ and want to serve wherever I can.
2/ I am not against the body of Christ assembling together to worship God in buildings. I love being part of corporate gatherings of worshipers.
3/ But I am against this idol that masquerades as ‘the Church’ – it looks like ‘the church’ but it isn’t. It is very deceptive; it makes people believe in it in so many ways. People vehemently protect it. Many don’t have a true relationship with God because of it. It is treated and acts in the place of God in so many ways. (I have mentioned some and will be continuing revealing more aspects of this idol as time goes by)
I believe one of the most subtle deceptions the idol uses to protect itself is the word ‘church’ itself. I have taught where we got the word from, its original meaning and the correct use of the Greek word Ekklesia (that it doesn’t mean church, never has).
Some statements that may help. We don’t ‘go’ to church. We don’t ‘have’ church. We don’t ‘attend’ church. We are not ‘in’ church or ‘out’ of church. We don’t ‘belong’ to a church.
We ‘ARE’ the church. (old terminology) - We ‘ARE’ the assembly of the firstborn.
I have suggested that because of the history and the meaning of the word church, because of the error it represents and the confusion it brings that we simply stop using the word.
While it seems to be a very simple suggestion it has been met with different reactions like “you are just word playing” or “does it really matter what we call it” or even spiritualized comments like “the Lord knows what I mean when I say church”. What these comments actually do is dismiss the whole revelation about the idol instead of engaging it.
What do people mean when they say things like “I love Jesus and I am still going to go to church like I always have done”. Well they are actually dismissing the Love of Jesus from delivering them from the power of the idol. When people don’t want to change they pre-empt their statements with things like “I love Jesus” or “Jesus knows my heart” or “Jesus knows what I mean”.
Is ‘church’ planting scriptural
Is church planting in the Bible? Have you ever researched this without a church planting mindset? Did Jesus say “go and plant churches”? We have attributed the Apostle Paul as the greatest ‘church planter’ – did he actually plant churches? If not what did he actually do? We attribute the gift of Apostle to church planting. Did the Apostles plant churches? If our mindset of church planting is incorrect what do we do to get back to the commission of Jesus?
I have planted numerous churches over around 30 years of ministry, I have trained people to plant churches, I have been involved in a senior leadership role of a church planting movement. When the Lord spoke to me and said “Church planting isn’t in the Bible” I was shocked but then soon realized there are actually no scriptures that talk about church planting.
The great commission is to “go into all the world and make disciples” – not plant churches.
Matt 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-18, Matt 10: etc
There is NO command, NO scripture where Jesus said to go plant churches rather go preach the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the body of Christ’s commission to proclaim the gospel and make disciples. As we do this He said I will build my assembly.
It is very simple, if we plant churches the emphasis is on the church. If we proclaim the gospel the emphasis is all about Jesus and people.
If the emphasis is planting a church its all about how we go about this – what musicians do we have, what leaders do we need, what Sunday school class is needed, the building, the advertising, the signs etc. We put an advert in the paper or door knock to let everyone know a new church is in town. What sort of ‘programs’ will we use to attract people. How are we going to be ‘relevant’ to our community? There are many, many programs available from the ‘church’ that successfully used a program that ‘grew’ their church.
We attend church growth seminars, seminars on how to break through to the next level (of the membership role), we do everything we can and strive to get our church filled with bums on seats. We get to 500 members and now we can attend the 500 club to learn how to get to the next level. Church planting in the west is all about the organization, the success of numbers, how well we perform and the achievement of ‘building a church’.
Conversely Jesus said go preach about the Kingdom (not preach how to get a better lifestyle) – make disciples – I will give you power to heal the sick, cast out demon’s – I will validate what you says by signs following. In scripture, the result of this is that those that got saved assembled together for prayer, worship and fellowship. The intent was for people to be saved and delivered from bondage not sign up for church membership.
Have a church planting mindset - the emphasis is on the church.
Have a gospel mindset – the emphasis on people.
You say well the church helps people in lots of ways – yes, so do hundreds of other humanistic organizations helping people in their need while Jesus delivers people out of their bondage.
I am coming from a ‘Pentecostal’ standpoint here (I got saved in a Pentecostal assembly and have ministered mostly in that stream) – let me ask you when was the last time you saw someone delivered from demons in ‘church’. When was the last time you saw a miracle, healing, sign or wonder done in ‘church’. When was the last time you saw someone truly repent and get converted in ‘church’ (not just say a little prayer).
The answer for many, sadly, is many years ago. Why, because the idol has infiltrated the Pentecostal assemblies and shut the power of the gospel down. It has become more about the idol than the gospel of Jesus.
For most churches the program goes like this – 3 fast songs, 3 slow songs, 10 minutes of an offering, 15 minutes of announcements, 20 minutes of a lifestyle sermon, sing a song and go to the coffee shop – and we call that the power of the Gospel designed to save people and set them free – no this is designed to build a club we call church.
Now don’t get mad at me for saying the way it is – you may remember when you went excitedly to meetings where the presence and power of God was so real, now all that is real is the smell of coffee wafting in.
You may be a pastor or leader wondering why God has left – its because you let the idol in.
You may say well I still feel the presence of God in my church – I’m not talking about an emotional kick because the music is good I am talking about the manifest presence of God present and His power being displayed as people earnestly seek Him. (and forget about the coffee)
Did the Apostles, including Paul, plant churches – the short answer is no. When Paul talked about planting he was talking about the Word of God. Again there is NO scripture that talks about church planting. It is a term conjured up probably by the idol to recreate itself. There are a number of scriptures that can be used out of context to prove church planting should be pursued but in context they fail to convince.
This is not an exhaustive study to refute all the scriptures used to promote church planting so please do a study yourself and you will see it very plainly. (see below for scriptural examples used in a church planting manual – note how these can only be interpreted as plating church scriptures if you already have that mindset – they don’t actually indicate church planting rather the spreading of the Gospel.)
You may say well churches were planted and visited by Paul and the other Apostles, elders were set in place, letters written to the churches etc etc.
The truth is that the ‘result of’ Paul and others preaching the Gospel with signs and wonders was that people were saved and delivered. They began to assemble together to encourage one another, break bread, to teach the word etc from house to house, in the temple at the riverside etc. Their motivation was to see the Kingdom established on Earth, not build churches. It wasn’t even in their thinking – their mindset was not to create an organization (Jesus never said I will build my organization) It was to see an organism called the Gospel flow into every corner of the world. As that happened the Apostles and leaders went and strengthened the assemblies.
Rev. Sam Pascoe’s short version of the history of Christianity goes like this:
Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship;
it moved to Greece and became a philosophy;
it moved to Italy and became an institution;
it moved to Europe and became a culture;
it came to America (the west) and became an enterprise.
Churchianty is not Christianity – churchianity is all about the church, Christianity is all about Christ.
I can define either by one statement – who gets the glory of what is done – the Church or Christ. Who is promoted the church or Christ.
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Taken from a church planting manual.
Why plant churches
JESUS TOLD US TO DO IT.
Matt. 28:19,20. “Go therefore and make disciples....baptising them...teaching
them to observe all things I have commanded....”
We cannot effectively make disciples and teach them the commands of Christ
outside a church setting.
An evangelistic campaign declares the gospel. It brings people to a place of
decision but it doesn't fully teach them all the things that Jesus commanded
us. This can only be done in a church setting.
When properly understood we see that the Great Commission is specifically a
commission about Church Planting.
2. THE EARLY CHURCH SET THE PRECEDENT.
Throughout the book of Acts, we see that whenever the disciples went about
fulfilling the Great Commission, they planted churches.
Illustrations
i) Acts 8:5-12 Philip plants a church in Samaria.
ii) Acts 9:1-2,19 Believers had planted a church in Damascus.
iii) Acts 9:31 By now there were churches throughout all Judea, Galilee and
Samaria.
iv) Acts 9:32-35 A church was planted in Lydda.
v)Acts 10:24-48 Peter established a Gentile church in Caesarea.
vi) Acts 11:19-26 The persecuted believers planted churches in Phoenicia,
Cyprus and Antioch.
vii) Acts 13:2 - 14:28 Paul's first missionary journey - the biggest single
church planting venture up to that point.
viii) Acts 15:40 - 18:23 Paul's second missionary journey - all to do with
church planting and strengthening existing churches.
ix) Acts 18:24 - 21:25 Paul's third missionary journey - again he planted new
churches and strengthened established ones.
I would have to say that you can poke huge holes in this whole presupposition
I would love to hear about your comments.