The people who have trusted Christ and have been changed into a new creation by Christ are the church. The Church is not a place to go or a system of rituals. People are the church: those transformed by Christ and in whom He lives. Our modern "paid-pastor" system was never God's intent. He told us to gather to edify one another as encouragement to live out our devotion to Christ in our lives after we leave the gathering.
Those who are the church are those who have been transformed by Christ and in whom He lives until He takes us home.
1 Corinthians 14:26 "What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up."
Rituals hinder spiritual and emotional maturity. They become a source of pride that makes us feel superior. Those who follow ritual and expect others to do so also are not following Christ; they are following traditions of men.
Mark 7:13 "13 thereby invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”
Colossians 2:8 "8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ."
Hebrews 13:9 "Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods of no value to those devoted to them."
Ephesians 4:14 "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming."
Galatians 1:6-9 "I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse!"
1 Corinthians 1:20-25 "Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom."
Many people are unconcerned about false doctrine in the church, treating it as just disagreements that can be ignored. Unfortunately, this is not true. Christ's Word is the very essence of Who He is, and every word is important; this is why we must strive to understand, asking God to inform us of truth as we read. When we are in error, we must recognize and abandon it.
