Rejecting The System

I find no fault with those who are genuinely grieved or turned off by religious Christianity and have chosen to disengage from the system and meaningless religious services or activity. For years there has been a great exodus from the established religious pattern of church services without any Kingdom focus or Kingdom power. People have grown tired of the empty worship, “three points, a prayer and a poem” sermons, as well as the constant badgering to give their money to preachers who squander and misuse it. These “deserters” have been criticized for being “rebellious” and willfully “forsaking the gathering”, but when it all comes down to it, I wouldn’t continue to engage – due to any false sense of loyalty – in that system either!

Jesus specifically rejected this system when He walked the earth and was looking for a group of people to reproduce Himself through. He carefully bypassed the established religious structures of His day in search of twelve guys who had not been corrupted by the system. My guess is that in Jesus’ reasoning, He could impart and accomplish more through a group of non-religious or semi-religious men than He could in the Pharisees, Sadducees, Rabbis and seminary students of His day. It took Jesus three years to educate and train the twelve in Kingdom technology (and they barely got it!), whereas it would have possibly taken thirty years or more to unlearn and then update those who had long been entrenched in the religious system of the day. Nicodemus stumbled to grasp the basic “born-again” principle when taught by Jesus, and he was a notable leader in the religious system (John 3:1-12).

In case you haven’t realized it by now, Jesus absolutely abhors this religious system. According to Jesus, disciples born through this system become even more twisted and corrupt than their teachers:

15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves (Matt. 23:15) .

It is much more profitable for people to stay away from the system than be corrupted by it! Jesus’ preference is either hot or cold – the luke-warmness of this religious system that believes it has it all together but doesn’t recognize its deep spiritual lack or deficiency is utterly detestable to God and will be regurgitated out of His mouth (Rev. 3:15-17)! If Jesus rejects it then we have the right to reject it as well.

I am not speaking to those people who abandon church meetings purely because of hurt, rejection, misunderstanding, misplaced priorities or just plain laziness. There are hundreds of thousands of people who willfully abandon these meetings not because of any recognition of the spiritual deficiency and corruption therein, but because of carnal reasons like the ones just described. They themselves are still part of the system and many of them still support the system by tuning into the services on television or on the internet so they can partake of their favorite preacher(s) at home. Oftentimes, these people are just carnal and rebellious, having no desire for the relationship and mutual accountability that comes from being a part of a Kingdom community. They’re satisfied with staying at home and tuning into their favorite preacher or prophet. They want the “blessing” without the commitment or responsibility. And some of them will financially support their superstar preacher(s) by sending in a “seed” purely for the entertainment value and to obtain a “blessing”. They’re just selfish and independent!

We’re not encouraging this type of people in their behavior, because whether they choose to believe it or not, most of them are still a part of the system and have not yet been unplugged, even though they refuse to physically gather. The people we are speaking to are those who can no longer stomach or tolerate the religious system as it presently is. They are consumed with a deep discontent and dissatisfaction with the present status-quo, and long for a true demonstration of God’s Kingdom in the earth. They are hungry and desperate for God and are no longer content to help build human empires or indulge themselves in meaningless religious activities. These are the people that do well to separate themselves from the system.

Please understand that while I fully endorse and encourage rejecting the religious system in its present corrupt state, I am in no way espousing the rejection of God or His people. We have to be careful in our desire to reject what God has rejected that we do not carelessly reject what God has accepted. There is absolutely no reason for any of us to be isolated and detached from God and His people. You can’t just casually resign yourself into believing that every “church” meeting or congregation is in error and be content with going it alone. There are many true Kingdom communities out there that do not function according to that old system, and it is your duty to search them out and find them. Be connected somewhere!