| Out
of
Church Christians still growing |
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Number of 'Out of Church Christians' still
growing,
And it is not just a trendy phenomena that will pass, Even though a coiner of this phrase has drawn back. Rather it's biblical to "come out from among them". And especially "in the third day he will raise us up". For there is no "them" in victory-us nor "us-ward". AD => only goes one way Love(God) of Christ constraineth us to go that way, for eventually the narrow way gets as narrow and sharp as a razor's edge, causing the better sort of two thems to go on unto perfection as one of us. For those not familiar with
the term Out of Church Christians,
nor that it's a growing phenomena, I'll use various
article pieces already written by others to make a brief summary.
Many
Christians
are leaving churches out of frustration (law frustrates the grace of
God). Congregations aren't just losing 'rebellious Christians' who
disagree with the core doctrines surrounding Christianity, or a brother
or sister that has fallen away. On the contrary, they are losing those
devout in faith in Jesus Christ, yet frustrated with the apathy and
hypocrisy that is creeping into so many churches it's like a religion machine
demanding endless warfare and sacrifice, and must be dismantled
lest it
result in bloody Armageddon or worse: non-existence. According to Gallup Polls, over
40% of 'Christians' surveyed identified themselves as unchurched
(either do not belong to an organized church or haven't attended
in six months). Christian researcher, George Barna, released findings that over 10
million 'Christians' do not attend an organized church in America.
Recent surveys also reveal that 80% of those 'saved' by evangelastic
evangelicals tend to leave such churches later, which they call
backsliding. But perhaps such folk simply see the light instead of the
light and darkness of the evangelicals. New Zealander, Andrew Strom posted aritcles on the
‘Out-of-church’ phenomenon, and is thereby credited for coining the
phrase 'Out of Church Christians'. It has now
grown so large books are being written about it by others, some in
disagreement. In fact, several years
ago I heard an estimate that there are TENS OF THOUSANDS of such
Out of Church Christians just in our largest city alone. And I believe
it is the same
across the Western nations. I have personally come into contact with
hundreds. The surprising thing is such are often the most
committed kind of Christians - praying, insightful, deep-thinking. Yet
they've grown tired of playing the blame game inside church systems and
opted out. Often their involvement goes back many years. In fact,
they've commonly been preacher's kids, church leaders and elders. And
many such have said it
was a "God out calling", perhaps in accordance with 2Cor 6:17: 2Cor 6:17 "Wherefore come out from among them, and
be ye separate, -for context 2Cor 6 notably begins
with:
"that ye receive not the grace of God
in vain" Colossians2: 20-22
"Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?" How do I begin to explain a verse like 2Cor 6:17 using both "ye" and "you", not to mention three "and"s, also two things compared therein as if law -vs- grace, except to say the Bible is allegoric. Paul often uses the comparative teaching method, as did Jesus Christ; so it is necessary to get the chapter theme and content in order to understand the moral context of any single verse, which may be sometimes also be a counter part in an overall view of both sides now, or a question instead of a statement. The chapter theme, stated in 2Cor 6:1 is: receive not the grace of God in vain. The allegoric theme is the before/after comparison of ye/you and them/us, noting come out from among "them" of them/us and then I will receive "you" of ye/you. And such involves a coming out (the word church actually means a calling out) from among "them"; which is allegory for "repent": be "changed", from ye to you, from them to us, "from faith to faith", "from glory to glory". Make the grace "run" from mtn to mtn (Sinai to Sion), even though it be through the valley of the shadow of death, when seeing you're compassed about, perhaps with worse fools, hypocrites, vipers, and blind guides than those mentioned in Mt 23, who notably sat in Moses' seat, but at least this collective child of hell(law) was under the law. For God and Son are on Mt Sion, and there's no them at all in "us" (to whom God hath given the victory), nor in us-ward the Lord is longsuffering unto, which is just us in the grace us end. Peeking into 2Cor 7:2 (for more context on 2Cor 6: 17) it's notable Paul says: receive "us", for "we" don't wrong, corrupt, nor defraud... comparing law/grace as if them/us, they/we. In the Old Testament we find the people are separated onto two mtns, shouting blessing from one and cursing from another. And the (silly) woman (allegorical for church) who is both blessed and cursed by her priest also says the first doubleminded "Amen, amen" to being blessed + cursed = accursed. The moral of such things are an allegory is to know and learn: know which is witch of grace and law, and thereby learn to bless and curse not (allegoric for grace and law not), also be angry and sin not (law not). It's ok to be angry, not ok to law. We could also look at the Goliath vs David story, two opposing sides, each having a champion, all agreeing to convert to whomever is winner take all in a dual unto the death. But in this story, unity did not happen, for some promise makers fled, and others killed them. And in the Old Testament vs New Testament, also a winner take all dual, it is to be expected those making the promise to be one with the winner take all are not promise keepers either. They want to rapture, flee, escape, instead of having unity of Spirit. But as it is written, when they say Peace & Safety (Grace & Law), what follows is the no escape sort of sudden destruction. The point is grace and law do not mix, so pick one of life and death, for both is a dead end. Do consider, if grace is, and law added, then the only plausible mixture is grace + law, which is as blessed + cursed = accursed (Gal 1:9), and as life + death = dead end (2Cor 11:15). It's dinosaurish to follow such pied pipers as groupies. Yet we find literate and educated preachers saying: you too can have partiality with an impartial God. Funny thing is, many love such lying flattery witch wrongs, corrupts, and defrauds them; almost as if being loyal to ignorance, when it plainly says: I would not that you be ignorant. It's such a childish blame game of fools, vipers, hypocrites, and blind guides, wherein those made proselyte become "more the child of hell". They impute sin for the "hell" of it, saying God bless our flock and nobody else. It's no wonder people are leaving such churches in droves, for the internet has opened the eyes of their understanding, provided enough evidence to make it evident. Seeing faith is better. Survey says tithes are down 62% in 2003. Why? Global reconciliation "unto God" is not fulfilled by "churches" nor by "them". Rather it's only global sorrows which is the product of the host of them prepared for war. Global reconciliation is unity of all as one: "us". For a serious Bible study will reveal "them" were mirrorly created, not made, and created imperfect as a comparison in a comparative teaching (shew) about what is grace, compared to what it's not: law. First Adam, male and female in which all die, is called "them" in Gen 5. And in Gen 2 the host of "them" and their plural "heavens" are finished: utterly dissolved without a trace. Raptured? No! An allegory, with a moral. A mystery to be solved in time, since there is neither mystery nor time for such in eternity. Them get finished first in Gen 2, but after the 6th day and prior to the 7th day. Go figure where such "no place" is. The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ with you all. Amen.
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