My wife and I have not attended a traditional church for years. Why? Some think we are not walking with God. Some ask, how can you stay in fellowship without being in a church around other believers? Some think we have gone out on a tangent and have missed the way. Some might think that there was a church problem in our past and that is why. I have been asked, “You have gifts that the body needs, why don’t you use these gifts?” I ask them, where are God’s gifts in me ONLY allowed to be used?! And, “who is in control of these gifts from God?”
The truth is, we do not fit into the so-called “traditional mainstream church” as it has become. I have never given up on the Body of Christ, just the traditional organized mainstream church. The church of today is not relevant to what I see or what I am going through, and this is why I believe the traditional church attendance is down. I have been asked why not try and change it? I do not have the time, desire or strength to do this.
What I do firmly believes is that the traditional church of American is not prepared for what is coming. They believe that God will not allow them to go through extreme suffering. Why would they think like this? Is there some place in the Bible that says that Christians will not suffer? Could it be that they think they have not done anything worthy of suffering, or just because they belong to Jesus that He will not allow them to suffer. Jesus said they if they hated Him they will hate His disciples too. Ask those believers all over the world who are suffering now; those who have died, or have had the loss of wife, husband, children and parents, the loss of everything they had saved and worked for their whole life. They suffer for their love and stand for Jesus, because they will not compromise, not deny the Lord or His Word to them.
What I have found – is if you want a relationship with Jesus it will NOT come by attending meetings. It will not come by listening to someone tell you what they learned in the Word of God. It will not come by trying to live a good life. All of my “saved” life I have had a quiet time in the Bible; about one hour every morning. Lately, one hour has not been enough. I even long for the wee hour morning now and cannot wait until 2 or 3 AM so that I can spend time with the Spirit in the Word, and in prayer. I do not regret that I am losing sleep either, as I still go to work from 7 AM to 6 PM. I am not saying this to show how “spiritual” I am. I am only saying that if people want to ‘truly’ know Him it requires time and passion.
Certainly, for the most part, traditional church leaders teach God’s Word, but there is a difference when you have the indwelling Holy Spirit talking to you from His Word each morning, rather than someone telling you about His Word. The question is: Do you want to ‘know’ Jesus or just have someone teach you about Jesus?
1 Timothy 4 says, “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith.” Why? The Lord says, “These people do not know Me or My word. They think their life is made right with Me by rules and regulations, but My faithful people will know the truth. My children’s hope is in Me, the Savior of all people. So don’t let anyone think less of you because you are different, but be an example to everyone in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.”