In my other active thread If not Hell then what? the topic has somehow turned from alternitives to Hell to speaking about my desision to leave my old Church, When I would not shun my wife before the congergation for her struggle with Drug use.
One question was asked Who was right? The church who asked me to stand up and publically denounce my wife's 'sins.' -or- me who went up rooted my family and went to another church. I answered that is was not a matter of right and wrong. It was a matter of deciding to stay with in the rules of a religous social club, or moving on. I identified this conflict as a matter of following the rules of a religious social club, and not the actions of a Biblically centered Church because there wasn't any direct scriptural command to do what they insisted I do. Matter of fact they asked me to put the club before my wife which is in direct violation of 1 tim 5:8 where tim basically says a man should take care of his family first, or he is worse off than an unbeliever. By ratting my wife out to the congergation, it would have made it all but impossiable for her to have attended there. Meaning she would have lost the foundation of the belief in God that has since seen her through to recovery.
I know this is all hind sight now, and I can say I made the right desision, but then I was a very difficult desision to make. What made the desision easier was the scriptural violation the Church leadership had to press through in order to tell me to ignore my primary oblgation to my wife in favor of up holding tradition and appearences. what it might look like if other members found out that the former Singles Minister wife was a Heavy use Herion addict, and he has not come forth to share this trial with the whole church.
Now because of this violation and appeal to tradition/appearances over scripture i was able to discern the actions of the church leadership as those of men who were protecting a social setting, rather than those of spiritual medics who are looking to triage a mortally wounded member of the Body. After all it is Christ who tells us it is the Sinful who need the 'Doctors.' Making the Chruch a hospitle for the sinful, and not a showcase for self proclaimed 'saints.'
Which brought me back to a very basic desision. Did I want to worship God in a place who strived to model worship after the example out lined in the bible, or did I want to be apart of a God centered social group that I help build? In essence did I want to worship God, or did i want to worship the Method of worshiping God? In the end I chose to worship God, and not the confortable way I had always worshiped God.
I believe we in this life will be asked this basic question in many different ways. We will worship, ourselves (our want a desires to sin) or God. Will we worship our culture or God. Will we worship money or God, Will we worship our comforts and habbits or God? Will we worship our religious practices, or God...
I that last question I have found 'religion' to be a doubled edged sword. It cuts both ways. In the beginning it can cut you an easy path to find and worship God through it's grandure and traditions, but at the same time there will come a point where the need to maintain that grandure and tradition will ulitmatly keep you from growing any further, or as in most of your experiences it will cut you off from God completely. Why? Because most of you have not learned to seperate Religion from a personal relationship with God. For most of you (From what you all have told me of your experiences) your personal relationships with God was only ever developed or worked on in Church. Meaning your religious activities was your only outreach to God. Making your religion the only link you had to God. and when that religion failed you, it meant God failed you. In reality the only thing that fail is man's traditions and understandings of worship.
The only difference between me and most of you is I sought God beyond the bounds of my religion. Because I did not want some 'man' to talk to God for me, nor did i want some 'man' to tell me how to talk to God. I wanted God to tell me and God to show me. Through the fire and heart ache of life He did. Seeking God beyond the confines of religion is not something everyone need do. In fact one should only do this if he/she has found their religion lacking in someway.
One question was asked Who was right? The church who asked me to stand up and publically denounce my wife's 'sins.' -or- me who went up rooted my family and went to another church. I answered that is was not a matter of right and wrong. It was a matter of deciding to stay with in the rules of a religous social club, or moving on. I identified this conflict as a matter of following the rules of a religious social club, and not the actions of a Biblically centered Church because there wasn't any direct scriptural command to do what they insisted I do. Matter of fact they asked me to put the club before my wife which is in direct violation of 1 tim 5:8 where tim basically says a man should take care of his family first, or he is worse off than an unbeliever. By ratting my wife out to the congergation, it would have made it all but impossiable for her to have attended there. Meaning she would have lost the foundation of the belief in God that has since seen her through to recovery.
I know this is all hind sight now, and I can say I made the right desision, but then I was a very difficult desision to make. What made the desision easier was the scriptural violation the Church leadership had to press through in order to tell me to ignore my primary oblgation to my wife in favor of up holding tradition and appearences. what it might look like if other members found out that the former Singles Minister wife was a Heavy use Herion addict, and he has not come forth to share this trial with the whole church.
Now because of this violation and appeal to tradition/appearances over scripture i was able to discern the actions of the church leadership as those of men who were protecting a social setting, rather than those of spiritual medics who are looking to triage a mortally wounded member of the Body. After all it is Christ who tells us it is the Sinful who need the 'Doctors.' Making the Chruch a hospitle for the sinful, and not a showcase for self proclaimed 'saints.'
Which brought me back to a very basic desision. Did I want to worship God in a place who strived to model worship after the example out lined in the bible, or did I want to be apart of a God centered social group that I help build? In essence did I want to worship God, or did i want to worship the Method of worshiping God? In the end I chose to worship God, and not the confortable way I had always worshiped God.
I believe we in this life will be asked this basic question in many different ways. We will worship, ourselves (our want a desires to sin) or God. Will we worship our culture or God. Will we worship money or God, Will we worship our comforts and habbits or God? Will we worship our religious practices, or God...
I that last question I have found 'religion' to be a doubled edged sword. It cuts both ways. In the beginning it can cut you an easy path to find and worship God through it's grandure and traditions, but at the same time there will come a point where the need to maintain that grandure and tradition will ulitmatly keep you from growing any further, or as in most of your experiences it will cut you off from God completely. Why? Because most of you have not learned to seperate Religion from a personal relationship with God. For most of you (From what you all have told me of your experiences) your personal relationships with God was only ever developed or worked on in Church. Meaning your religious activities was your only outreach to God. Making your religion the only link you had to God. and when that religion failed you, it meant God failed you. In reality the only thing that fail is man's traditions and understandings of worship.
The only difference between me and most of you is I sought God beyond the bounds of my religion. Because I did not want some 'man' to talk to God for me, nor did i want some 'man' to tell me how to talk to God. I wanted God to tell me and God to show me. Through the fire and heart ache of life He did. Seeking God beyond the confines of religion is not something everyone need do. In fact one should only do this if he/she has found their religion lacking in someway.
