Image: Kenn Stilger, Heavnly Photos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>It would be very easy to post a very long list of reasons why I hate going to church, but the main reason is that \u201cgoing to Church\u201d is a sad excuse for \u201cbeing the Church\u201d and those who follow Christ are called to be the Church, not to attend one.<\/span>
In other words, \u201cgoing to Church\u201d involves having a meeting\u00a0about<\/em>\u00a0Jesus. Whereas \u201cbeing the Church\u201d involves meeting\u00a0with<\/em>\u00a0Jesus and allowing Him to do the speaking, the teaching, the leading and the directing.\u00a0<\/span>
Going to Church is about assigning people specific functions, and often involves compensating them financially to do so, while the majority of people sit and observe them.<\/span>
<\/p>\nBeing the Church involves every single person using the gifts that God has provided them with to serve one another, where no one person is considered greater or smarter or more spiritual than anyone else. In fact, we\u2019re all equally miserable apart from Christ, so our desire to meet with Him and to hear from Him is magnified because we understand that without Him leading us, and teaching us, and speaking to us, we are completely hopeless.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jesus did not die for an organization or a business model. Jesus died for a people (ekklesia) that He could call His own. He wants relationship. He wants love. He wants to be known.<\/p>\n
Most of us can relate to that.<\/p>\n
God made us with the ability to know Him, and even placed a craving within us to seek Him out.<\/p>\n
He is not far away. He wants us to find Him.<\/p>\n
This is exactly what\u00a0the New Covenant was all about\u00a0\u2013 \u201cI will be their God and they will be my people<\/em>.\u201d [Hebrews 8:10]\n<\/p>What people need most today is not religion. They do not need another Church. They need connection. They need to meet the God who would rather die than live without them.<\/p>\n
Forget going to Church. Go to Jesus. Be the Church. Embrace your identity as the Bride that Jesus died to redeem.<\/p>\n
Learn to hear His voice. He wants to speak to you. He wants you to experience the kind of life you could only dream about. That life is found only through knowing Jesus.<\/p>\n
**<\/p>\n
Keith Giles is a former pastor who left the pulpit 11 years ago to start a church that gives away 100% of the offering to the poor in their community.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nHis\u00a0new book\u00a0\u201cJesus Unbound: Liberating the Word of God from the Bible\u201d,\u00a0is\u00a0available now on Amazon and features a Foreword by author Brian Zahnd.<\/em><\/p>\nHe is also the author of the Amazon best-seller,\u00a0\u201cJesus Untangled: Crucifying Our Politics To Pledge Allegiance To The Lamb\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\nKeith also co-hosts the\u00a0Heretic Happy Hour Podcast\u00a0on iTunes and Podbean. He and his wife live in Meridian, Idaho.<\/em><\/p>\nBONUS: Want to unlock exclusive content including blog articles, short stories, music, podcasts, videos and more? Visit my\u00a0Patreon page.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It would be very easy to post a very long list of reasons why I hate going to church, but the main reason is that \u201cgoing to Church\u201d is a sad excuse for \u201cbeing the Church\u201d and those who follow Christ are called to be the Church, not to attend one.In other words, \u201cgoing to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3089,"featured_media":2064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ekklesia","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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