Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Revelation Vs. Theology

12:00 PM by Christi Bowman

Has the Spirit ever whispered into your ear His revelation? You would know it if He had; it would have wrecked your theology!

My problem with institutional church is not with the people that attend; my problem is with its inability to acknowledge revelation. Institutional church, by its very nature, squelches the Holy Spirit. Institutional church, no matter what its belief system, is unwilling to consider that some of what it teaches may be off on a profound level and Biblically unfounded; and yet the Bible allows for human error in interpretation because it states that we all know in part (I Cor 13.) If the Bible predicts and accepts error in interpretation why doesn't the institutional church allow for different points of view within its midst? And by allow I mean healthy, open, and continuous dialogue and discussion without angry barrages, belittlement, and/or silence.

I am not saying that the people who attend institutional church are individually unwilling to discuss and at times acknowledge flaws in teaching and core beliefs. However, I am saying that collectively, as a group, the institutional church chooses to align itself with a particular theology for power and/or safety, and it refuses to change its theology even when pressure is applied via the Holy Spirit.

It is not wrong to interpret Scripture in the way you believe the Holy Spirit has whispered its interpretation into your ear. The Bible does not say that you shall know a Christian by how he interprets Scripture or by a Christian's doctrine. The Bible says that Christians will be known by their love and by their fruit. Is your interpretation of Scripture changing you to be more like Christ (Galatians 5:22-23?) God leaves room for error in interpretation; Why doesn't the church? It should not anger the members of an institutional church when another member is given an interpretation of scripture by the Holy Spirit that does not fit with the jive of that institutional church; nor should a different expression of faith other that what is considered "normal" be met with hostility.

What is normal?

God is limitless. Become what you believe (Matthew 9.)

We are the ones who place limits on God!

Why does it stir up so much anger, apprehension, and tension when brothers and sisters are able, through promptings of the Holy Spirit, to personally remove the limits on God that their institutional church has collectively and traditionally decided to keep intact? Removing limits stirs up such bitter emotions because the institutional church is determined and collectively able, with power beyond our understanding (Ephesians 6:11-13), to religiously defend the limits on God that they have chosen to place upon Him.

I will acknowledge that people's hearts, for the most part, are in the right place, but what I will not give most people is that their interpretation of scripture is a Spirit led interpretation given to them by God. I am not arguing that most Christians do not read their Bible, but what I am arguing is that most Christians only read their Bible from their denominational (or nondenominational) point of view. There is Biblical precedent for Jesus followers only being able to read and understand Scripture in the way they had been taught by man to do so, and their is Biblical precedent for the fact that reading the Scriptures in such a way blinded those Jesus followers from understanding Jesus' central purpose (Luke 24:13-35.)

Rob Bell makes this point beautifully in his new book "Jesus Wants to Save Christians"

"In Jesus' day, people could read, study, and discuss the Scriptures their entire lives and still miss its central message. In Jesus' day, people could follow Him, learn from Him, drop everything to be his disciples and yet find themselves returning home, thinking Jesus had failed. Which is a bit like walking with someone for hours, only to discover that you had missed who they really are the whole time."

It is dangerous and it stunts the spiritual development of Christians when they mold Scripture to their man derived theology. Only the Spirit, through Jesus. can open the eyes of men to the Scriptures, but we as Christians must be open and willing to let Jesus rewrite what we believe onto our hearts. If we come to the Scriptures arrogantly only to prove that what we believe is right and we refuse to listen, and be taught by God Himself, we will learn nothing of what the Spirit has for us, and the institutional church will forever be an intimidating place. Marilynne Robinson in "The Death of Adam" writes:

"We routinely disqualify testimony that would plead for extenuation. That is, we are so persuaded of the rightness of our judgment as to invalidate evidence that does not confirm us in it. Nothing that deserves to be called truth could ever be arrived at by such a means."

I have put a lot of thought into my decision to leave the institutional church, and my choice to end institutional church's influence on my journey has not been made lightly. I am not leaving because I think that the people who remain a part of the institutional church are wrong and that I am right. I am the first to admit that I do not hold the corner market on truth. I am leaving because of its unwillingness to change and its blind acceptance of status quo. I am not pointing the finger at any one individually. I hold responsible the monster that is group thinking.

I do my best to work out my salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13) and to work out my salvation I need to proclaim on the roof what He whispers in my ear (Mat 10:26-28.) That is one way I test the spirits (I John 4:1.) I desire for my proclamations to be met with love, understanding, and grace. I want to feel safe, protected, and encouraged to grow and change . I would like the church to be willing to acknowledge that we all know in part and to recognize that we should all be seeking sanctification all the time; I also wish that she would act on that recognition. Sanctification is growing and growing is changing. The institutional church is stagnant because of the few and the powerful and because of the many who just don't have it in them to put up the good fight alone...but then again our fight is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:11-13.)

I am done with the institutional church because it divides. Paul urges the church in Romans 16:17-18 "to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people." It is my belief that the institutional church does put obstacles in my way that are contrary to the teaching that I have learned from the Holy Spirit. I believe that it puts up divisions between God and man. I believe that it tries to usurp the authority of God in my life by telling me what is proper to believe and what is not. I have been naive for way to long. I believe that the Institutional church is serving its own appetite...its appetite to be right. An appetite to be right is a quest for power. A quest for power is the building of empire, and the building of empire is one thing the church should have never gotten herself involved in.

Paul tells Timothy, in 1 Tim 4:16, to watch his life and doctrine closely; in verse 13 of that same chapter Paul tells Timothy to "give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine." Giving attendance to something means to apply yourself to it. Paul was telling Timothy to apply himself to reading Scripture, to praying, and to doctrine, which is teaching; but apply himself to the teaching of whom? If, while you are reading scripture and praying, you are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, you will receive your teaching from the Word which is Jesus and there is precedent for that. I John 2:27 says that we don't need a man to teach us because Jesus will teach us all things and Matthew 23:7-9 tells us to call no one rabbi or father.

The institutional church is full of wannabe rabbis and teachers of a man made religion that avalanches itself through generation after generation unchecked. This man made religion has been forced upon people and if the people have refused what the church has been selling then those people have been forced out. Where is the fruit in that? Where are the healers who draw the broken in rather than push them out? Where are the prophets who cast a clear vision of the hope of God's saving love rather than visions of despair? Where are the teachers who prefer to guide people in the discernment of the voice of God rather than push their own agenda? Where are the encouragers who would rather build people up as they process what the Spirit is telling them rather than tearing them down if it doesn't line up with institutional church doctrine?

Eugene Peterson eloquently paraphrases Jesus for the time in which we live in Matthew 23:4-7:

"Instead of giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn't think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called 'Doctor' and 'Reverend.'

WHAT HAVE WE DONE?!?!

We have created a situation where people only believe they are hearing the voice of God if what they are hearing lines up with the theology that we have taught them...we have limited God and truly created Him in our own image and that WREAKS of heresy. If God reveals His heart in Scripture to a person today and it does not line up with our doctrine than the voice of God becomes an evil spirit and the very people God has tried to awaken turn a deaf ear. I am done promoting that heresy in any way even if it just by walking through the church's doors. It is a scary day to hear the voice of God in today's church because although He may love her He is very angry with her! He is not in agreement with her and He is aware that He is not the God she serves nor has He been for a very long time!!!

"If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word."
- Jesus (Matthew 8:54-55)

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