“Dear Peter,” , but just hold on and let me first tell you about Peter;
Recently, I received an email from Peter (name changed), a reader of this blog and I quote (with his permission) an excerpt from the email;
“…I have been following your blog for some time now. I left the institutional church early this year and I have been asking God to meet with brethren outside the system before God led me to stumble upon your blog. I was wondering whether we can meet sometime next week maybe for lunch and chat a bit?…”
After this email, we got to meet with Peter and shared on our journeys outside institutional Christianity together with his friend with whom we have also become friends and from that point started communicating. Sometime last week, Peter sent me a link, “wolves in sheep’s clothing” where there are discussions on experiences with a group/movement that he had been a part of in Nairobi and wanted to know what I thought.
I read through the post and the subsequent comments from various readers and the following is my response to Peter on what I thought. I asked Peter whether he minds if I did the response as a post here to which he said he did not mind, so here goes;
“….. As I read through the post and subsequent comments, one of the things that went through my mind is the similarities of some negative characteristics of the group, as shared in the comments, with traits of a group I was myself a part of at some point in my journey.
This made me ponder how much the problems faced by saints in most groups has less to do with doctrine and more to do with an age old tactic of the enemy. This tactic (we are not ignorant of his devices(2 cor 2:11)) which he has used on Christians for ages has been, MIXTURE; mixing that which is of the spirit with that which is of the flesh. The scriptures are very clear that the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free(Gal 4:30).
Similarly, the plan of God , the eternal purpose in His Son shall not be apprehended in the flesh. I believe that most of the movements originate from the spirit, but somewhere along the way, the “Galatians’ phenomenon” (Gal 3:3) set in. That shall not make the cut – only that which is born of the Spirit overcomes the world.
What is the solution?
In my opinion, the solution is not in looking for the group that most accurately represents the right doctrine as this in time becomes a mirage; for the kingdom of God is neither here nor there, “…the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21).
The solution therefore is in getting to know the Kingdom within, that is the previously hidden mystery, which has now been revealed through the apostles, “Christ in you, the hope of glory”(Col 1:26&27). This Christ in us cannot be known by the canal mind (intellectually), He is a Spirit and true worshipers of God must worship Him in Spirit and in truth (He’s also the Truth).
The normal human tendency is to once we receive revelation, our un-renewed minds (read flesh) wants to take it up and run with it. God’s way however is that we reckon ourselves dead to the flesh and alive in the spirit letting the spirit be in charge of our response. This process of dethroning the flesh is wrought by the cross which is not very acceptable to the flesh and hence most want to avoid it.
My thinking however is that all children of God ought to give themselves to the knowing of their Lord in their spirit, and denying their fleshly desires that are patterned after the ways of this world (Rom 12:2), and embrace the way of the cross as Jesus taught, “…If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23). This lived out daily will gradually, but surely acquaint the individual believer with the voice of the Shepherd and will be able to recognize that voice through whichever vessel He chooses to guide through.
On the other hand, he/she will as easily discern any other voice as not being of the Shepherd and not follow; for the thief comes , but to steal, kill and destroy, but the Shepherd came that we may have Life (John 10:10).
In short, what I am saying is that we who believe in Christ ought to give ourselves to the knowing of our Lord deeply by His Spirit (Heb 8:8-11), for in knowing Him, we have Life (1John 5:20) and we’ll get to a place in Him where we are not swayed by every wind of doctrine because He has become our All (Eph 1:23). The good news is that our Father wants us to know Him more than we’d think – It has pleased Him to give us the kingdom. (Lk 12:32)”
Dear reader, do you have experiences and/or insights that would help brethren trapped in man made religion escape to their God given liberty? Please feel free to share here.
Your brother,
Patrick
Life beyond the walls 
Hi Patrick. Very interesting thoughts you have highlighted here. Two things stood out for me “…the slave woman and her son not inheriting with the free woman and her son….” and the other thought is “…the kingdom of God is within you”. These are the two core issue that religion propagates…that a “works” driven belief system can co-exist with a “faith” based belief system.They cannot.In the Kingdom, “Being” always precedes “Doing”….Relationship precedes Productivity.No wonder Jesus said “Without me you can do nothing….” .The second major thought is that religion teaches you NEED another MAN to go before God on our behalf when Jesus abolished that need in His death and resurrection as the only mediator between God and man and he even says we will talk to God without Him as a mediator in John 16:26-27.God wants us to know we are ONE Spirit with Him and we ARE JUST LIKE JESUS – 1 Cor 6:17, 1 John 4:17.May God liberate all believers on these two fronts.
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Very well said Daniel,
“being” always precedes “doing”…..and relationship precedes productivity”.
Thank you for reading and sharing.
Blessings,
Patrick
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Patrick,
WOW. I was really blown away but what you had to say. I (personally) love going to church, I am a people person and enjoy that time so much when I can spend it with like minded people on a weekly basis. With that being said, since I moved I haven’t found a church home and so have been just spending a lot of one on one time with the Lord. My husband and I are in the middle of a transitional period and until he is with me I am not planning on really finding a church home. I have always been the kind of person who thought you HAVE to go to the church building (no matter what the building is) but you need that time with a preacher. Now past of me still agrees with that, I feel there are preachers for a reason and you have to make sure you are searching for one that puts GOD first so that their message is true. But for the time being I am really liking this place I am at with Christ. Thank you for what your blog has to say on this matter!
Christine
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I really like what you say, “…I am really liking this place I am at with Christ”. Our calling as Christians is to follow Christ wherever He leads us. That will take different forms at different times including being in regular church meetings and sometimes extended times without meaningful interaction with other believers. Whatever forms that path of following Him takes, there is a promise that He’ll never leave us nor forsake us – our responsibility is to keep our eyes on Him who is the author and the finisher of our faith.
Having said that, I personally have no problem in principle with attending church once a week and listening to the preacher. My issue with that is to the extent that tradition becomes the center around which my faith revolves, and hence hindering instead of enhancing my following Him.
I believe that both the tradition of weekly church services and the preaching are a means to an end in that they ought to lead us to Christ. This is similar to what we have in the old covenant where the temple was a shadow of the believer as the temple of the Holy Spirit; and the teachers and the prophets spoke about Jesus Christ. This shadowing was until Jesus Christ, the reality came and instituted the new covenant which we are now part of. When the real/new comes, the shadow/old is done away with (Heb 8:13).
There is a lot that could be said about this, but I’ll stop there for now.
I am indeed excited for you on your journey with Him. Thank you so much for coming by, reading and taking your time to share with us.
Patrick
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