Thirsty4Truth

It has been a couple of years since I left the church, and the reason I left was because I discovered that they were not teaching what the Bible was teaching. I ended up going to several different churches, but I discovered that each church had their own set of man-made rules. I just could not understand why the church would require me to do these certain things when Jesus would never require anyone to follow these kind of silly rules.

Now I'm talking about dress codes, and other rituals which just are not found in the Bible.

Every time I mentioned it to anyone I would always get an answer like: "There's no such thing as a perfect church", "The Bible commands that we go to church", or "You have to focus on the good things within the church", and the one to top it off, "If you can't submit yourself to the church, how can you submit to God?"

I'm going to be honest and openly admit, that there were many times those lines would make me feel guilty, especially the latter one. But at the same time, every time I began to consider going back to church I got this heavy feeling in my heart and so I just couldn't get myself to go.

So instead of warming up the pews on Sunday morning I decided to plop myself in front of the internet every night and listened to online sermons. I was at the point where I didn't know who to trust anymore so I took a chance with the online ministries. Of course I always had my Bible in front of me and I always double checked what I was being taught.

After several months of intense Bible studying, God began to open my eyes. I realized that He wants us to go to church, but at the same time He forbids us to serve man-made rules. Jesus made it very clear during his ministry that we cannot serve two masters.

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matt. 6:24.

So what are we to do? Stay at home and wait for the perfect church to come along? To be honest I do believe that we are to fellowship with others, even though a perfect church will never exist here on earth. So then it shouldn't matter which church we go to, right? WRONG!

We need to find a church which strives for perfection, and seeks to find the truth no matter what the cost.

Let me explain.

Suppose there are two churches and you love both of them dearly. You have friends in both and frequently visit both churches, and you hold their teachings to be true.

But suppose each church has 5 teachings which are contrary to the Bible. You don't know this, and neither does the preacher, or anyone within the church. Every Sunday you get together and worship God whole-heartedly.

The Bible says that God will not hold you accountable for the sins which you commit unknowingly. So if the preacher unknowingly teaches something contrary to the Bible, and you follow him in those teachings, God will hold neither you, or the preacher accountable for it. So you have nothing to worry about.

But let's say that one day someone, (an atheist perhaps), brings it to your attention that "The Three Wisemen" don't exist in the Bible. Both churches which you attend teach that there were three wisemen which came to see Jesus. So you search the Bible high and low and cannot find them anywhere.

So you decide to call the first Preacher and ask him if he can help you find the passage that states that there were three wisemen which came to see Jesus. While you are on the phone with him, he gets his Bible and looks up some scripture, but he cannot find the passage anywhere.

"OH my goodness!" he exclaims, "all this time I have been teaching that there were three wisemen who came to see Jesus, but it is not in the Bible! I must call the elders of the church and we must study it and look into it some more. How about I let you know on Sunday morning about our findings?"

On Sunday morning he begins his sermon with an apology, clarifying that the three wisemen do not exist in the Bible and that the song "We Three Kings" will no longer be sung within the church. He makes a promise that he and his elders will go over the church teachings and doctrines to make sure there are no other false teachings being taught. He also makes a request of the congregation to examine the teachings of the church to make sure that they line up with the Bible.

You then bring it to the attention of the second Preacher and he simply replies, "You know, you are right. The three wisemen do not exist in the Bible. The reason we are teaching that is probably because there were three gifts. So perhaps there were three, we really don't know."

He doesn't really make a big deal about it, and the children continue singing the "We Three Kings" song. He tells you that it really doesn't matter how many there were, and that God won't care if we say there were three.

So which church service will you continue to go attend? Which preacher is sincere about his teachings?

I tell you God could not care less as to how many wise men we say there were, but he cares about the sincerity of the heart. I can almost guarantee that if the first preacher continues on with his sincerity that one day God will reveal to him the other false teachings because he humbled himself. But the second preacher will go on to preach lies and will never come to repentance because he just buried his talents that were given to him.

The group led by the first preacher is the kind of fellowship group we need to take part in, even though it is not perfect and there are still teachings within that church that do not line up with the Bible. But at least there is the sincerity towards God in the sense that when He opens one's eyes to the truth, the preacher and the congregation repent.

But the second preacher does not care about what God has said in the Bible, and even if God revealed to him his other errors he would not listen and continue teaching what he has always taught. But most likely God would not show him any other errors because he failed to correct his teaching.

So let me ask you, how many preachers do you know today who are willing to change their doctrines? Most preachers (especially those belonging to certain denominations) would lose their jobs if they began preaching anything else than what they are told to preach.

Many openly admit that they do not teach what the Bible says, but if they were to change their sermons they would lose their ministry, or half of the congregation.

So I ask myself, "Is this the kind of church that God wants us to take part in, to fellowship with these half-hearted Christians?" Absolutely not! God wants nothing less than a whole-hearted Christian, and it is better to worship God alone, than to be under the influence of half-hearted Christians.

Jesus preached the truth, and yes, He lost many followers because He was so straightforward, but He never lost His ministry.

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32.

"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Rev. 18:4.