Participation in "Church Activities"
Answer these questions:
- How many
"church activities" do people want you to take part in?
- How many
"church activities" does God command you to take part in?
You do have an obligation to follow
Jesus. This means...
- Worship God
- with other Christians (when possible), in spirit and in truth, but not
necessarily in any specific location.
- Pray
(talk to God).
- Grow in
your understanding and knowledge of God's Word, the Bible.
- Let the
Bible influence each decision you make.
- Let the
Bible define your values in each area of life.
- Be a
light - a godly influence - in the world, seven days a week.
- Build-up
and encourage other Christians.
- Love God
and neighbor (including those who choose to be enemies).
- Use your
gifts and abilities for the benefit of others (rather than selfishly).
- Humble
yourself in the presence of your God - and let that humility affect the way you
interact with other people.
- Live a
pure life.
- Condemn sin
and hypocrisy (starting with any sin and hypocrisy that may exist in your own
life).
- [Many
other things...]
But you have no obligation to...
- Participate
in any "church (or religious) activity" that God does not require you to
participate in!
Your job is to build up God's people (which God calls the "church").
You have no obligation to build up a man-made institution (which many
people wrongly call the "church").
If you want to participate in some of the programs and activities that the
man-made institution has invented, you are free to do so - provided they don't
interfere with anything you have a
genuine obligation to do. Otherwise, leave those things to the "church
goers" who don't mind being "religious," but who have no serious desire to
follow Jesus. They can take care of those man-made programs, which build up the
man-made "church." You, in contrast, can focus on the things they can't
take care of: building up the "church" that God created!
Dennis Hinks © 2004
080109