When Mary Tudor ascended the throne of England, the monarchy reverted to the Roman Catholic faith. John Bradford was one of the Reformers imprisoned in the Tower of London for his faithfulness to the Church of England.  Seeing some fellow-prisoners marched off to their execution, Bradford is said to have observed “There, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford.”

Bradford himself soon joined the ranks of the martyred in the Reformation narrative.  Though some have doubted the attribution of the saying, There but for the grace of God go I lives on in the English language as a pious cliche warning against viewing the less fortunate, the fallen, the needy, and the weak with pitiless contempt.

In recent decades a small group of “scholars”, with the help of a major television network and the aid of a few well-respected journalists, have tried to reduce Jesus of Nazareth to a cynic-sage who went about uttering wise and pithy sayings. Thanks be to God for the multitude of theologians—masters of apologetics, hermeneutics and homiletics, all with the respected Ph and D appended to their names—who have risen to defend the reliability and authority of the New Testament record! And while the great debates have raged since the Reformation and continue to this day, mainstream Christendom in the West has invested billions of dollars in budgets—real estate, buildings, clergy and staff salaries, programs—without claiming a tremendous advance of the Kingdom. The priesthood of believers has had its ears tickled and managed to keep the “unclean” at arm’s length without getting our hands dirty. Factor in the faction that has reduced Jesus’ words about seeds and harvests to a secret formula for “sow your money into my ministry and your ship will be coming in because God is just waiting for you to re-leassse your seed so He can release your harvest”.  I’m sure I left out more than one sideshow, but step back and behold the circus—yes the Big Tent of Christendom. The Greatest Story Ever Told or the Greatest Show on Earth?

If you’ve ever had an atheist confront you with how much evil has been done in the world in the name of Christianity (the martyrdom of John Bradford being just one example), then you know going to the circus doesn’t equip you to defend your faith. All the arguments we make from scripture, all the doctrines we cobble together with proof texts, all the benevolences we make from a sterile distance turn to sawdust when a band of celebrities turns out to stage a benefit concert that temporarily alleviates suffering in some corner of the world as well as (better than) any effort we “Christians” can muster. What about a lasting impact? Maybe we’ve tried too hard to promote “Christianity” as a packaged product, thinking “decisions for Christ” cataloged on commitment cards and a little charitable distribution of financial aid here and there would be enough to fulfill the Great Commission. And in trying too hard to propagate our Constantinian, Westernized “Christianity”, maybe we lost the keys to the Kingdom.

It’s a good thing there’s dialogue and debate and questioning going on  these days.  We need to talk about “going down” into the messier aspects of a life lived unto God.  So, where, in this dialogue might we begin to look for those lost keys? Do we start with the parable of the Good Samaritan? Perhaps with the Rich Young Ruler? Or is it just so obvious that the hour calls for “watchmen on the walls” to proclaim imminent judgment and hail the approach of the “great escape” (aka “the rapture”)?

Might I suggest a place to begin our search for the keys to the Kingdom?

 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.  And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.__Matthew 18:2-3

 Oh yeah…you’ve heard that one before, haven’t you? Of course you have.

Wait…don’t be in such a rush to move on.  I’m sorry if that’s just too simple when you set it up against human trafficking, cholera, starvation, war, pestilence, drug addiction, the four horsemen and the inevitability that God is going to judge this world with trumpets sounding and bowls of wrath …BUT He’s going to come catch YOU up into the air because you filled out a commitment card right after you prayed that sinners prayer. I am very sorry that passage is just so familiar and so simple it doesn’t fit with your enlightened, orthodox, doctrinal, theological, sophisticated understanding of Evangelical TRUTH. Read the quote again from the Amplified Bible and let it sink in, please:

And He called a little child to Himself and put him in the midst of them, and said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all]. __Matthew 18:2-3 Amplified Bible

Read it one more time.

Never enter the kingdom? At all? Have I repented enough? Changed enough? Trusted enough? I don’t know about you, but that just knocks the breath out of me. Whoosh. How do I become like a little child?

When it comes to paradoxes, Jesus always kept both barrels loaded. Just a couple of chapters later, Matthew describes how Jesus addressed the “upwardly mobile” ambitions of His disciples:

But Jesus called them to him and said, ”You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”__Matthew 20:25-28 ESV

Doesn’t that just make you wonder why anyone would want to be “first among” the disciples? You have to be a servant and a slave…not to mention you have to become a child again. And yet…there is one thing servants, slaves and children had in common in the days when Jesus walked the earth—and the disciples should have known what it was.

Children, servants and slaves had no power.  Except in cases where a highly-placed servant was empowered to act on his employer’s or master’s behalf, none of these three classes had any authority. Their very lives were in the hands of the people who had what the world called power. If they were to go somewhere, their way was paid by a parent or a master.

In that context, the question isn’t whether I’ve repented enough, changed enough, done enough. Becoming like a child means accepting I have no power or authority…at least no power or authority the world will recognize. I can relate to that. I simply have to make a choice: do I want to be “successful” as the world measures success and do it on my own? Or do I want to successfully enter the Kingdom of Heaven (accept that my way has already been paid) and share in the destiny of those who pursue the unsearchable riches of Christ? This is Good News I want to share with everyone around me!  It’s the Good News of the Kingdom that sets us free from making bricks for Pharaoh under the world system (being driven by a false idea of success as the world measures it) or serving Babylon (the legalistic, performance-based structure of organized religion)!

 Now that we’ve “talked about” going down into the messier aspects of a life lived unto God, what do we do about it?

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already agreed with me—it’s a “no brainer” to follow Christ. I would rather be a servant in the Kingdom than rule the world! But what’s next? What do we do after we look at others and admit, “There, but for the grace of God go I”?  Do we just pay lip service to their circumstances but resume our efforts to better our own because we have the power and authority to determine our own destiny?  Do we apply the values of the world culture when we set goals for our own destiny? We live in exciting times when the keys to the Kingdom are being restored to the Church. It’s time to become as little children, servants and slaves…to wield the authority He gives us by the power of the Spirit…and go against the world.  If we want to see the Kingdom come on earth and God’s will done here as it is in heaven, in the words of my friend Jeff Parrott, it’s time for us to “go low…to help others reach their destiny”.  May the Lord help us learn to go low and help others reach their destiny as children in the Kingdom of God.

And may we become “the least” in the eyes of the world so that the immeasurable goodness and love of God our Father may be made known to the world as we increase in likeness to His Son our Lord by the power of His Spirit working grace in and through us.___Amen.

So, there’s my “rant” for the October Synchroblog–”Down We Go”.  Thanks for visiting! I walk with a limp and I see “as in a mirror, dimly”. These are some of my thoughts. PLEASE visit the other contributing writers at these links and offer your comments to their posts as the Spirit leads. The more people who join the conversation, the clearer the picture.

• Alan Knox – How Low Can You Go
• Jeremy Myers – Seeking The Next Demotion
• Glenn Hager – Pretty People
• David Derbershire – Reaching The Inner City
• Tammy Carter – Flight Plan
• Leah Randall – Jacked Up–my “other blog”
• Liz Dyer – Beautiful Mess
• Maria Kettleson Anderson – Down
• Christine Sine – There Is No Failure In The Kingdom of God
• Leah Sophia – Down We Go
• Hugh Hollowell – Downward
• Kathy Escobar – We May Look Like Losers – Redux
• Anthony Ehrhardt – Slumming It For Jesus
• Sonja Andrews – Diversion and Distraction
• Marta Layton – Down The Up Staircase
• Wendy McCaig – A Material Girl

How can the teachers of this doctrine not understand to whom and why Malachi was written? I’ve even heard someone stand in front of believers and offer an unsound and un-scriptural line of reasoning, on top of the usual, that can be summed up:  ”We need to be sure to pay our tithe first so God will bless us. Then, as the world economy collapses, unbelievers will see that we still prosper and it will draw people to God”.  Funny, in Revelation, it was the poor church Jesus commended. The rich church said, “I have accumulated riches and I don’t need anything.”  Jesus called that church, “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”

Jesus, when asked whether the Jews should pay taxes, asked “Whose image is stamped on this coin?” Then He said, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s.” People use this verse, too, to support the tithing doctrine.  Where is God’s image stamped? On you. On me. Render unto God that which is God’s—you! Not 10% of you—all of you!

The truth is, according to Paul’s letter to Galatians, if New Covenant believers go back to the law—any part of it—they reject grace and put themselves back under the CURSE of the law! Ever wonder why Paul and the others who wrote letters to the Gentile churches never explicitly reminded them, “Oh yes, and be sure to tithe?”  If it’s so all-fired important to do it so God will bless you, WHY didn’t Paul come out and tell the church? BECAUSE the Old Testament tithe had to come from inside the Land! A Jew living in Alexandria Egypt wouldn’t drive 10% of his flock or take 10% of the first fruits of his fruits, vegetables and grain up to Jerusalem! BECAUSE, it was absolutely a non-factor for the New Testament Church! They were living in and by the Spirit, not under the law! Peter wouldn’t have tithed! He was a fisherman. Paul wouldn’t have tithed! He was a tentmaker. And Jesus wouldn’t have tithed! He was a carpenter!

The person who put this simple slideshow together and posted it on YouTube saved me the trouble of a much longer rant!  

Give…give…give…but don’t let anyone tell you how much. And don’t let anyone convince you that the institutional church building is the “storehouse” of today.  God didn’t give His “only begotten church”.  He gave His Son and you should live in the freedom of His grace! 100% of all I have and all I am belongs to God. He doesn’t need my money to run His Church. But He does want me to have a relationship with Him through His Holy Spirit living in me.  And if I am in such a relationship, I am free to give whatever the Spirit leads me to give, to whomever He means for me to give it!

His provision is His blessing.  You pray and ask Him what He wants you to do with money.  He might tell you give it ALL away.  Or He might just tell you to take care of your own family FIRST and pay your bills so you won’t have to go asking the church for help!

Here are some resources that explain (better than I can) why the “tithing law” is NOT for the New Covenant Church:

Pagan Christianity? by Frank Viola and George Barna

Tithing: Nailed to the Cross by Bruce A. Wells

Should the Church Teach Tithing? by Russell E. Kelly

Tithing in the Age of Grace by Joel P. Parker

Tithing: Low-Realm, Obsolete & Defunct by Matthew E. Narramore

According to the Barna Research Group, something in the neighborhood of 13 million born-again believers are still believing outside the walls of the institutional church. Legalism (including being beaten over the head with the false doctrine that tithing is required for Christians) is the chief reason believers shake the dust off their feet and high-tail it away from the idolatry and elitism of organized religion!  God is God and He would have…like… seen THAT coming! Don’t you think He would have been a LOT clearer about tithing in the New Testament than the pitiful few verses the tithe-teachers patch together with Malachi to proof-text their teaching?

Don’t want to believe me? Well…you better make sure you don’t eat shellfish, don’t leave home on Saturday, don’t covet anything that belongs to someone else, and keep the ENTIRE law to perfection! Take the advice in the video. READ GALATIANS! What? You’re not circumcised? Well that’s just too much information!

Off the cuff, “It’s a JOKE.”  Serious answer—it’s really NOT a joke.

I’ve spent my entire life living in the Bible Belt.  A lot of folks here will actually tell you, “You’re going to go to hell if you don’t go to church!” To their mind, it seems, you can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and be knowledgeable about Scripture, but if you don’t “belong to” or “go to” a “church-as-they-know-it”, you’re going to hell. In the Bible Belt, if you don’t “go to church”—in some cases that means every time the door opens—you risk being branded a “backslider”.  I commit “heresy” by challenging their traditional view of church-as-they-know-it.

Our family is on a journey outside the walls of the institutional church, off to discover ways to live out the  “one anothers” of the New Testament without structured worship services, church buildings, programs or a clergy/laity leadership hierarchy. We’ve been in search of authentic New Testament expressions of church for more than a decade, but we didn’t reach this phase of the trip until recently. We have many dearly loved friends who still choose to express their faith through community life in traditional ways.

We believe God will continue to bless and use the institutional church wherever people truly have a heart for Him.  But we also believe there’s a limit to the blessing He can and will bestow in any place where one or a few do all the ministering while the rest sit passively in the pews.  Standing up to sing (whether you raise your hands or not) or recite liturgy “when it’s time to” doesn’t count as active participation in a church meeting.  Someone else has planned when you’re going to do that, what you’re going to sing, and which Psalter or creed you’re going to use.

I’m all for “orderliness” when we come together, but I believe with all my heart that when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 14 he meant “each one” literally brings something of Christ to contribute in a meeting, and that the way Christians structure Sunday morning “worship services” conflicts with the desire of Christ that He Himself  build (edify) His church and reign over its gatherings. Make any claim you want that the Holy Spirit has “led” the pastor and ministry teams to design this week’s service, it’s not the same as Jesus actually leading a meeting through the Holy Spirit while it’s in progress.  In addition, volunteerism in institutional ministries and programs is not where spiritual gifts are primarily to be exercised.

Our journey is not easy. Few travel with us—for now. We had a long sojourn in the desert after we left the denomination in which we had been raised since birth. We tried going back to an organized church. Our experience there was, fortunately, entirely good!   But even while we fellowshipped with loving people we loved —and continue to love—a tug and a call from the Lord remained: “There’s something more. There’s Kingdom work for you elsewhere, and I’m inviting you to join Me.”

We have always met a variety of responses when we try to explain our true thoughts about “church” and this is especially the case now, as  we  adapt to a genuine paradigm shift in the Kingdom. The shift is a ripple at the moment, but it portends a tidal wave that is going to change “church as you know it”. Some people are totally puzzled by our journey and don’t know how to respond. Others will argue outright, insisting that you can’t have “a church” without at least having clergy present. Still others accuse folks like us of being “in a cult”.  To all these, I am—and unapologetically intend to remain—a heretic! But my heresy is not opposed to scripture. Rather, I become a “heretic” by opposing the traditions of man—layer upon layer of traditions that have come about over the past 1800 years. A growing number of people know exactly what I’m talking about—and that number is growing exponentially around the globe!

Am I going to hell for not going “to church”? I’m sure a lot of people out there think so. Others will say, “Good for you. I don’t go either. I get my preaching from TV, or I take a walk in the woods with God. That’s my church.” I think both of these responses are flawed. I know I’m not going to hell because of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I also know sitting alone in front of the TV or a walk in the woods can never be church, because there’s no way to experience the “one anothers” we are called to live out in Christ.  So, all I ask is that you keep an open mind when you visit me here at Rantings, or at Journal from Zarephath.  In Christ, I have room in my heart for you, no matter how you choose to “do church” and no matter what you call me.

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I’ve added a page to provide resources that will help you understand the paradigm shift I referenced in this article.  The tidal wave is coming and in order for the church in the West to survive, a change in our view of “church” is going to be unavoidably necessary. We’re going to have to stop thinking about “how to do church” and learn how to “be the church”. There are many prophetic voices in the world today, speaking a consistent message on the “thoughts of God” where the church is concerned. You can get acquainted with those voices by visiting Resources for Heretics  and Videos for Heretics .

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In the near future, this post will become the content of the “About” page for this blog site. If you bookmark this page, please remember your link may not work once the content is transferred.

And that’s when the “odd moment” struck with comical force. My inner child howled with hilarity in the face of middle-aged irony. There, number one on the list of “suggested uses” for clothespins was the suggestion:

“Hanging clothes”.

I did NOT bother to read further. I know already that people use clothespins to hold pillaged bags of  potato chips closed. I’ve used them for crafts myself. I bought the clothespins to hang laundry that I didn’t want to put in the dryer.

Have we really come to the place where there are enough consumers out there who don’t know what clothespins are FOR? Has modern convenience driven the economy and infiltrated the Protestant work ethic to the point that clothespin manufacturers, fearing the certain obsolescence of their product, must offer a list of  ”suggested uses”? Will the day come when we won’t even find clothespins in the stores because there was no longer a demand for them?

Should we all run out and stock up—hoarding our clothespins for the day when the economy collapses, the electric grid fails, and we learn to relearn simple, practical means of dealing with our dirty laundry? Will there someday walk this earth, a generation of witless people who will discover, in archeological decay, a contraption made from  two pieces of wood and a cheap metal spring,  and wonder “What is this, and what might it have been used for?”

Maybe I should have saved the wrapper!

The “odd moment”  in what we call “time”—for my body and that plastic wrapper—passed quickly, going out—not with a whimper, but—with the bang of the trash can lid.  But that “odd moment” left a little impression on my sense of irony that may well be silently permanent.