Overcoming churchianity - Part 2 of 2 - Session 10 of 18 - “Know where you stand with God ...” - 4Salvation.org - The Living Word

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Below you will find the transcript of this video. I think this transcript is important because it allows you to go back and read what is being said. We need to understand that the modern-day church religions system is not the model that Christ planned for His Church. 

Transcript:

• 0:03 The New Testament never uses the word 
• 0:06 "church" to describe a building. The word 
• 0:09 that we translate as "church" in the 
• 0:11 original text of the New Testament is 
• 0:13 the Greek word "ecclesia". It means, "the 
• 0:18 called out ones". In other words, the Bible 
• 0:21 identifies people who are trusting in 
• 0:23 Jesus Christ for salvation, as a 
• 0:26 community, as all believers everywhere, 
• 0:29 people called out of the world and into 
• 0:32 a Kingdom, where the Spirit of Jesus 
• 0:35 reigns in their hearts. The Bible knows 
• 0:38 nothing of denominations. The Apostle 
• 0:41 Paul rebuked believers for saying that 
• 0:43 there were followers of particular men. 
• 0:45 "Has Christ been divided?", he asked. Of 
• 0:49 course, millions of Christians love their 
• 0:51 local church. They assemble each week and 0:54 are strengthened in their faith in 
• 0:56 Christ. They contribute to the life of 
• 0:58 the fellowship, and extend the love of 
• 1:00 the Lord into the neighborhood in the 
• 1:01 marketplace. No doubt God is pleased. 
• 1:05 Jesus loves His church. We are His people. 1:08 Jesus died for us. He is fitting us 
• 1:12 together as He builds a temple "of living 
• 1:14 stones". The Bible calls us "His body". He is
• 1:19 the Head, we are members of His body, each
• 1:22 with different functions. Of course 
• 1:25 there's diversity. Diversity of tasks and 
• 1:27 diversity of thought. That Christians are 
• 1:31 sometimes suspicious of one another, that 
• 1:33 there are squabbles and gossip and 
• 1:35 backbiting, tells us that in the minds of 
• 1:38 too many Christians, they don't see the 
• 1:40 unity in Jesus alone. They want 
• 1:43 conformity to the way they think. Jesus 
• 1:47 Himself, and the simple truth of the 
• 1:49 Gospel of His death and resurrection, is 
• 1:52 not enough for them. Surely that's not 
• 1:55 right? Surely we can see a need for a 
• 1:58 move of the Holy Spirit, to bond all 
• 2:00 believers together in love, and with no 
• 2:03 agenda other than His glory? The church 
• 2:08 has changed over time. 
• 2:09 How does the church of today differ from 
• 2:12 the church of New Testament writings? The
• 2:15 New Testament shows believers 
• 2:16 in Jesus meeting in small groups in 
• 2:19 homes. Believers in the groups were 
• 2:21 either learning or teaching or helping. 
• 2:24 There were no spectators. All believers 
• 2:28 were considered to be priests. Under the 
• 2:31 Old Covenant, a priest was a man from the 2:34 tribe of Levi who served the LORD and 
• 2:36 blessed others in the name of the LORD. 
• 2:38 Under the New Covenant, all believers in 
• 2:42 Jesus are considered to be priests, 
• 2:44 ministering reconciliation with God to a 
• 2:47 lost world. All believers are priests, not 
• 2:51 some believers who earn a credential 
• 2:53 from a denomination. Of course, there were 2:56 leaders in the New Testament church. God 
• 2:59 appoints certain people to be apostles 
• 3:01 (meaning those who are sent out to pioneer 3:03 new areas). God appoints others to be 
• 3:07 prophets (meaning those who bring the 
• 3:09 word of the LORD into situations). God 
• 3:11 appoints others to be evangelists, with 
• 3:13 gifts to lead people to Christ. And 
• 3:15 others to be pastors and teachers, to 
• 3:18 guide Christians spiritually, 
• 3:20 particularly in the Word of God. Those 
• 3:23 with such responsibilities are exhorted 
• 3:25 "not to lord it over others, but to lead 
• 3:29 by example." Jesus said that leaders in 
• 3:32 the church shouldn't dominate others, but 
• 3:35 should be servants to everyone. Jesus 
• 3:38 also said that leaders in the church 
• 3:40 shouldn't take titles. Apostle or prophet 
• 3:44 or pastor wasn't intended to be a title. 
• 3:47 They are job descriptions. Paul said that 
• 3:51 when he went to Jerusalem to get certain 
• 3:53 questions settled, there was no 
• 3:55 particular regard for anyone who had a 
• 3:58 reputation. Even James, Peter and John 
• 4:02 were leaders who were "reputed to be 
• 4:04 pillars in the church". In other words, 
• 4:07 Paul identified them because they "seemed
• 4:10 to lead". Obviously, they never had titles, 
• 4:13 and they must have been more in the 
• 4:15 background than upfront. There was no 
• 4:19 formal organizational structure in the 
• 4:21 early church. About 70 years after Jesus, 
• 4:25 Ignatius (a leader in the church in 
• 4:27 Antioch) instituted a hierarchy 
• 4:30 of leadership. He based the idea on 
• 4:33 the Roman system of city government. 
• 4:35 Suddenly, leaders had status. And when 
• 4:40 there was position and status to be had, 
• 4:42 then inevitably people started to 
• 4:46 compete. When there is competition, you 
• 4:49 get ambition and envy. Surely anyone 
• 4:53 reading Scripture can see that the Bible 
• 4:55 knows nothing of competition. The 
• 4:58 opposite. We are told to "regard others as 
• 5:02 more important than ourselves". The 
• 5:06 biggest change to Christian thinking 
• 5:07 came 300 years after Jesus, when the 
• 5:11 Emperor Constantine made Christianity 
• 5:13 the official religion of the Roman 
• 5:14 Empire. Instead of being a persecuted 
• 5:17 minority, humbly serving the outcasts of 
• 5:21 society, Christians became influential. 
• 5:24 Impressive buildings came next. In the 
• 5:28 minds of church leaders, Christianity was 
• 5:30 now triumphant, and it was administered 
• 5:34 by a new class clergymen ... paid 
• 5:37 professionals, centrally controlled 
• 5:39 through the issue of credentials and 
• 5:41 titles. It continues to this day. 
• 5:45 It's so much a part of the "churchianity" 
• 5:48 that people accept as normal, that almost 
• 5:51 no one stops to consider that it's not 
• 5:53 the model that's on view in the New 
• 5:55 Testament. The changes come about with 
• 5:58 what are now hundreds of years of 
• 6:00 traditions. The institutionalized, 
• 6:03 corporatized church, has acquired power 
• 6:05 and influence, and access to an endless 
• 6:09 stream of untaxed income and trillions 
• 6:12 of dollars of property. There are a few who 6:15 have a vested interest in keeping things 
• 6:17 the way they are. What's needed is not 
• 6:21 reformation. It's not a reforming of 
• 6:24 what's there. Not shifting a few things 
• 6:27 around. What's needed is transformation. 
• 6:30 The creation of a body that looks 
• 6:33 completely different, in the image of 
• 6:36 Jesus, with love reigning and without 
• 6:39 competition and envy. What is needed is a 
• 6:43 move of the Holy 
• 6:43 Spirit. God has given a condition for that 
• 6:47 renewal. In the next session, we'll 
• 6:50 examine what's coming. Go now to "Key to
• 6:54 Revival".