Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
(John 15:4-5 – ESV)

Who is our Refuge? Who is our Strength? Who is the one that we rely on in order to live out this Christian life? It is simply Jesus Christ.

Many of the churches today are so full of gimmicks and ploys to get people to come to their services every week and from there, have hundreds of programs to get people caught up into. There is nothing with using Godly wisdom to think of ways to help people come to repentance or with having things to help fellow brothers and sisters in the faith. But when gimmicks and programs get to the point when people rely on them more than they rely on Christ, then there is a problem.

O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like an evergreen cypress;
from me comes your fruit.
(Hosea 14:8 – ESV)

These were the words that God spoke to Hosea during the prophet’s time but there is a truth that applies to us even today. It is the Lord who looks after us and takes care of us. It is He who provides for us and saves our souls. But in many cases, the church institution has set itself up to be an idol in the lives of believers. Whether it’s the charismatic personalities or the programs themselves, there are many who just can’t get enough.

What happened to falling on our knees and crying out to God in prayer when we run into trouble? What happened to looking in the Bible in order to find answers to life’s questions?  Where are we turning during our hard times? Is it God or is it our pastors and our church activities?

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
(1 Corinthians 2:1-5 – ESV)

As we listen to the preachers and go through the programs, what is the end result? Do we have more of a drive and desire to be close to Jesus and have our own authentic relationship with Him? Are we reaching a place where we are willing to spend as much time in prayer and in the Bible as we are to race out of the house to attend another service? In no way is this meant to stop you from attending services or going to other meetings, but do these things along make up your “relationship” with Jesus? Because the end result of any preaching or any help we provide one another should have to do with assisting in bringing that person closer to Jesus.

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
(Matthew 23:14-15 – ESV)

These are strong words by Jesus but words we as believers need to take seriously. The more I see the institutional churches in operation, the more they remind me of the Pharisees and religious leaders during the time Jesus was on this planet. Let’s go over some similarities between the scribes and Pharisees that we can notice in some of today’s church institutions.

Pastors can potentially shut the kingdom of God in people’s faces like the Pharisees with false doctrine—not only changing what the Bible actually says but also adding to what the Bible says. The Pharisees do this. Secondly, many pastors do all they can to be noticed and relevant and make their decisions based on what is good for business. And lastly, if a pastor is preaching false doctrine and then has a global organization where his false doctrine is being taught around the globe, then indeed like the Pharisees, he is traveling across the sea and land to gain converts and then making them twice as much of child of hell (aka, a servant of Satan) as they are.

During Jesus’ time on the Earth, He had numerous clashes with the Pharisees and those who were really about the truth ended up following Jesus rather than the Pharisees, Saudduccees and scribes. And when we read in the Book of Acts about those who gave the believers the most trouble, it was those same Pharisees and scribes whom Jesus had issue with in the Gospels. And that same spirit that was behind how the Pharisees, Sadduccees and scribes were is still in effect today among many pastors. For these people, the goal is to use religion to get people to focus on them rather than Christ.

I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.
(3 John 1:9-10 – ESV)

Are you truly within a church organization that puts Jesus Christ first? Because whoever or whatever the churches puts first is going to be who or what many people will follow.  Why do we see people religiously follow false preachers and teachers? Because these people have taken Jesus out of His rightful place in their lives and have instead inserted their pastors in His place. And if we do this, then we are surely lost.

We must remember that all that we do and everything that we’re to be about as Christians is Jesus Christ. Remember from the first verses we read that He is the Vine and we can not do anything good or meaningful in our Christian walk apart from Him.  Whereas we know that God uses people to accomplish His will, He would never authorize for someone to act as a bridge between people and Jesus when Jesus says that we can come directly to Him through God. So why do we condone pastors and church organizations that do this?

CLICK TO READ PT. II