My Sunday Thought for October 18, 2015: Why a Church?

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

-- Matthew 6:5-6

Why a church? I wonder if the faithful of Barcelona asked if their money might be spent better feeding the poor prior to considering building this new multi-million dollar offering to God and architecture.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

-- Hebrews 10:25

I find it interesting that Matthew 6:5-6 reflects my own opinion on the subject, and yet the Church spent the next two thousand years denying his words for the benefit of their own coffers, and control of the flock. Pass the basket and tithe till it hurts! Talk about hypocrisy. But, then, who am I to judge those that would sit in judgment of Matthew while using God as their excuse to judge, forgetting all the while that Matthew also stated, "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get."  Scripture mentions church many times, yet I am hard pressed to see where prayer is a primary motive for having one, much less assigning a priest to run roughshod over it, or the flock.  

Somewhere along the way our "ministers" ministering went from teaching to preaching, and from preaching to demanding; from giving to the poor to giving to the Church in some foolish hope our church would somehow route the money to feeding the poor.  Somewhere along the way our religious leaders decided they could selectively forget the words of Christ, "...go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  I think their logic was sound, however, in that now they were the poor having given up all, and could now use this money others have given to become wealthier than the flock they were supposed to tend.  Oh what a wicked web we weave, especially in the name of God.

So why do we still buy into the idea of church?

"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

-- Matthew 18:20

Humans are social animals, by nature.  We have no problem buying into the idea of coming together for many reasons, not the least of which has been for faith.  We saw much profit in gathering to heed Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."  We, and our religious leaders, simply forgot that prayer was something to be humbly done in private.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

-- Romans 10:17

If you've ever sharpened a kitchen knife by honing it against another kitchen knife, the idea of a congregation coming together to understand the teachings of Christ makes perfect sense to those that also understand Proverbs 27:17, "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."  These are the times when feeding off one another is a good thing.  We tend to feed off the bad of one another more than the good, and, with the proper ministry, we can still find much truth in scripture which has not been twisted away from the true spirit in the words of Christ.  One has to make an initial decision.  Are we to go with our heart and believe what we know to be true of the character of Christ, or are we to believe all that is written?  If we are to open our ears and hear, the only text to have been written would be to "keep the commandments of the Lord your God," as we were commanded, and we shall not add to the word, nor shall we diminish ought from it. 

You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish ought from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

-- Deuteronomy 4:2

If God's command of us was really this simple, as I believe with all of my heart it is, why do we have a collection of scripture explaining this simplicity, and require a church from which to learn it?  It is really so difficult to understand ten very simple commandments, that we must add or subtract from them until they meet our requirements, in lieu of God's?  If so, maybe we missed the clearly stated instruction and don't deserve the simple truth of the two greatest of commandments:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

-- Matthew 22:36-40

Odd... mention of a church seems to have slipped from the tablets.

Editor's Note 

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so.

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion and debate in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years as a military intelligence analyst, planner, and briefer, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Frank Anthony Villari (aka, Pastor Tony)

Pastor Tony is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path."