Growing up as a child, I remember seeing professionals do acrobatics on TV, and would be a disclaimer statement made before or after the event, “Do not try this at home.” Apparently, at some point, kids or grown-ups would try to imitate the acrobatics without the training and expertise, and harm themselves. In an attempt to prevent that, and more likely to prevent a legal suit, the disclaimer was made to the audience. Even at the circus this would sometimes be said, because kids like to imitate what they see, and invariably get hurt. In situations like this, it is a good idea. The people who perform these acts practice many hours, and understand the risks. As a child, I was not one to take extreme risks, but I knew several kids in our neighborhood who wouldn’t hesitate to do so.
I’m glad that, regardless of the motivation behind it, these warnings are appropriately made to, hopefully, prevent injury. But can these same warnings be used to control people in other situations? It occurred to me that similar warnings are made to people regarding church. But how could that be possible? Biblically, the church was meant to simply be a community of followers of the Messiah, Jesus, who would ban together and teach one another His ways, and encourage one another in following His ways. From the beginning, we were meant to function much like a family, as “brothers and sisters,” watching out for each other, serving one another, and living life together with God as our heavenly Father, Jesus as our brother (“firstborn among many brethren”), the Word of God as our instructions, and the very presence of God’s Spirit inhabiting each follower, equipping each of us to do God’s work. Nowhere in the New Testament is there a religious structure or system prescribed, recommended, or laid out as it exists today.
The Kingdom of God was designed to spread rapidly, so that all who would embrace the Messiah and renounce their past ignorance and/or rejection of Him, would become part of this community, inhabited by the Spirit of God. Like anyone born into a family, parents are the ones who procreate, and who have traveled through life longer, and teach the newborns all the skills they need to grow up and to go and do likewise–procreate and parent a new generation. This procreation and parenting are not left for the professionals, but everyone is expected to grow up and become productive members of society, and to potentially form their own family. The only exceptions to this are those who are physically or mentally incapable of such. Likewise, the Kingdom of God is to function similarly.
Neither Jesus, nor his apostles, are seen in scripture promoting a religious system or professional leaders. But over time, one developed anyhow. There are many reasons for this that go beyond this discussion, but suffice it to say, it happened, and we still have it present with us today. In fact, modern churches do not function as the Kingdom of God was intended, as is taught in the scriptures.
Church has become an organizational system of professionals who perform religious duties, hold religious “services,” carry out certain rituals, such as baptism and The Lord’s Supper, that have been over ritualized and elevated in status above their intended purpose. The establishment of a “clergy” meant that only professionals were able to be God’s messengers. Special seminaries and Bible schools have been established to offer professional degrees to set the clergy above and a part from the ordinary person. Furthermore, ordinations and licenses are issued in order to prevent ordinary persons from performing basic biblical functions, like teaching, preaching, baptizing, and the like. Few people question this process because it has been around so long that folks assume that it must be right. Furthermore, the ignorance of so many to the scriptures keeps them from seeing the intention of God to include all of His people as equal members of the family who can perform His works, not because of professional qualifications, but because of their allegiance and loyalty to Him.
But the organization that evolved, that today is commonly known as “church,” was designed to be run by professionals only. The first followers met in homes or out doors. The religious organization meets in large buildings designed specifically to enhance special religious meetings. The first communities were led by those who were more mature because they had walked the pathway longer, and they simply parented the more recent converts until they were ready to do likewise. The religious organization is led by professionally trained clergy, making it nearly impossible for the ordinary believer to grow to their level and do likewise. The early believers were a family. The church organization of today is run like a business. The early believers were actively learning and doing the work that Jesus assigned them. The organizational church is passive, watching the clergy perform religious duties.
The message received from the professional clergy is the same that I received at the circus: Do not try this at home. Though this statement is not made literally, it is implied in all that is done. In essence, the professionalizing of religion delegitimized the active participation of the ordinary follower. It says that if anyone moves outside the established system, they are not legitimate in the eyes of God. If you don’t have a professional degree or license, you are not qualified to do anything meaningful for God. The hierarchical structure of the organization starting with the people at the bottom, then the pastors, and then regional bishops and overseers, all leads people to believe that they do not have direct access to God, but need to be “under the authority” of others who are under the authority of God. It is mainly these higher ups that God speaks to in order to speak to the people. Sermons are God’s message to the people. Pastors function as priests between God and the people. But all this, however, is a direct contradiction to the biblical doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Paul never wrote one letter to a pastor of a church. He wrote to entire churches, because he understood what God had established through the sacrificial blood of Christ, and through the giving of the Spirit of God. The priesthood of all believers meant that the priesthood of Israel was no longer needed. They existed for the purpose of service to the Temple, where God dwelt in the midst of humanity, where heaven and earth met. They were there to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people and to maintain the Temple.
But God was doing a new thing in his church, His new Temple. Each person was to be a “living stone,”each a part of the new Temple of God (1 Peter 2:5), that was not fixated in a specific geographic location, but was fluid, and existed wherever the people of God went, because He now dwelt in his people. No longer did people come to a Temple edifice, where God dwelt, to worship Him. There was no longer a need for priests to offer sacrifices, for Christ had offered one sacrifice, once and for all. The professional priesthood (aka “clergy”) of the Old Testament was not to be reproduced in the New Testament. God was doing a new thing. He said so himself (Isaiah 43:19). He would put His laws in our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33), and furthermore, the desire of God to make Israel a “nation of priests,” (Exodus 19:6) who would make him known to the rest of the godless world around them, would become realized when Christ offered himself the ultimate sacrifice, and the Spirit of God was sent to dwell within the followers (1 Peter 2:9). It was now the role of all followers as God’s priests to be living sacrifices (Romans 12:2) that would make Him known to the world in order that all who would choose to follow Him, would do so.
I assert that modern day clergy do not understand these basic truths. If they did, they would not try to stifle ordinary believers from performing the priestly duties that God gave them to do. They would not try to keep them “in their place” of passivity as mere spectators. It seems that clergy are more concerned about preserving their own roles, jobs, positions of power, and the organization than they are in fulfilling the purpose of God to fill the earth with the knowledge of the Lord and building His Kingdom of followers.
God told Adam and Eve, and later Noah, to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and rule the earth. Likewise, Jesus said to go into all the world and make disciples of ALL nations, baptizing them, and teaching them all that He commanded. The physical fruitfulness came first, but likewise the spiritual fruitfulness was to follow in like fashion–to fill the earth with God’s knowledge. No where are we instructed to build buildings or organizations, to create new religious professions, or to perform religious exercises and rituals. We are instructed to love others, to serve others, to show generosity, to do justice toward them, to love to show mercy, and to walk in humility at all times. This anyone can do. It takes no degree, no license, no special order. Neither did Jesus or his apostles ever establish or even pursue such things. Jesus was called rabbi, but never in an establishment sense of the word. Paul was a Pharisee, but considered it all as nothing so that he would gain Christ. The other apostles were seen as “unlearned” men, not because they didn’t know anything, but because they had not participated in the religious education system of the day. All would be considered rogue, even by today’s standards. Yet this Jesus many proclaim, is rarely imitated. These apostles whose teachings are taught over and over are likewise not imitated. Yet Paul said several times to imitate his ways. He was a religious man who had to unlearn religion and learn how to simply live as a new transformed person.
So why do we perpetuate a church system that is totally antithetical to the ways established by Jesus and the apostles? Because, true to form, as humans we feel we can take what God created and do it better, make it better, or improve it. But in most cases, we simply want to control it, and we end up corrupting it for our own purposes. As God established it, it is out of human control and under the direction and control of God. When we organize it, we can control it, possibly even contain it. But can we truly contain an infinite God?
In a similar fashion, today’s health system has done likewise. God created the body to heal itself, and he created natural herbs and plants, along with exercise and normal sleep rhythms to help heal the body. But we think we can do it better, so we create drugs and procedures, most of which do more harm, and little good. We create a massive, expensive, complex system of technology with great schools of learning, and professional physicians, to communicate to the ordinary person, “Don’t try this at home.” We will control this. This is too complicated for anyone to do without very expensive training, or without very expensive treatment. Yet, natural medicine has proven that 90% of all illnesses can be prevented and/or cured by basic herbs, plants, vitamins, and following proven methods of responsible eating and living. But everyone is convinced, “Do not try this at home” by a system that would not profit well if we learned that health and fitness is not as expensive as we are led to believe. Naturalized medicine, which has a much better track record in healing, would cause hospitals, insurance agencies, and pharmaceutical companies to close down, and many people would lose their jobs. So, we keep doing what we have been doing, and will do so until the system is no longer able to sustain itself.
Likewise, if people learn that they really don’t need the professionals, the church buildings would empty, the institutional funds would diminish, and most clergy would lose their profession and their acclamation. But, Folks ARE learning that they no longer need a pastor to intervene for them, because they can go directly to God because of Christ. They realize that the Bible is not so hard to understand after all when the Teacher dwells within them (John 14:26). And they are learning that they do not have to spectate passively, but can be active participants in the plan of God as He set it forth through Jesus and His apostles to be accomplished in the closing days of this age.
So, “Do not try this at home” should be heeded from the circus professionals, but should be ignored in regards to the church. In fact, it’s time we return the church to the home, the community, and yes, the world, and release it from the four walls where it has been confined in order that the purpose of God to fill the earth with the knowledge of Him would be accomplished at last, that as many as will would come to know him, experience him, follow him, and join Him in His everlasting Kingdom!
Categories: Ekklesia Community, Kingdom of God
Beyond Traditon 
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