Paul's Passing Thoughts

“Tell me, what part of the idea that formal church membership is synonymous with being in-Christ do you not understand?” 

One of the greatest threats to American liberty in our day is the institutional church and its empowerment of the clergy. The Western institutional church founded in the 4^th century is, and always has been, a political entity. Christ’s called out assembly was never an institution, but a living body driven by truth, gifts, and fellowship—not orthodoxy and authority. The true body of Christ is guided by the fellowship of agreement in His one mind and truth for the sole purpose of the Great Commission.

What the institutional church, or simply “church”, strives for is influence and control of people. What we are witnessing right now with the Neo-Calvinist movement is a big tent conglomeration of people.  This gives the institutional clergy something to bring to the table at the right time in history when power-brokering is in play.

Governments typically have one primary concern when the chips are down—the populous outnumbers the leadership. You can only kill so many people, and if you kill all of them there is no reason to have a government in the first place. This makes influence over people, and hence control, of paramount value. Already, the who’s who of the New Calvinist network can go to the government and say,

We can establish through these networks that this many people will listen to us and do what we say. Not only that, if we tell them to, they will take positive action to support the government in their endeavors as well. We have convinced them that governments are ordained of God and do His bidding no matter how wrong it may seem at the time. Now, with that said, where is our place at the table? What do we get for controlling this many people for your purposes?

John Piper et al don’t care where the New Calvinist Kool-Aid drinkers find themselves after it’s too late; they will be part of the elitist crowd that has always enjoyed a lifestyle separate from the great unwashed masses in the socialist caste systems that have always dominated human history. The ability to control a group gives you a place at the table.

And of course, the New Calvinists use the trusty mainstay of the ages to control: threat of eternal damnation. The New Calvinists are selling salvation, and business is booming. Tell me, what part of the idea that formal church membership is synonymous with being in-Christ do you not understand? What seems to be unclear about excommunication and what that means for you? Catholics have always been out of the closet on this. At least they have always known what they believe; if the local priest says you’re in—you’re in.

But American Protestants have always functioned that way while denying it until now—now they pretty much accept the idea openly after 40 years of indoctrination by the New Calvinist movement which has brought the American church back home to Calvin’s Geneva. As a young pastor years ago, I couldn’t see the obvious when Baptists who hadn’t shown up for church in years would become completely unglued upon the mere suggestion of removing them from the membership list. New Calvinists have put a stop to that nonsense.  Now you better damn-well show up every time the doors are open in order to keep your salvation.

The present-day New Calvinist network that controls Christian publishing, seminaries, local churches, etc, is primarily a political animal that is an imminent threat to American liberty. But the greater concern is the wasted lives of those called by God, individually, to run a kingdom race specifically designed for them alone.

This is the tragedy: Christians seek permission from the institutional church to fulfill our calling given to us by Christ alone, and that is who we will answer to and no one else. They have conned us into selling our calling to them for a falsely established habeas corpus.

I seriously doubt the political endeavors of the institutional church can be stopped, but individual Christians can take back their true calling to the Chief Shepherd as opposed to institutional slavery.

paul

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