Write The Author
By Neal Griffin
To pose this question invites the disdain of most church members. After all, it is the church which urges us to worship. This could be true, depending on whose definition of the word, "worship", we accept. The Bible is very clear in its definition. The Old Testament writings are very clear to point out that worship under the New Covenant would be on a new order. It would be different. When Jesus contrasted it with Old Covenant worship He was indicating that it would no longer be characterized by the prescribed priestly sacrificial acts and meticously followed patterns. Instead it would be in a more excellent way. It would be in spirit and truth. That day has arrived. The Old Covenant, which served as a school master custodian has delivered us into the hands of the Great Physician and He has nailed the form and ritual of the old law to the cross. Why is it, then, that today's religionists continue to serve up, every Sunday, a platter of religion that is heavily weighted in form and ritual. Where is the difference? The current expression for it is, "de'ja vu", or "more of the same". The typical pew warmer is treated to a vaulted cathedral with its holy of holies atmosphere. The pulpit, instead of an altar, is very visible. Instead of cutting the throat of an animal, the "high priest" (paid pulpit minister) tortures a live audience to sleep. One writer recorded that the first "pulpit sermon" was not preached until somewhere around three hundred A.D., and noted that "the church has been asleep ever since". Dear reader, you can see that today's religious ritual smacks of Old Covenant worship. Except for a few details, what you see in today's "corporate worship services" is a rehash of Old Covenant form and ritual. Jesus said that it would be different. Where is the difference?
Am I trying to say that what churches do in their corporate assemblies is not the religion of Jesus Christ? Yes! That is exactly what I am saying. Not only do they not practice true worship, but they hinder their subjects from doing so. Here's how they do it:
Church members are deceived when they believe that the true worship Jesus called for, in John 4:21-23, is the performing of five acts (rituals) in a "corporate worship service".
Church members are deceived when they believe that by attending "church" on Sunday they have offered up true worship.
Church members are deceived when they believe that church membership is of the Bible. The New Testament does not once call for church membership. It calls for membership in Christ. It does not once call for joining a church. When one becomes a member of Christ he enters a relationship likened unto the connection of an arm or leg to the head of the human body. The body member responds to the direction of the head. 1'st Corintians 12:12-27. This is the Christ membership of the Bible. Membership in anything else is not mentioned.
Church members are deceived when they believe that their salvation is secure because of membership in a church. It is the name of Jesus, and not the name of a church, that matters.
Deception is not of God, and if it's not of God it is of someone else. You be the judge.
Do churches hinder true worship? Yes they do and this is how they do it What, then, is the religion and worship of the New Covenant? What is the religion ushered in by Jesus? It's not complicated. It goes right to the heart. James, by the Holy Spirit, declared that the religion of Jesus is to visit the widows and orphans in their affliction and to keep ones self unspotted from the world. And Paul, by the same Spirit, declared that the worship God wants of us is to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. This is the different worship that Jesus was referring to in John 4:21-23. This is the religion and worship of Jesus Christ. Please think on these things.
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