A few words about the church

It is fine to be upset with the status quo within the church today. That's good! Be upset! However, you have to do something about it. Can you truly make any difference in an organization if you pull out of it? What good does it do to run from the church, which is called on more than one occasion, the bride of Christ? Remember one thing, NOWHERE in the Bible is the phrase "personal savior" ever used. God didn't so love Jeff, he so loved the world. This means that there is a whole lot more at stake then just me. We are saved IN COMMUNITY! There is a world that is literally dying to hear. This starts locally. It begins in your heart - BUT it doesn't END there.
The church is not intended to be a one-stop shop or a drive-thru for any one person. It is a collection, a body of believers. To live isolated from it is extraordinarily dangerous. Once more, it is irresponsible. We have been called to tell the world about Christ AND to make disciples. Disciples aren't made in isolation or overnight. They are made through time and through community. We are told in the word that iron sharpens iron. This symbolizes how one person strengthens another. How can a person be sharpened in continual solitude?
My main issue with this mindset is the same problem that I have with people who complain about the government but then don't vote. They have no right to complain because they aren't attempting to change the broken organization. The problems that exist in the church aren't going to fix themselves. They require caring, loving and honest people who are caring, loving and honest enough to get involved in their churches and denominations.
The Bible NEVER says that we are to leave the church. We are never called to live in isolation. We are never called to go to church or to pray or read the Bible in order to get what we can out of God. This is why George Barna’s book Revolutions is complete garbage! We are called to equip ourselves so that we might do 2 things. One, so that we can resist the devil and two, so that we can help equip others. Show me one time in the Word where the Holy Spirit works in complete isolation with just one or even two people. It doesn't work that way!
So, get angry! Get appalled at the apparent apathy and compromise that exists in the church today! Luther did! Wesley did! Calvin did and on and on. But one question here then - what would have happened if they had taken their ball and gone home? What if they had been so upset with the church but then simply did their own thing? If that thought is frightening to you - and it should be - then don't make that mistake. Take what you learn and GIVE it away. That is the true nature of the Kingdom of God!!