Why I'm Not in Church This Morning. The title of this talk, Why I'm Not in Church This Morning, may be inflammatory to some of you and may offend your religious sensibilities for anyone to tell you why they are not in church this morning. Many unbelievers, for instance, would not darken the door of a church building. They're quite clear about why they are not in church. Many professing Christians have been wounded by our church experience, and so they too are clear as to why they are not in church this morning. But that's not me. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm a believer, I'm devoted to Jesus Christ, and I am a loyal son of the church. And so it is, not because I reject Christ, nor because I've been wounded by the church, that I'm not in church this morning. So then what do I mean when I say and tell you why I'm not in church this morning? Well, let me give you several reasons as to what I mean by it when I say that. First of all, let me preface my remarks by saying it is my love for the body of Christ that compels me not to be in church this morning. There's the paradox. Since the early Church Fathers, the historic model of the Church has been clergy-centered, and has existed for the benefit and personal interests of the clergy, and not those of Christ Jesus. Now this goes back even before the Church Fathers. For instance, in Philippians chapter 2, we read, beginning with verse 19, Paul says this, quote, But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be in good spirits when I learn of your circumstances. For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned about your circumstances." No one else in that region, no other leaders could he look to, to report back to Paul as to how things were going. And he says in verse 21, "'For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.'" There's the problem. The biblical model is that the shepherd exists for the sheep, and not the sheep for the shepherd. But even as early as the ministry of Paul, and then later formalized and codified in the ministry of the so-called Apostolic Fathers in the 2nd century, this was reversed, so that suddenly the sheep existed for the shepherds. Another reason I'm not in church this morning is that attending church does not equate to attending fellowship. In 1 John 1-3, John tells his readers who were being tempted to be led astray by false teachers that he was writing to them so that they may have fellowship with us, he said, meaning the apostles. And then he says, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and the Son. Church is about fellowship. Church is not about attendance. How many of you can say that you go to church on Sunday and actually experience fellowship? Now, if you do, I'm happy for you. God bless you. Rejoice. Cling to that. But most people don't. You know, people think God is pleased when they attend church and displeased when they do not attend church. That's the problem. Do you remember, if you were ever part of a Sunday school class growing up, that you got a gold star for every week that you attended? Remember that? Sometimes there would be a board where there would be these gold stars next to your name, and they'd be lined out for week after week after week that you attended. But what pleases God is that you're in His Son, not that you're in church this morning. Being in church this morning does not equate to being in His Son. Since the early Church Fathers, attention was slowly turned away from being in Christ to instead being in Church. By the 8th century, salvation itself was no longer in Jesus Christ, but in the Church of the Pope. And this medieval mentality has never fully left us, precisely because it is the default of the flesh. Many of us now, as adults, remain gold star attenders. We truly believe that God gives us a gold star every time we attend church. Another reason I'm not in church this morning is because what the Bible defines as a Christian is far different than the modern churchgoer. The church as we know it today is an entrepreneurial effort, an organization, a 501c3 state chartered tax-exempt institution designed to attract and secure new members, new church goers who support it by tithing and with the promise of financial blessing or the curse based on Malachi chapter 3, if they don't tithe. It's a racket. It's a schtick. I once sat through a membership class where I listened to the senior pastor go on for 45 minutes answering questions and twisting and perverting and distorting scripture to support an unbiblical view of New Covenant tithing. I was astonished. Much of what that man had to say that morning was very good, it was very grounded, very orthodox, until it came to money. And then he grew restless and irritated at some of the questions. He even threatened that there would be no church if people didn't tithe 10% of their gross income. Of course, there's always the promise of Malachi chapter three, they say, that if you tithe, that God will open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing beyond what you can maintain. But if you don't, then you'll be under a curse and your finances will be in chaos. Folks, that's a lie. That's a pure, unmitigated lie promoted by the clergy to put you in financial bondage, but to keep the institution well-financed. You know, Jesus did not begin his ministry by renting or purchasing a worship center, advertising for members, promising new programs, fun and games for the kids, and a new and inspirational message each week. Rather he went to the people, he went to where they were, and he died owning nothing but the cloak on his back, which too was stripped from him. He was buried in another person's awaiting tomb. Jesus was by all contemporary measures a failure at ministry. And that type of footsteps, the following in his footsteps, is abhorrent to the average entrepreneurial pastor today. Instead, they follow an American culture business model. And success equates to everything that the regular corporations of the world consider, and that is numbers, margins, and growing market share. One other reason I'm not in church this morning is because the church facilitates denial. Many people with issues of trauma and codependence and even active addiction hide in the pews. As a pastor or counselor, I can testify to this tragic reality. People use their church attendance and involvement as a cloak for denial, pastors as well as attenders. and the organization facilitates the maintaining of appearances. There are few organizations that are better cloaks for denial than the church. Another reason I'm not in church this morning is because we need teaching. not sermonizing and inspirational messages. Why would I, or you for that matter, waste your time listening to sermons or inspirational messages? What we need is teaching. We need to hear God's Word taught, and we need to hear it being taught interactively. We need to be able to ask questions. We need to be able to engage. We even need to enjoy teaching that is demanding upon the Christian mind. The battle is, after all, for the Christian mind. The mind is the gateway to the heart. 2 Corinthians 11, verses 1-3, Paul expresses his concern that the minds of these Christians, of his readers, are going to be seduced and led astray by Satan, by the false teachers. In Romans 12, 1-2, we're told that we should not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. It is teaching in Romans 6, 16 through 18 that transforms our heart, that we are to obey from the heart. But it begins with the mind. Listen, truth is cognitive. Truth is rational. Truth can be known. In fact, truth, biblical truth, can be proved. But it all begins with our mind. Now it must go to the heart, no one will ever be saved by simply knowing about the Christian truth, but no one will ever be saved without knowing it either. It all begins with the mind, and then goes to the heart, where we are renewed and made new creations, and then we begin to walk the Christian life after the model and image of Jesus. So I'm not in church this morning because I'm not interested in sermonizing and inspirational messages. I'm not interested in being entertained. I'm interested in being taught. I'm interested in teaching. I'm interested in hearing others. I'm interested in listening to questions. I'm interested to be with a group of Christians who actually engage the text together as being led by the Spirit. How rare is that? But instead, we attend a temple that has the either literal or actual or excuse me, literal or pseudo priests. You know, the temple stood until Christ fulfilled this purpose and declared his own body as the new temple. John chapter two, you can read it. And then afterward, the temple served as an antithesis to Christ's own ministry. and that temple was destroyed by divine judgment in 70 AD, when the Roman general Titus came in and leveled Jerusalem. But ever since then, beginning with the second century, men have never ceased to rebuild that structure, or at least seek to, and return to the art of thievery and robbery that it had become. Some, even today, teach that a literal temple will one day be rebuilt in Jerusalem. What is this but a backdoor denial of Christ? Finally, Hebrews chapter 13 tells us that believers are to go outside the camp where Jesus is, not to recreate the camp that sent him there. Hebrews 13 13 says let us therefore go out to him outside the camp bearing his reproach in other words it was the religious structure of Jerusalem the temple structure temple services the sacrifices occurring with the Pharisees the Sadducees and the whole religious structure that not only rejected Jesus but murdered him and took him outside the city gate to increase his shame and reproach. It was the temple-centered clergy-run religious structure of Jerusalem that crucified Jesus outside the city walls. And today, their contemporary heirs now invite you to join them within their camp. The same camp, same mentality, the same structures that crucified Jesus. The question before you and I today is this, where will you be found standing on that great day of Christ's return? Will you be standing inside the camp, enjoying all the safety and structure and glad belonging to a religious structure? Or will you be outside the camp with Jesus? That's the question. Is it important to you to be a part of a massive organization? Do you crave the stability of a large denomination? Do you think that being in church is meritorious? Do you believe that God is displeased when you're not in church on Sunday? Folks, that is not a healthy relationship with the church. That's an unbiblical, sick view, frankly, of the church. So let me summarize. I'm not in church this morning because the Bible calls me to be in Christ, not just in church. Many people who are in Christ are in the church, there's no question. But being in the church does not equate to you being in Christ. and the modern entrepreneurial church is not about the interests of Christ, but about the personal interests of the clergy. I'm not in church this morning because church attendance does not equate to fellowship, and it is to the fellowship of the saints to which I am called, and you are called. I'm not in church this morning because the present model of church facilitates the wholesale denial of mental, spiritual, and relational sickness. As a pastor or counselor, I see it firsthand. You would be horrified to know what goes on within most churches, behind the scenes, within the families. So in short, I'm not in church this morning because Satan, the grand counterfeiter, has pulled off a masterpiece in presenting a false church with an alternative Jesus, an alternative gospel, and spirit. just as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11 1-4. These are perilous times in which we live. 2 Timothy 3 1-5 tells us that. These are those perilous times. I'm not being hysterical. I'm not being melodramatic when I say that. It's taken me a long time to sober up myself and realize just how stark engraved the times in which we live are. These are perilous times in which we live primarily because the church has redefined itself to be the religious arm of the culture and no longer the pillar and support of the truth. Now, let me just say, and close with this, I will be in fellowship. Each Sunday we can gather our group together for interactive teaching, prayer, song, communion, and mutual care within a home. So the church has not disappeared. The church is alive and well everywhere and every time two or three or more gather in his name. It is, as Jesus called it, a little flock, but it is his flock and it is they for whom he will soon return. So that's why I'm not in church this morning, because I'm in fellowship. I'm not in church this morning because I am in Christ. And it is almost impossible these days to be in the church and find Christ, to find fellowship. And so I pray for you, I pray for us that this will change. But it doesn't have to change in the institution. As I just said, the church has not disappeared. The church is alive and well. You just have to be prepared to want it, to seek it, to pray for it, and trust God to provide you with the fellowship that he desires for you to have and that you desperately need. I know I do. My wife and family does. So let's pray together. Beginning today, in the coming days, that we too will be found in Christ and not just in the church. Listen, there's going to be untold billions of people on that great day who are found in the church but not in Christ. And that's going to be a day of horrific judgment. Let's not be named among them. So that's why I'm not in church this morning. May the Lord strengthen you and keep you in His mercy, always. Amen.