Does God Hate Your Church

These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19 KJV

Causing needless church splits or starting a church where there are already fruitful and vibrant churches drawing people away from those churches is sowing discord among the brethren. Promising some new thing when there is nothing new about the Gospel is a divisive act. You can brand and market man made things, but God is not a corporation or product. God did not create a consumer Christianity.

It is odd that God seems to call more people to start churches in someone else's field more than where there is no viable and biblical church.

Rom 15:20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation:

21 But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.

We need more church planters like Paul. There are places where there are no growing churches only dying ones as well as a plethora of cults. Getting in a hissy or jumping on to some fad to start a church a mile or so down the road is discord. God did not call us to follow pop theology or put Matthew 18 to the back burner.

That is not saying that the viable churches do not need to rethink their outreach nor seek more Holy Spirit power. Resting on one's laurels or being content with a certain number of people to maintain status quo is not the heart of God or the Spirit's intended mission.

Country club churches where only the best people are welcome are churches in delusion even if there are many nickels and noses. Jesus reached out to the poor and outcasts more than to the elite. Indeed, the clergy and the elite were often against Him, not for Him. Some churches and pastors today also fit that description.

Buildings falling apart and barely at a tenth of their capacity or less are also a delusion. They are expensive connection groups, but if they have no outreach, no converts and baptisms in years they are memorials to the past, not a church as defined in Acts or the epistles. It is time to close the doors and find a fruitful field to work in not just wait to die in a dead church.

I have seen many prayers for and pastors speaking to unity in these last days. I have had this on my heart for at least ten years and maybe more. The unity of the Body is not eighty churches holding occasional prayer meetings or having drives to help the homeless. It is not a bunch of buildings. That is like cutting off your toes and fingers scattering them around town still thinking they are part of your body and you can still type and walk.

Because of many teachings, we cannot be the Body Christ called us to be in that there would be only one church per town. Many of those teachings are teachings of men and if we got a Day of Pentecost level of revival they would fade away in a flash.

Until then, if ten churches are teaching the same doctrine in a town or near area nine are redundant. More could be done for the Kingdom if they merged. We would have homeless shelters and other things needed by the repurposing or sale of those excess buildings.

If the churches with 20 or less were to merge into other churches or merged as one I suspect that there would be sixty or more fewer churches in town. Add to that the "house" churches that could be small groups in a church rather than cut off from the Body and we would be a real witness to the unbelievers who look and laugh at our divisiveness and machinations.

Less than ten thousand of over thirty attend the eighty churches and untold number of unaligned small groups. Twenty-five more churches and thirty more small groups are not going to change that. Programs and pop theologies are powerless to move the hearts of cold believers and unbelievers. We do not have racial reconciliation because we do not have believer reconciliation.

Getting real, dropping pride, reaching out and merging instead of splitting will go much further though if not done in the Spirit's power we will not see the full fruition possible. Doing it because it is right is a good start, but it will take the Spirit to make it complete and keep it going. Let's start doing it for love of Christ rather than being motivated when persecution comes. Indeed, doing it now will help us when persecution comes.