- Jun 22, 2022
- 23
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- Country
- United States
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- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
I have an idea to create a church called "The Church of John 14:15"
John 14:15 reads: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
These would be the tenants of this church:
1. We try to do what Jesus asked us to do.
2. We don't pretend to know stuff which we don't really know.
The main purpose of the church would be to share philosophical and practical knowledge of how to live a Christian life, and how to support each other in these endeavors. I could speak a great deal on this, but I think that would make the post quite long.
An example of something very obvious that this church would have to do is kick people out of the church who get frivolous divorces. Jesus in the New Testament was asked if it was okay to get divorces for any which reason, and he said no. This is one of the few topics that Jesus spoke about in plain language. Therefore, no-fault divorce is obviously a no-no for Christians. It should be an obvious policy that if you get a no-fault divorce and have not made any attempt to repair your relationship with your ex-spouse (this would show sincerity of repentance), then you are not welcome in the church. Paul said that there must not be a hint of immorality among you, and to kick people out of the church who do not repent of sin. This should be a very obvious policy for 100% of Christian churches. The fact that essentially no churches do this is one of the important reasons why I do not go to church. Why should I go to church and put myself under the authority/teaching of a pastor who is obviously holds himself and his congregation to a much lower moral standard than I hold myself to? I am afraid if I went to church, it would harm my marriage because of the bad example that the churches set.
The church does not have as direct influence on most other areas of society, but there is a lot of evil they could be speaking out against that they do not mention. I looked up a bunch of stats once and calculated that about 40% of US GDP is spent on murder, theft, and gambling. This is because 100% of our wars for decades have been illegal because congress did not declare war, which makes them equivalent to murder even by secular standards. All government-mandated welfare is theft. Social security, for instance, takes food out of the mouths of the grandchildren so that the grandparents can be idle. Capital gains is a good measure for theft via inflation, since net capital gains would be impossible in an economic system that had
a steady currency supply. Also, alimony + involuntary no-fault divorce fits the literal definition of slavery. The USA is still practicing legal slavery. A lot of Christians focus on gay sex and abortion, but the people they are nagging are obviously not Christians, and therefore obviously don't care about what Christians have to say. But Christians are supporting murder, usury, theft, and slavery on a daily basis, and they don't even acknowledge that they are doing this. I don't know what an individual Christian can do about these things, but at least acknowledging them would be a good start.
If I were pastor of a church, I would pick a Bible passage or two and discuss how to practically apply it in one's life, and discuss its psychological significance (A LOT of what Jesus says is basically a kind of psychology). Then I would confess my recent sins to the congregation as we are asked to do in the New Testament, and have the congregation likewise confess whatever they are comfortable with confessing. Then we could say a prayer together (like the Lord's Prayer), sing some psalms according to the preferences of the congregation, and do the communion.
During the communion, I'd probably say something like, "I'm not sure what is technically happening during communion, or what its significance is, but you asked us to do it, so we are doing it." Then I'd read the passage in the Bible where Jesus talked about communion, and I'd give the congregation actual bread and actual wine, like it says in the Bible.
My church would not concern itself with topics that we can't actually know, such as transubstantiation or Christology.
So yea, basically I don't go to church because all the churches talk about a bunch of nonsense which they don't really know, but don't do the things that they ought to know to do.
I will almost certainly not actually start a church like this, because no one has ever listened to anything I've had to say since my earliest memories. I don't know a single person in real life who I think would understand why I think running a church like this is necessary. But I wanted to put it out there that I think the is how a church ought to be run, and I don't go to church because real churches don't look anything like this.
John 14:15 reads: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
These would be the tenants of this church:
1. We try to do what Jesus asked us to do.
2. We don't pretend to know stuff which we don't really know.
The main purpose of the church would be to share philosophical and practical knowledge of how to live a Christian life, and how to support each other in these endeavors. I could speak a great deal on this, but I think that would make the post quite long.
An example of something very obvious that this church would have to do is kick people out of the church who get frivolous divorces. Jesus in the New Testament was asked if it was okay to get divorces for any which reason, and he said no. This is one of the few topics that Jesus spoke about in plain language. Therefore, no-fault divorce is obviously a no-no for Christians. It should be an obvious policy that if you get a no-fault divorce and have not made any attempt to repair your relationship with your ex-spouse (this would show sincerity of repentance), then you are not welcome in the church. Paul said that there must not be a hint of immorality among you, and to kick people out of the church who do not repent of sin. This should be a very obvious policy for 100% of Christian churches. The fact that essentially no churches do this is one of the important reasons why I do not go to church. Why should I go to church and put myself under the authority/teaching of a pastor who is obviously holds himself and his congregation to a much lower moral standard than I hold myself to? I am afraid if I went to church, it would harm my marriage because of the bad example that the churches set.
The church does not have as direct influence on most other areas of society, but there is a lot of evil they could be speaking out against that they do not mention. I looked up a bunch of stats once and calculated that about 40% of US GDP is spent on murder, theft, and gambling. This is because 100% of our wars for decades have been illegal because congress did not declare war, which makes them equivalent to murder even by secular standards. All government-mandated welfare is theft. Social security, for instance, takes food out of the mouths of the grandchildren so that the grandparents can be idle. Capital gains is a good measure for theft via inflation, since net capital gains would be impossible in an economic system that had
a steady currency supply. Also, alimony + involuntary no-fault divorce fits the literal definition of slavery. The USA is still practicing legal slavery. A lot of Christians focus on gay sex and abortion, but the people they are nagging are obviously not Christians, and therefore obviously don't care about what Christians have to say. But Christians are supporting murder, usury, theft, and slavery on a daily basis, and they don't even acknowledge that they are doing this. I don't know what an individual Christian can do about these things, but at least acknowledging them would be a good start.
If I were pastor of a church, I would pick a Bible passage or two and discuss how to practically apply it in one's life, and discuss its psychological significance (A LOT of what Jesus says is basically a kind of psychology). Then I would confess my recent sins to the congregation as we are asked to do in the New Testament, and have the congregation likewise confess whatever they are comfortable with confessing. Then we could say a prayer together (like the Lord's Prayer), sing some psalms according to the preferences of the congregation, and do the communion.
During the communion, I'd probably say something like, "I'm not sure what is technically happening during communion, or what its significance is, but you asked us to do it, so we are doing it." Then I'd read the passage in the Bible where Jesus talked about communion, and I'd give the congregation actual bread and actual wine, like it says in the Bible.
My church would not concern itself with topics that we can't actually know, such as transubstantiation or Christology.
So yea, basically I don't go to church because all the churches talk about a bunch of nonsense which they don't really know, but don't do the things that they ought to know to do.
I will almost certainly not actually start a church like this, because no one has ever listened to anything I've had to say since my earliest memories. I don't know a single person in real life who I think would understand why I think running a church like this is necessary. But I wanted to put it out there that I think the is how a church ought to be run, and I don't go to church because real churches don't look anything like this.