Should I pack up and go?

[Sam81]

I have only been saved a couple of months but already I have become disillusioned with certain elements of every church! People want material things and no one wants to be 100% focusing on Jesus 100% of the time. I feel led to just buy a bus ticket to a certain city, a few clothes, only a few hundred bucks, and just go. Am I being led into foolishness? I wanna be far more sold out tham anything I see from anyone. I have a vision of commune style, Acts based, the world is pointless, live and preach Jesus constantly 24\7 type of Christianity. But who would dare join me - no one would listen! Am I being foolish?

 

[longwait]

Maybe you should fast and seek the Lord on His perfect will for you.

 

[JohnB445]

Its just because we live in the Era of Laodicea. Prosperity gospels, sinners prayer, etc. Also the swiss cheese Bible sermons with the key of discipleship left out. It is no surprise we get a surge of atheism, the " I used to be Christian but I followed the facts, I know everything Big-Brain intellectuals". They never had the Holy Spirit in them to begin with.

14“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.

15“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

 

[sunshine100]

I have only been saved a couple of months but already I have become disillusioned with certain elements of every church! People want material things and no one wants to be 100% focusing on Jesus 100% of the time. I feel led to just buy a bus ticket to a certain city, a few clothes, only a few hundred bucks, and just go. Am I being led into foolishness? I wanna be far more sold out tham anything I see from anyone. I have a vision of commune style, Acts based, the world is pointless, live and preach Jesus constantly 24\7 type of Christianity. But who would dare join me - no one would listen! Am I being foolish?

hi Sam,first of all no I don't think that you are being foolish and second of all I think that you should follow your heart.

 

[Jesusismyking87!!]

Honestly if you ask me I would pray over it and seek inside Gods word even more if you were to ask me friend. As well if this church is more about the money than teaching or giving to the community than maybe it may be time to go where the spirit leads you. But first I can not stress but seek what God wants not what you want.

 

[Serving Zion]

I have only been saved a couple of months but already I have become disillusioned with certain elements of every church! People want material things and no one wants to be 100% focusing on Jesus 100% of the time. I feel led to just buy a bus ticket to a certain city, a few clothes, only a few hundred bucks, and just go. Am I being led into foolishness? I wanna be far more sold out tham anything I see from anyone. I have a vision of commune style, Acts based, the world is pointless, live and preach Jesus constantly 24\7 type of Christianity. But who would dare join me - no one would listen! Am I being foolish?

"Many will go to and fro and knowledge will increase" - Daniel 12:4, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from being priests unto me, and I will forget your children" - Hosea 4:6.

Yes, you are right. The Kingdom is like a man who found a pearl of great treasure and hid it in a field. Then, he went and sold all that he had, in order to buy that field. .. yes, these are the days where a harvest is plentiful, but the churches are desolate. If you dare to try and do God's work the churches, they call a committee to discuss why you were doing it without their prior approval! (they each want to be the entire body, they don't see the individual parts - 1 Corinthians 12).

Go for it!

 

[FireDragon76]

It's tempting to be overly judgmental of other Christians, especially if you don't walk in their shoes and haven't got alot of experience. I would urge you to be cautious and to try to develope more maturity before you make life-changing decisions.

 

[icxn]

I have only been saved a couple of months but already I have become disillusioned with certain elements of every church! People want material things and no one wants to be 100% focusing on Jesus 100% of the time. I feel led to just buy a bus ticket to a certain city, a few clothes, only a few hundred bucks, and just go. Am I being led into foolishness? I wanna be far more sold out tham anything I see from anyone. I have a vision of commune style, Acts based, the world is pointless, live and preach Jesus constantly 24\7 type of Christianity. But who would dare join me - no one would listen! Am I being foolish?

If you were Orthodox I would have recommended that you join (or at least visit) a monastery. Monasteries function exactly like the Acts commune style you envision.

 

[com7fy8]

I don't think we need to deal with how to label you foolish or whatever. It is good to always be submitting to Jesus in His peace and His creativity for how to love others. But in case I am really doing this, I need to be careful not to become self-righteously looking down on and criticizing others. But be their good example.

Your issue is not a theoretical one, for a general one-size-fits-all answer. But Jesus knows personally what He wants to do with you, and Jesus personally satisfies and guides us. So, in case you are not sure, learn first how to hear from and be personally guided by Christ in you. And be careful not to allow wrong people to be the ones who decide and drive you.

You say you are a new and young Christian; so it can be easy for you to give in to judging others in comparison to yourself and to what ones claim was the early church.

The really Christian ones can be gentle and quiet (1 Peter 3:4) and humble, not showing much but deeply sharing with the Lord and praying for people effectively (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

There is a lot of comparing with the early church, by certain ministerial people, but when Peter did that first sermon and three thousand people were saved, Peter then was not a mature person of the Holy Spirit. Even though God did use the early church, they were not necessarily very mature people in Jesus.

But now we have mature seasoned Christians who have matured for decades. You need to be able to find these people so you can feed on their example. But, yes, do any good that you can And consider how imperfect and unfocused those disciples were while they walked with Jesus, but Jesus never gave up on them. So, make sure you are loving the way our Heavenly Father wants >

"with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love," (Ephesians 4:2)

 

[eleos1954]

I have only been saved a couple of months but already I have become disillusioned with certain elements of every church! People want material things and no one wants to be 100% focusing on Jesus 100% of the time. I feel led to just buy a bus ticket to a certain city, a few clothes, only a few hundred bucks, and just go. Am I being led into foolishness? I wanna be far more sold out tham anything I see from anyone. I have a vision of commune style, Acts based, the world is pointless, live and preach Jesus constantly 24\7 type of Christianity. But who would dare join me - no one would listen! Am I being foolish?

I'd give it some time and do your own personal study in Gods word and in prayer. Churches are comprised of sinners, just as in the world, but don't let that hinder your own initiative of learning from Gods word. In the meantime you could visit a few different churches and see if perhaps you find one you feel comfortable in and where their teachings are more in line with what you have studied out. Give it some time.

None of them are perfect.

God Bless.

 

[A_Thinker]

I have only been saved a couple of months but already I have become disillusioned with certain elements of every church!

You've been to every church ???

 

[maintenance man]

I wanna be far more sold out tham anything I see from anyone. I have a vision of commune style, Acts based, the world is pointless, live and preach Jesus constantly 24\7 type of Christianity. But who would dare join me - no one would listen! Am I being foolish?

I think every Christian should long for that kind of commitment. The problem is the way the early church responded to the gospel was a result of their culture - we have a vastly different culture today. While the core elements must remain the same we need to adapt the way we respond based on our culture. Just as there are four different gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John - each directed to a different culture - each saying precisely the same thing in a different way. If you "live and preach Jesus constantly 24\7" you need to do so in a way that will be received and not rejected by the culture you are encountering.

My opinion is that the message has to be adapted so that the people of today's culture can hear it clearly.

I believe the devil has so manipulated the message it has become camouflaged to a large segment of the population. I don't believe God wants us to keep doing things the way they did two thousand years ago. I believe God wants us to be "as shrewd as serpents" (Matthew 10:16) and outsmart the devil and help the blind see.

There are without question evangelical organizations dedicated to doing just that and I would encourage you to seek them out and connect with one that fits your theological perspective. Look for where God is clearly working and join that effort. Don't go off on your own. Join the fight standing together with other like minded believers.

 

[Sam81]

I believe we all have our calling and there are many members of the same body. I am not trying to be judgmental but this is more of a revelation of the following: the height that Christ is lifted up in me is contingent upon the extent in which the old man plunges to his destruction (in this life). If I fall to the ground and die completely, then Christ is raised completely in me. And if Christ be lifted up, He draws all men to Himself. So my fruitfulness is directly correlated with Jesus being raised in me...but I have to be completely crucified to ALL THINGS but Christ! What better thing can there be in a world that's here for only a second?

I guess my calling is to one day be a missionary.

But my church requires both future pastors and missionaries to be couples! So I MUST get married one day if I remain in my church and want to one day "go". Marriage is a sacrifice in itself but clearly the inferior one. Marriage is temporal and a vanity. I need the mobility and less accountability to any one but God. For the sake of souls and the next world.

Things are confusing.

 

[Sketcher]

I have only been saved a couple of months but already I have become disillusioned with certain elements of every church! People want material things and no one wants to be 100% focusing on Jesus 100% of the time. I feel led to just buy a bus ticket to a certain city, a few clothes, only a few hundred bucks, and just go. Am I being led into foolishness? I wanna be far more sold out tham anything I see from anyone. I have a vision of commune style, Acts based, the world is pointless, live and preach Jesus constantly 24\7 type of Christianity. But who would dare join me - no one would listen! Am I being foolish?

The problem with communes is they tend to attract people who have negative attitudes towards the outside world, and they bring those attitudes with them and the other people have to live with them. I visited a Christian commune, and there were plenty of these kinds of people mixed in with the older folks who were weren't passionate so much as they were soldiering on, because let's face it, their day-to-day was not easy.

When your instinct is to blame your problems on everybody else and run away from those other people rather than do what you can to make your own life better and bless the lives of those around you, you don't have much of value to offer in a communal setting. Why? Because you haven't practiced responsibility and love. Where can you practice that? In your church full of imperfect people. Plenty of opportunity for you to love and forgive like Christ in a church full of imperfect people. Not that you can't get that in a commune, but it is less work and less hardship to practice your faith where you're at.

 

[RaymondG]

When one does a work for the Lord, they seldom think about what others are doing in contrast. To judge another group and compare their desires and works with our own plans and desires, we must first feel that we are above or have better intentions than those we judge......This does not show the humility attributed to the fruits of one touched by the Spirit....

Therefore, any endeavor started with these intention is more likely to feed ones own ego, rather than the sheep. This One is more likely to compile a list of works to read at the gate, than to go humbly, knowing that entrance is given by grace and not by any works....

 

[Kit Sigmon]

You sound like a couple of relatives of mine and some young people at
church who went and did this... World Race - 2019 Routes

 

[Sam81]

I am just disillusioned with everything. So many man made restrictions like forcing future pastors and missionaries to first marry. Got to be saved a long time too. Just disillusioning.

 

[carp614]

What passion. I admire your, what is it exactly, determination I think. Later you may look back on this as a pivotal moment in your walk.

It is interesting to me because I remember having similar lines of thinking. How hurt and dissuaded I was when I was given wise council to slow down and think. At the time, those cautions felt like such a wet blanket! I was on fire to do something. How could they not see it? In my case, the council I received was correct. Time faded my enthusiasm by helping me see how little I understood. I would have done a lot of damage had I taken that course without being prepared. I also would have flamed out, as I later did several times on other ideas I thought were "the" big idea.

Having said that, what you are describing does sound like accounts I have read of monastic life. Maybe that is something you should look into? Whatever you do, being outside of a church congregation is not something I would recommend.

Recognize in this case that you are frustrated with people who are actually making an effort, at least on some level, to be more Christ like.

People want material things and no one wants to be 100% focusing on Jesus 100% of the time.

Imagine how much more frustrating the unrepentant might be?

 

[aiki]

I have only been saved a couple of months but already I have become disillusioned with certain elements of every church!

This is a common characteristic of new believers. Mature a little before you start thinking about jumping ship.

You might want to read the apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthian believers, or his letter to the Galatians. Neither church was hitting it out of the park in how they were carrying on. Paul had quite a few very serious criticisms of both churches. But, you know, he didn't just dump them and move on. No, he remonstrated with them, encouraged them, taught them, prayed for them and did all he could to support them. Why? Because this is what it means to love the brethren.

People want material things and no one wants to be 100% focusing on Jesus 100% of the time.

Material beings need material things: food, shelter, clothing, etc. It is not wrong for them to work to obtain these things.

No one can focus upon Jesus 100% at all times. They'd crash their cars, or burn their cooking, or do badly or not at all any of a huge host of things that ought to be done. God is not offended if we take eight hours or so to sleep every 24 hours and don't focus on Jesus 100% while we do.

I feel led to just buy a bus ticket to a certain city, a few clothes, only a few hundred bucks, and just go. Am I being led into foolishness?

Yes. And I think you know it. Hence, your question here.

I wanna be far more sold out tham anything I see from anyone.

Yeah, as a long-time discipler of new believers I see this a lot. In my experience, it's actually pride, not piety, that prompts this sort of thinking in less mature believers. Most new believers don't really know what it means to be "sold out" as a Christian. In any case, God doesn't ask you to pretend the failings of your brothers and sisters in Christ don't exist, but He does call you to love them deeply and sacrificially regardless which requires that you stop merely criticizing them and start encouraging, and supporting, and praying for them.

I have a vision of commune style, Acts based, the world is pointless, live and preach Jesus constantly 24\7 type of Christianity.

Why? Are you living in the first century? No. Is the culture you're in Mediterranean in character? No. Is the Church in its earliest stages, just beginning to take shape? No. So, why try to carry on in mimicry of a time, and culture, and circumstance that is long past?

Am I being foolish?

Um, just a bit, yeah.

 

[Lost4words]

There are some denominations that require a priest be unmarried. Catholic for a start.

You need to explore more. God will direct you. Take your time. Pray about it. Dont be too hasty.