Sabbathing: 2-22-15

Yesterday we had what may actually be the biggest snow of a very cold but not very snowy season. And, that's enough to keep us home. It's also enough to inspire me to wax philosophical.

Today, we will Sabbath. We will rest.

As you probably know, in the Old Covenant, people were commanded, in the Top Ten, to devote the seventh day of the week, not to attending a worship show, but to resting. So, today, we will be like the people of the Old Covenant.

This is a day to think about how much we who participate in the gathering still called Faith Community Church of God, CGGC, are NOT church focused.

 I've been meditating on the theological flaws and bankruptcies of the CGGC scorecard. And, I'd say, at its core, its corruptions trace back to the fact that it defines the essence of discipleship in terms of a person's relationship and involvement with a local church, not directly with the Lord. This is spiritually disastrous. You can be a very good church person and not know the Lord at all. And, you can be a wholehearted disciple of Jesus who thinks little of institutional Christianity, IMO.

Remember that, according to the Gospels, the word church only came out of Jesus' mouth only three times and those all in two conversations and in one Gospel.

From the perspective of the Gospels, deciding not to meet on a Sunday is not a big deal. But, having this understanding of what it means to be a Christian makes it hard to excel on the Scorecard. Still, I will choose living according to the Gospels over scoring high by human standards.

So no gathering today. No big deal.

The NBD thing is now genuine and it feels deep seated in me. This, I believe, is fruit of my genuine repentance of institutional churchianity.

My friend Dan Horwedel, who is a philosopher and a prophet, sometimes speaks of wishing he could participate with the institutionalists and grieves over the pain of his feeling of exclusion. I am at peace with who I am and am content to take that to the Lord on the Day. But, I, too, want communion with those who will accept me only on their own terms.