CHRISTIANITY VS CHURCHIANITY

There is a counterfeit Christianity today that is prevalent in the lives of many who call themselves Christians. I give this deceptive form of Christianity a pet name, "Churchianity"…although be warned, this pet can be very ferocious. This has influenced all of us and many have not recognized it. It takes the form of righteous-looking religiosity that isn't always easily recognizable. It cloaks itself in man-made rules and doctrines. It looks delicious but when eaten is poisonous…making much of the Church sickly, sleepy and in case of overdose…dead.
In view of the Lord desiring His Church to be holy (wholesome), without spot, and mature, we need to remove this poison from our diets. It has infiltrated much of our denominational system and has still infested non-denominational churches.
We need to hold fast to what our founding fathers of the reformation have taught us. When we don't, we fall into the Churchianity trap and become prisoners of war.
The reformers, which include Huss, Wycliffe, etc. restored to us the principles of "solos scripturas"… the sole authority of the scriptures, justification by faith, priesthood of the believers, and the papacy being the Anti-Christ.
Many of us hold to one or more of these but forget (or are ignorant of) the others. Some of us hold to the reformers positions but are still suckered in by some of the lollipops of Churchianity. If on some points you fall into the Churchianity category don't panic! You are not automatically apostate and fallen from the faith! I have chosen some specific, detailed examples that, like spices, aren't the whole crux of the batter. But their flavoring stenches the purity of the aroma of Christ in our lives. Simply, reevaluate your beliefs on the issue using "solos scripturas." If the Church does this we will be a representation of Christ on this earth that people can't resist. They will turn to Him (or persecute us even more.) Even so (or So be it) they won't go to Hell out of ignorance!
Christianity Churchianity
Accountability - all answer to God Accountability - to one another, to pastors and/or elders
Commitment - to God only Commitment - to one another, to attending church services
Spiritual authority - "solos scripturas" Spiritual authority - obey your pastor(s)/elders
Submission to God Submission to man
Giving - give out of willingness, out of what one has, for equality according to 2 Corinthians 8, 9 Tithing - give 10% of income to local church
Membership - when we become Christians we are members of the body of Christ Membership - belong to a local church
Ministries - ministries mentioned in the Bible function such as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor and teachers (Ephesians 4:11, I Corinthians 13:27-28) Ministries - a focus on ministries not mentioned in the Bible (e.g., worship/praise teams, Sunday school, choir) and non-function of those mentioned in the Bible
Fellowship - daily (Acts 2:46), realizing that when 2 or 3 are gathered together Jesus is in their midst (Matt. 18:20) Fellowship - attend church services regularly
Evangelism - to anyone, anytime, any way. As Paul has said, "I have become all things to all men that I might by all means save some." (I Cor. 9:22) Paul also rejoiced "that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached…" (Phil. 1:18) Evangelism - emphasis is on inviting people to church service
Women - "There is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal. 3:28b) Women - second class citizens…subordinate to men…not allowed in leadership positions
Emphasis on love. "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30) "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to glory of God." (I Cor. 10:31) Emphasis on don'ts…drink, dance, smoke, etc.
Emphasis on Jesus Emphasis on anything else
Grace of God Legalism – justification by doing things
Freedom in Christ Rules and regulations to obey
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. (Gal. 2:20a) Self-centered gospel
Jesus death on cross and His resurrection Jesus died for us to fulfill our pleasures and desires
Jesus is Lord We are gods (or we do things our way)
Apply the Bible to our lives Knowledge of the Bible is supreme or the Bible is unimportant, irrelevant, and/or inaccurate
All ministries function One ministry prevails (most commonly pastors)
We fellowship with any Christian We fellowship with our "kind" (similar social/economic/race) or only with our "church"
Available to all Christians for fellowship and ministry Inward focus on local church members
TOTAL POINTS = TOTAL POINTS =
Evaluate whether you are a Churchian or a Christian by totaling each column. To do this, decide which side you do the most (represented by a row of boxes). For example, regarding accountability, do you believe and act as if we are accountable to God? Or are you accountable to someone else? Choose one box from this row that most describes you. Maybe, put a checkmark next to the box. Then total the number of checks in each column and write it in the TOTAL POINTS box for each column. Do this now before reading further.
If you are a pure Christian, you will have 21 points in the first column (representing Christianity) and 0 points in the second column (representing Churchianity). If you are totally apostate, you will have 21 points in the second column and 0 in the first. Most of us will fall in between these two categories. I dare not go beyond this and give points for a "very good Christian", "good Christian", "average Christian", "lukewarm Christian", "backslidden Christian", "on your way to apostasy Christian", etc. (Although, if most of your points are in the second column I am very concerned about your Christianity.) God wants us to be totally pure Christians! - (with all of our points in the first column, if you will.) I recommend that in areas in which you have points or checkmarks in the second column, you would seek God and the Bible on this issue…and it wouldn't hurt to read the chapter dealing with this issue, also.
Now, some of you may be thinking that both boxes in some rows are accurate and in some aspects they might be. For example, in the Submission category, the Bible says to submit to one another. (Submit to one another is on the right side of the column). However, other scriptures clearly teach we are to submit to God (mentioned on the left side of the column). But when studying all scriptures on this subject, we are only to submit to one another in that we are submitting to God. So, we are to submit to God first and ultimately. For example, if someone were to ask us to submit to him or her and commit a sin…we are not to do it. We are not to submit to that person. In another example, the Jewish religious leaders told the disciples not to preach about Jesus anymore. The disciples did not submit to these leaders on this issue. (See Acts 4.)
I have chapters that deal with several of these issues. For a fuller understanding, please turn to these chapters, which include Authority and Accountability, Commitment section (found within the Authority and Accountability chapter), Giving, Membership, Ministries, and Women (found within the Favoritism and Discrimination chapter.)
However, for those of you who want to read the entire book in the order it was written, I will briefly explain some of these areas.
Accountability - Some day we will account of ourselves to God for our relationship with Him and what we did on this earth. Don't sell yourself short (or go bankrupt) because you thought we give account to men. When we die and stand before the judgment seat of God, no man will be able to "cash in" or testify for us. Our filthy, corrupt, man-made "accounts" or "accountability" will mean nothing to God. His standard of accountability is the Word of God (Bible) and what Jesus did for us and our sin on the cross. We are complete in Him.
Commitment - Don't be committed to man or you might become "committed" by man. There has been many a person who has become unstable due to what some call "commitment relationships". The scriptures discuss and support commitment to God. "Commitment to man" puts us in the territory of committing sin.
Authority - I do mean to be authoritarian on this point…. All authority belongs to God! When we give authority to man (rather than giving authority to the scriptures) we allow authoritarianism to rule and reign in our lives. No longer does Jesus rule and reign in our lives, but some man does. How apostate!
Submission - Who would you rather submit (surrender all or part of your life) to? Some sinful, limited man (and we all are sinners) or to a righteous, just, all-knowing, loving God! I submit this thought for your consideration.
Fellowship - Do you prefer having relationship with people or to simply learn about the back of their heads? - (which is all we do when sitting in most church services.) There is more to knowing our brothers and sisters than simply who has a bald spot in the back of their heads! In doing this, we act like we have holes in our head. But we have the mind of Christ, don't we? Let's truly fellowship with one another. Let's fellowship with the body of Christ. There is only one body. To recognize only your "church body", is to say that Christ has many bodies (or that all the rest of us aren't Christians). If Christ has many bodies, then we are a monster.
Evangelism - Jesus summarizes this nicely when He said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mk. 16:15) Let's stop being chickens and only invite people to church for the pastor to maybe preach to them. We are to do the preaching!
Finally, make the decision to be a pure Christian. Eliminate all of your "Churchian" ways! God will help you do so if you are willing. Just ask Him to show you the truth on these matters. He will even help you with any lack of willingness on your part. For our God works in us to will and to do His good pleasure! (Phil. 2:13)

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The exception to this would be the marriage covenant. See page 48 in the chapter on Authority for more details.
Although no matter what we or any man does, Jesus always has all authority and sovereignty! He is God!