The bondage of the Church - Part 3 - The
Church Government - by P.K.Odendaal - June 2013.
In a
previous article I have superficially written on the devastating persecution
and war the Roman Catholic Church prosecuted against its disobedient members
and even on people who did not want to have anything to do with it - like Jews
and many others. It is too ghastly to go into the detail of those persecutions
and wars. I referred you to the book: 'The Dogs of God' by Reston. Of course
the recent film named 'Goya's Ghosts' is an excellent portrayal of the life
under the Catholic Church, the inquisition and the abuse of church members.
Fact of
the matter is that the Vatican set up a government complete with military wing to
keep the Pope in power over these two millennia. It is clear from the history
that if you did not obey the Pope, you were dead.
When the
Reformation came as it had to, the reformed churches all took a lot of dogma,
theology, liturgy, rules and regulations over from the Catholic Church as it
would have been untenable to establish new churches in a void. The result is
that the legacy of the Popish government lives on today in almost all churches,
without them knowing it, albeit in a more subtle and insidious way. A case in
point is the Church of England. When Henry VIII, and ardent anti-reformist and
the Pope's best friend, decided to break away from the Pope, he only changed the
name of his new Church - and even today it is very difficult to establish
whether the Church of England is Catholic or not, apart from its independence
form the Pope. It was the same sort of symbiosis the English have between
Monarchy and Premier.
It is
easy to recognise these traits when you look for them specifically and that is
why I wrote the article: 'A litmus test for the church'. You can read it here:
Today
many churches have one or more of the following governmental issues:
1. You
must belong to a church in writing or at least at heart. In many churches only
members of the church may participate in some rites, communions or sacraments.
This comes from the dictum of the Roman Catholic Church that you cannot go to
heaven if you are not a member of that church. If they ex-communicate you, you
are going to hell. In fact, in Rome you will find that a Roman Catholic corpse is
not even allowed to be buried in the same cemetery as another type of Christian!
The
fact is that Jesus Christ instituted all these things for His church on a free
basis. Freely you received it and freely you must give it.
2. The
Pastor and/or Church Council have a say over things of the Church. They can
decide how they hold the services, how they spend the money, how they do the church
work and who shall sit on these councils. I know a church where only a small
selected portion of the church (about 1%) may vote for the incumbents and
decide on all the above issues. This is totally in conflict with the
constitution of many countries, including the one I come from. The congregation
who pays the bulk of the tithes have no say over the money, and the church
leaders who contribute about nothing spend it. Real socialist if you ask me.
The Rumsfeld conventional wisdom says that a socialist will keep on spending other
people's money until it runs out.
3. Someone,
mostly a Pastor, a Prophet or a President of the Church decide who must do what
and who must serve where, and employees must do what the church or the person
in authority says. I know the apostle Paul was not an employee, because he only
followed the leading of the Holy Spirit. Some get salaries and are obliged to
preach Church dogma though it may sometimes be in conflict with the Bible.
4. Many
churches have unwritten rules about what a church member may do or not do. Many
of these are about what types of sin are allowed and what not, what types of
food you may eat and what not, how you shall dress and how not, what songs you may
sing and what not … the list is quite long.
5. A
much more dangerous pastime of some churches is the following: They have Pastors
or Prophets who will consult with God on your behalf and then tell you or
prophesy for you what God wants you to do. You are not allowed to go against
the oracle of these Prophets, even if it is in stark contrast with the teaching
of the Bible. Be warned that in such a case your salvation is in the hands of
the Prophet and not in the hands of God - and according to history such
prophets mostly fail to bring life to their proselytes. Just a reference to
Charles Manson, David Koresh and the Davidians and countless others is enough
to send shivers down my spine.
To debunk
these false dogmatic statements, I wish to categorically state the following -
and I dare anybody to show me anything to the contrary in the Bible.
1. God
has opened the door for us to talk directly to him and not through a priest or
prophet as in Old Testament times. Scripture says that the veil was rent in
two, meaning that we now had direct access into the Holy of Holies. It is no
longer necessary to have a prophet to tell us what God say. We can find that
out from God himself. You should not be under the illusion that the prophet
will handle your case before God better then you can do yourself. The office of
Priest is also no longer valid as Jesus Christ has become our High Priest.
2. The
Church has no authority over anyone. The Church will not be judged for its
misdeeds - it has no legal standing towards your soul and it has no authority over
your soul - whether in terms of common law or in terms of biblical teaching or
in terms of some government edict.
3. Nobody
can force you to serve God or force you to serve God in a certain way or lead
your life in a certain way. The way you should lead your live is explained in
detail in the bible. You do not need anything else, especially not the false
teaching of certain churches.
4. To
serve God is a personal duty in terms of the direction of our own free will
which is directed, if you wish it so, by the leading of the Holy Spirit. That
is why scripture says I must repent or renew my compact with God every day. It
means that I have a new chance every day to decide to serve God or not.
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