Dissatisfied with Church?

Do you ever get dissatisfied with church? I'm not talking about the feelings of 'the church not meeting my needs.' That's inward looking. I'm talking about being dissatisfied with where you are at with God. You know there is more. You want to be more like him here and now. But how much time do we waste in learning how to know him more instead of being more like him?

Over the past 18 months I have studied many of the controversies of the church. From Montanism to modern word-faith preaching. Trinity to democracy. The sabbath, Calvinism, tongues, bible-only. It seems to me that man has an incredibly ingenious way of inventing new problems for himself. If there isn't an issue to argue over then we need to make one up to feel like we are achieving something.

Before I was married my leader in OM, Pradip Ayer, told me a wise truth: Major on the major issues and not the minor ones. It is a lesson that should be carried over to our Christian faith as well.

Ultimately we all belong to one family as we are all God's children.
Hebrews 2:11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

However within that family there is room for expression.
Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

It makes me cry to think that there are people out there that think their part of the body, their spiritual family, their church or denomination, is the only true part of the body of Christ. Most of the controversies listed above have resulted in groups forming to condemn the other position and proclaim that their position is the only way. Their congregations then become an exclusive club convinced that only they hold the knowledge of truth and the penalty for leaving is leaving the assurance of salvation. I have seen this across the board in Brethern, Baptist, pentecostal, Anglican, third-wave, whatever. This insidious legalism based on the philosophies of man doesn't care for denominational labels - rather they are the underpinning of its lies.

God has made us one family, one body. Within that we will find those who have similar expressions of what it means to be part of the family - we cal these gatherings church. However our particular grouping should never become exclusive to the exclusion of other parts of the body.

We should never attempt to be the Holy Spirit in other peoples lives.