In Rodney Stark’s book “God’s Battalions: The Case For The Crusades” he divides the Church into two factions. He describes these as “The Church of Power” which seeks wealth, prestige, dominion over souls (control), and vain-glory; and “The Church of Piety” which seeks God’s Will, purity, devotion to Christ, and the glory of God. These two descriptions are helpful, and how I wish to expound on my last post about “Salt and Light: Paradigm Shift for the Church.”
The Church of Power is most obvious in its imperial and medieval forms that reigned via emperors in Constantinople, and through the Pontiffs or Popes in Vatican City. This corrupt church system appears to be godly but is devoid of God, “having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:1). In these systems Bishops became Lords: land barons and had their own retinue of knights at arms. Going merely by how Geoffrey Plantagenet was taken kicking and screaming into the Church to expand King Henry II’s power in the church and the mafia like Borgias who took the Papal throne, it is no leap to deduce that many who enter the church of power do so not for love of Christ but rather for a cushy red velvet throne with robes decked in gold, and mitre that serves as a crown. However, the Church of Power is not merely vested in Medieval robes, it is found in Mega Churches with well groomed pastors earning over 10 Million a year like Pastor Furtick, who is paid simply to preach what he thinks about Scripture verses. The Church of Power is just as alive and well in Protestantism as it is in Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. The Church of Power in all denominations is white washed tombs, “For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:27-28). Yes, The Church of Power does not serve Christ Alone, despite engravings of Solus Christus, for they in actuality worship money, when Christ said we must choose between worshipping money or Him, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24), and “but all too quickly the Message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth (deceitfulness of riches), and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.” (Mark 4:19). Our Lord also told us not to store up temporal treasures, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21). And yet that is what the Cathedrals and Evangelical Churches do, they store up monies made by their merchandizing of the faith, something Satan invented, “In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub (not baby cherub from Victorian times, but one of Cherubim see), from the midst of the stones of fire,” (Ezekiel 28:16), and that our Lord Jesus wouldmy no doubt turn the tables over, “John 2:15-17
[15] And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. [16] And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” (John 2:15-17) and “And He says to them, "It has been written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer.' But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" (Matthew 21:13).
The Church of Piety in contrast has a “pure and simple devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3). The Church of Piety exists in all Trinitarian denominations, and is people of every race, dialect, and culture. The Church of Piety loves the Lord God, and they seek not hollow treasures of this earth, but The Treasure which is God The Trinity Himself! The Church of Piety enjoys God’s presence over palaces, His power (to heal, to prophecize, discern spirits, strike down evil, and etc) over the power this world offers, and His peace which the world cannot give, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27). The Pious Church is not enamored by mande made altars with candles and golden vessels, but know the altar lies inside themselves and that God dwells within them, “All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God,” (1 John 4:15); they are walking altars. The Church of Piety offers the gospel, the evangelion and good news freely, delighting in souls being reconciled to God through Christ Jesus over gaining revenues and following on Twitter. The Pious Church doesn’t demean brothers and sisters who are from denominational backgrounds that differ, but seek to fufill Jesus’ words, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, [21] that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me,” (John 17:20-23); of course the unity must be in the Truth (John 14:6), in the True Lord Jesus who died for our sins and rose from dead according to the Scriptures, For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The Pious Church corrects error and heresy, acting like spiritual doctors on one another, instead of fearing to reprove a brother over the possibility of losing their favor and those precious funds they bring into the church building every week. The Church of Piety is focused on Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:2) and His Kingdom of Heaven, not on the judgement of men and their kingdoms of church systems. The Pious Church cares for fellow Christians (James 2) and treats each brother and sister as if they are Christ because Christ lives in all Christians, “When the Son of Man (Jesus speaking of Himself) comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46).
The Church of Power is what I reject, because it is not the Church, but a system in many denominations built on the traditions of men, “And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men. And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!” (Mark 7:6-9) and for bendfit of making money. I instead choose The Church of Piety, the True Church which is all Christian Believers around the world in many denominations who hold fast to a pure and simple devotion to Christ and who are part of God’s Kingdom.
I hold to what I said in “Salt and Light: Paradigm Shift for the Church” but I wanted to clarify I still believe in the Church which is the Church of Piety, that seeks Christ and His Kingdom of Heaven, not worldly dominion. Amen.
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