Maybe I’m on Fire! · The Disciple Machine

Maybe I’m on Fire!

I Do Not Send People to Church

I made a phone call last week.

I had seen the name of a man I knew back in the 1990s on the marquee of an office building. Years ago, he was my Sunday school teacher. He taught us a Greek word that changed the way I understood the gospel:

Metanoia — a change of mind.

He taught us that we are not saved by religious performance. We are not saved by promising God we will do better. We are not saved by cleaning ourselves up enough to be acceptable.

We are saved by believing on Christ Jesus.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…”— Acts 16:31, KJV

That teaching stayed with me.

After he taught that, he was accused of false teaching and removed from the church. But I never forgot what he taught. So when I saw his name, I called him. I wanted him to know that the seed he planted all those years ago never died.

I am a Berean at heart.

When someone teaches something, I do not accept it just because they have a title. I search it out. I study. I compare it to Scripture.

“They received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”— Acts 17:11, KJV

And the more I study, the more convinced I become that one of the biggest problems in Christianity today is that men keep burying the power of Christ under religious tradition.

They create checklists.

They create performance tests.

They make salvation sound like something Christ began, but we must maintain.

But that is not the gospel.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast.”— Ephesians 2:8–9, KJV

Christ died for all of my sins.

Not some.

Not most.

All.

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”— Hebrews 10:10, KJV

Yes, believers should grow.

Yes, sin has consequences.

Yes, the child of God should desire truth.

But growth is not the root of salvation.

It is the fruit of the Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith…”— Galatians 5:22, KJV

We do not change ourselves into Christians.

Christ saves us.

Then the Holy Spirit works in us.

That is why I do not send people to church.

I send people to Christ.

That does not mean I despise the church. It does not mean I reject fellowship. It does not mean every pastor is wrong or every congregation is unsafe.

But I have seen too much damage done when churches fail to rightly divide the Word of God.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”— 2 Timothy 2:15, KJV

When the Word is not rightly divided, people get hurt.

Salvation gets mixed with discipleship.

Grace gets mixed with law.

Spiritual growth gets turned into proof that someone is “really saved.”

And before long, Christ is no longer presented as the Savior who finished the work. He becomes the starting point of a religious maintenance program.

That is why I cannot casually tell hurting people, “Go to church.”

Some churches will point them to Christ.

Others will bury them under fear, guilt, rules, and man-made doctrine.

And I will say it plainly: I am tired of God-damned doctrine being treated as holiness.

Doctrine that replaces grace with fear.

Doctrine that tells believers Jesus saved them, but now they must maintain themselves.

Doctrine that makes wounded people look at themselves more than they look at Christ.

Doctrine matters.

But true doctrine points to Jesus.

False doctrine points people back to themselves.

The Holy Spirit changes people.

Religious pressure does not.

So yes, good churches exist.

Yes, pastors and teachers can be a gift.

Yes, fellowship can strengthen believers.

But church is not the Savior.

Christ is.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…”— Hebrews 12:2, KJV

So I do not send people to church first.

I send people to Christ.

Open His Word.

Believe on Him.

Trust what He finished.

Let the Holy Spirit work in you.

Then, if God leads you to a fellowship that rightly divides the Word, protects grace, honors Christ, and trusts the Spirit, receive that as a blessing.

But never confuse the building with the Savior.

Never confuse the pastor with the Shepherd.

Never confuse religious pressure with the Holy Spirit.

The power is not in church attendance.

The power is not in self-improvement.

The power is in Christ.

And when people truly understand that, they are no longer stifled by religion.

They are set free by grace.

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