THE PROBLEM WITH THE CHURCH

 The "Church" is not the building nor even the people within the organization. The Church is the brotherhood of believers in the world who share "Jesus" as the figurative Image of God and trust Him in all things. Why provide the Scripture for that when most minds have their own fiction of the Church?

Neither is Church doing things. Ezra had Church strictly by reading the Word of God without commentary nor even preaching. Church is understanding that God is God and that no other person nor idol IS; and that people are just another assembly of idols that must be appeased. As such, rather than the Church being about God; it is about the people within it. The "worldy" Church is not the "spiritual" Church and they must not be confused. 

The Church that so many attend in modern times is a distant "Cousin Eddie" to the original Church in the Holy Land! It claims to be related but not by blood... the blood of Jesus, anyway. Most Churches are not even cousins, let alone a brotherhood of believers!

Jesus said to Peter, speaking of Himself, "Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Mat 16:18).  Furthermore, the Church is explained:

Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. (Acts 11:25-26)

 Church, Matthew wrote, is "ekklēsia" in the Greek; "to call out from" or "to call from." (Strong's). That should pertain to some person or assembly of persons who are called out from the visible world into the invisible anti-world. As such, the world is not the Church but those who prescribe to the truth. 

That again brings up the question, What is truth? That Jesus is God in the flesh, and God is with us in Spirit as well; that the Holy Ghost - the Spirit of that one dead man - is the leader and teacher of the Church. The disciples were called "Christians" first at Antioch, and their assembly (synago) was at Antioch. 

Hence, the "Church" is the synagogue of disciples. (mathetes), or "learners" who would follow the teachings of Christ. The "Church is thence a place of learning and is a school not so much for preaching as it is for teaching. No wonder Jesus was called "Rabbi" - "teacher"!

The Church, rightly called "synagogue" is to "together bring" (ibid). Bring what together? Themselves to learn about Jesus. Compare that to the "synagogue of Satan" wherein learning were falsehoods and entertainment. 

Now ask, What is a Christian? Those who are persuaded to follow Jesus. Paul "reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks" (Acts 18:4) He used an assembly in the synagogue to persuade the assembly to become Christians. Synagogues are not temples but assemblies wherever the Way of Jesus is taught; even assemblies outdoors.

So, what is wrong with modern churches?

• Rather than persuading unbelievers to become Christians, the church caters to believers.
• Paul also, "persuaded them to continue in the grace of God" (Acts 13:43). Church was not a place of entertainment but a forum for advancing Jesus as the Savior. The "students," in that same passage, were the congregants.
• Thusly, the Church must have great teachers. It does not have! The Church most often do not use students of the Bible, but immature "learners" who think that they are teachers. As such, rather than advance Jesus, the Church advances learners into teachers. 
• Learners repeat what they have learned. That is good if their teachers have been qualified. However, if a poor teacher teaches the congregation, the entire congregation fails to learn. Jesus did not call the unlearned to teach but the most qualified. He called Paul to preach because he was as learned, or more so, than the philosophers in Athens. Unlearned teachers are much like the telephone game wherein the true message is lost by repetition of a weak message.
• Paul reasoned. He convinced the intelligent philosophers that their unknown God is not god at all, but he himself declared the One True God. So many modern "teachers" are limited to reading commentary; commentary that even they fail to understand. As such, unlearned "teachers" pass along untested doctrine. Paul wrote, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thes 5:21). Teachers must be scientific; they must persuade the listeners with logic, and the pupils should test whether it is good or wrong. Teachers must teach students how to learn before they learn! They fail at that because so many fail to understand just who Jesus IS!
• If Jesus had called on a Priest to teach, what would said priest have taught? Mosaic Law. He would not have taught the truth but another doctrine. Jesus went to Paul who knew the Law but convinced Paul that He understood it wrongly. Jesus revealed the truth to Paul and Paul was fully persuaded and understood just who Jesus IS!
• Paul was well-educated. Jesus did not look for a disciple to teach but a leader. Paul led the mob and they followed. He did not sing, baptize, deacon, or anything else. H only preached the gospel and that alone! He was not the center of attention, but a servant to Jesus who was gone. Perhaps Paul was the man for the time because he was a natural born teacher whose students followed him wherever he went. Jesus selected Paul to teach the Greeks because he was a philosopher who understood just what truth IS. Jesus revealed the truth to him by showing Paul that He - the Holy Ghost - is the same Jesus that Paul had diminished. Jesus sought an educated man who had the gift of persuasion, not some synagogue pupil from the time of His youth.
• So, the Church is more a school than a place of worship. Hence, the teachers must be pre-eminent. They should be the best of the best. We fail because the Church has become respecters of persons (Acts 10:34) that Paul wrote that he perceived Jesus it might be. Paul often taught the less learned or ensured that they were learned before he sent them out into the world. Each teacher was taught right doctrine before they were sent out (synagogue). The young ones such as Timothy were taught right doctrine before he was trusted. Neither Jesus nor Paul sought sub-par people as teachers but the best of the best. 
• Teaching requires that the teacher teach beyond the knowledge of the congregation. A teacher for the pupils to learn must teach what is called, "over the heads" of the assembly. Persuasion is hard work, so logic and reason are a must. Telling students what they already know is selling the congregation short. That can be heard in the lack of knowledge of the members of the Church. So many members of the congregation in the Church fail to understand what Pilate, the thief, and the centurion believe; that Jesus and Jehovah are One and the same Divine Being. When I have taught, it is obvious that the congregation remained unschooled in the nature of God! Teachers are to advance Jesus as God, not retard that doctrine.
• Furthermore, the teacher must know right doctrine (orthodoxy). For instance, a denomination, Armenian in belief has a certain doctrine. (If yours differs, I am not the final authority.) As such, the teachers must teach generalized grace and not election, and also conditional security rather than eternal security. So many, even Armenians, ask, "Do you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are saved?" to the new member. No, they do not! It is conditional based on whether they maintain faith during their lifetime... "endure to the end" (Mat 10:22), or as Paul said, "persuade them to continue in the faith." Whether you believe that is up to you and your understanding of scripture. However, those who say that is their doctrine should know better than teach a false doctrine! 
       Paul wrote, "now is our salvation nearer than when we believed" (Rom 13:11). Whether you believe that or not is between you and God, but an Armenian denomination should teach that doctrine. To say something irrational - "beyond the shadow of a doubt" - in respect to salvation is not only illogical but Calvinistic. That you are already "saved" is as well. "Conversion" is the right doctrine for general baptists and the consequence, or reward, is "salvation" - "shall be saved" (John 3:16) as a future event. 
       Do not get hung up on differing doctrine but agree to agree that the teachers of the church must teach their doctrine as they understand it, not the doctrine of some other faith.
• Many churches present videos of preachers and teachers of different faiths. That is okay in a non-sectarian setting, but wrong to do so in whatever your church's doctrine might be. I have taught for many years in other denominations but have avoided teaching contrary to their doctrine because that would be unethical. Your church should take care to propagate the doctrine of Jesus as you understand it, and my church should expect the same. When a teacher of another doctrine is brought into the assembly, it can confuse the congregation. In so many churches, that is so prevalent that many hold different believes at the same time - what Orwell called "doublethink." You cannot believe that apostasy is right doctrine and at the same time know without a doubt that you are already saved! 
       Apostasy is defection from God (Heb 6:6). That implies apostasy is to "fall away" from once having affection for God; that the "saved" can somehow become "unsaved." Explain to me the act of "unsaving;" it is irrational! it is not even a word. 
• Church is an assembly of those who have come out of the world into the invisible realm of God. Therein, Jesus is "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." Where is Jesus in your church? The modern church has become nothing more than "a den of thieves" so to speak. Within its core are the few who do all things. Those the busiest in life are called upon to be the busiest in the church. Have you not noticed that just a few of the congregants lead all the activities? Rather than the church calling on those with time and experience; it calls on those with the least time to do all things.    Have you noticed that the same people are in view at all times, but the best teachers may be the silent ones who take a backseat to "players" in playing church" as if church is a performance rather than a "classroom" for learning to be better Christians, hard as that may seem. 
• Many churches have forty-minutes of praise compared to twenty-minutes of instruction. Sure, it may be worship, or it could be entertainment. Jesus did not come to entertain but teach; thusly He is called "Rabbi." So many worship with little idea the majesty and grandeur of the Divine Being who they are worshipping. Some worship praise itself. If there is not enough praise, then they hunger for more rather than hungering for more truth about Jesus and His Plans for them. Not that praise is wrong but that the disciples should know more about who they are praising. Face it, bands and music were not part of Paul's ministry but presenting truth and instruction. Persuasion is indeed hard work! Someone that responds emotionally to music but not to the Word should test whether their emotion is to the music or to the Word. 
• The Church has become more like an ecclesiastical organization with a hierarchy. At the first level are the commoners who sit there in awe of the featured ones. They are the masses who should be appeased and who are expected to adore their leaders. Then there are the performers who are expected to entertain the apathetic. They are graded on the applause that they receive. Above them are the active ones - the doers who work so hard that you need not! They are to be admired but at the same time, church is to learn and admire Jesus and often the entertainers overshadow the Purpose. Among them are the teachers. The thought is if they can entertain, they can teach! Many of us have suffered through that fantasy. There is a ladder to success as well. The minister may groom those most allegiant to him to be the leaders of the church. Rather than the deacons and trustees as the leaders, in laxity, they designate their responsibilities to the preacher who ministers rather than teach. He gets so busy ministering that lesser qualified must teach. Soon, the preacher can rely on them as he does his own "day job" that is more important.
• To show that they are worthy, the ecclesia demonstrate that their acumen is in various fields; they can teach as well as entertain; can rule as well as teach, and so forth. Rather than Jesus as "Tekton" they are the most notable "technicians," and it is assumed that if they are so good in one expertise that they must be experts in everything.
• The worst is when those with little knowledge endeavor to teach the teachers. I have been asked to do that myself long before I accrued the knowledge that I have today. I was called on to be the teacher of the Professor of the New Testament. How illicit was that? Yet, many today, are called on to teach what they are not sure of themselves. When teachers are outside their expertise, then they make fools of the congregants. That is why we are to test all things and retain what is good among the poor teachings. 

With all that said, it is sad, but the Church is not what it was meant to be. The most obvious is the "circus-like" atmosphere that some have, and staged plays like the big churches. Less noticeable is the congregation playing church and the minister watching as if he is king to be entertained and paid. The modern church is structured like a governing assembly rather than a school for learning about Jesus. It has become an experiment in motivation and leadership rather than humility. Just my thoughts after 70 years of observation.