What's the Deal?

The church in America has failed. It has failed to be the place of healing, comfort, and joy that it should be. Instead, the church manipulates Christians in order to support its political and financial goals. The church allows no diversity of thought or practice, but instead has shattered into 22,000 denominations each of which thinks it has the only true interpretation of scripture, the only proper ethics, and is the only righteous representative of God's work on earth. In order to maintain this farce, Christians are forced to either conform to a church's practice or face alienation, ostracization, and personal attack. People swap churches regularly, often confused after being attacked by a group of people who once claimed to love them. Most church growth now is transfer growth, not expansion. Some people drop out of the church entirely, thinking themselves unworthy to be one of God's people.

The ministry is corrupt. Pastors and elders plot and scheme against each other to gain power and prestige. Every ministry is a kingdom, and woe to anyone who rises up against the king. The church has sold itself for political influence, allowing secular political parties to determine its beliefs. Many churches will not tolerate a member who votes for the wrong political party, or who does not support a church's pet cause. Financial misappropriation is rampant. Church politics has replaced love for one another as the main expression of relationships within the church. Racism, sexism and favortism abound.

In place of true holiness the church has erected a pharisaical system of legalistic ethics, in which the sins the people in that community commit (gluttony, envy, racism, lying, posturing) are downplayed while those the community has little chance of committing (homosexuality, drinking, smoking) are loudly decried. Anyone who violates these arbitrary rules is ostracized or disfellowshipped. Like all legalistic systems, this one leads to hypocrisy and inauthenticity and a culture of lying and fakeness.

Theology has become ensnared by those who would use it to further their own agenda. Statements of faith have become more detailed and rigid. Diversity of scriptural interpretation is not tolerated as it was when the church first began. Anyone who deviates from the "absolute truths" of the church is considered a heretic. Often, theology is bludgeoned into supporting whatever views the leadership prefer. Anyone who disagrees is not disagreeing with men, but with God himself. One only has to look at the battle against segregation in the south to see the lengths that men will go to twist scripture to support their own evil purposes. This crime has been repeated throughout history.

But there is hope. Throughout history the church has stopped being the manifestation of God's people and turned to become the power of men. During those times Christians obsolete the old church by creating an entirely new church. Since all men are evil, these reformations only last a short while before the church has again been co-opted by men and their schemes and power games. Then another revolution comes. No church is perfect, but they are reformable.

We think it is time for a revolution in the church, based upon three core concepts:

• Love. The church was designed to be ruled by love, not rules and power and money. Love accepts people in weakness and attempts to build them up. Love is longsuffering. Love understands imperfection. Love rejoices in true justice.
  
• Freedom. The church was never meant to control every aspect of a person's life. It was meant to allow Christians to join together to worship God. Within this narrow purpose the church has authority, but outside that narrow purpose the church has no authority. A Christian's relationship is with God and is accountable to God alone. Only God judges, not the church.
  
• Diversity. The church should not value conformity. Nothing in God's creation abides conformity, but rather the beautiful diversity of the world. Men impose conformity as a means of control. God births diversity. Christians should not isolate themselves with others who think alike. The church should tolerate a wide range of views, theology, and practice.

This is the beginning of our journey to found a new church to rectify the mistakes of the old. It is a difficult task. It will take struggle and pain. We will make mistakes. But we must do this, because God calls us to do it and because we owe it to those who come after us.