In seeing the instances of Churchianity that are out there, it seems there’s one thing that is in common to all of it:
People are revering and following after men, rather than following after God.
There are signs of these things all over the Churchian realms, even from the very beginning. It is written of Paul and Barnabas after the people tried to worship them:
Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: (Acts 14:14-15)
And of Peter:
And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man. (Acts 10:25-26)
The tendency of wicked man is to worship created things rather than the Creator is a paramount thing which separates men from God. It could even be said that this is the primary test laid upon those who accept the grace of Christ. As it is written of John and the angels:
And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:9-10)
And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. (Revelation 22:8-9)
Unfortunately, this simple admonition has been completely eliminated from the consciousness of most men. When all the representatives of Churchianity, even the ones that claim lineage to Paul and Peter miss this admonition, it makes a statement. It’s people putting themselves and other men, lifting them up as somehow better before other men and closer to God. It’s a natural part of the fallen nature, and a sad statement on Churchianity at large that the men themselves will do this, and others will accept them:
I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. (3 John 9-11)
And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. (Acts 12:21-23)
It should not be missed that the same things are written of the son of perdition, one who represents himself as God and desires worship of himself as God:
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (2 Thess 2:3-4)
The message should be clear to worship God, follow Him and serve Him and no one else or nothing else, yet all of this seems to be missed repeatedly. When people follow after other men, they turn to the ones that please them the most. This tendency has been noted time and again:
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)
The tendency of men after they select another man to follow is to turn it into a movement. This in turn eliminates any unity with the Spirit and body. It creates divisions, when the group divides up into sects or denominates itself. Again this occurred so early that Paul had to deal with it:
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians 1:10-13)
Again, what is Paul, what is Apollos, what is Cephas but ordinary men who need the grace of Christ?
For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? (1 Corinthians 3:3-5)
Is this contention not what we have today in the staggering number of churches that denominate themselves outside of Christ? How is proclaiming that you follow Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Knox, or Smyth any different?
The directive today is literally to build up your own following, and build up the following of the movement. This has grown so commonplace that it is traditionalism at its core. While not intended as a direct response, this post already has driven up on the same block so might as drive on towards the house. Sola Scriptura doesn’t work with most people because they are bonded into division by these denominations and can not overcome them. They are not unified with the Spirit and do not generally act through the Spirit to interpret what they see. The proper and real binding authority, as Novaseeker puts it in denying His agency, is rightfully the Holy Spirit, not men.
Moreover, men are not locked into following after the Spirit and can grieve Him, not only in their lives but in their interpretation of Scriptures. Men can either conform to the Scriptures or seek to make the Scriptures conform to them. The pressures of the flesh and the world will always drive men away from Sola Scriptura into the arms of men. False teachers have always existed since the beginning, and it’s not coincidental that they feed into this sectarianism.
But to put aside the Spirit and desire a man instead as the arbiter in response to this sectarian disunity is disastrous. To deny the sufficiency of Scripture is to deny the sufficiency of Christ to justify, sanctify, and glorify His body. To deny the sufficiency of Scripture is to say that God’s right arm is too short. To deny the sufficiency of Scripture for a perceived lack of an arbiter is to deny the Holy Spirit and strip Him of His power.
I will say it time and again. I know I’m insufficient, but I know that Christ is all-sufficient for my needs. I know I am not worthy, therefore I need Christ. I know that all have sinned and fallen short just like me, so they need Christ too because they are not worthy. So why should I worship, follow, and revere them instead of Christ? Why should anyone worship, follow, or revere me? I am not Christ. There is only One that has walked this earth worthy of worship. I know it isn’t any of you. It isn’t me either. There is one figure that John fell on his face towards that didn’t rebuke him:
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. (Revelation 1:17-18)
Follow Christ, Serve Christ, Love Christ. Lift Him up alone.
For those that are wondering about the title, this song rang through my head almost the whole time planning and writing this thing:
