THE LAW "WITHIN-THE-FOUR-WALL" RELIGION

There is a worm--a religious one--that is eating away at the church plant.  It's nothing new.  As a matter of fact, it is so not new that the secret to it's lengthy tenure is that it goes about its work completely unnoticed.  This thief is a crawler whose mobility is so undetected that man may often take on the burglar's ideas as his own.

We churchers would understand this concept quite well under the terminology of "within-the-four-walls".  Much of the general religious public's faith is built upon what happens during the one or two hour gathering on Sunday mornings.  It is here that lines are drawn, codes are established, and ruts are built.  It is here that many participants' egos are entrenched in "taking stances" which have much to do about preference and possibly less to do with God's merciful revelation.

The law within-the-four-wall religion has slipped largely into the rules and regulations of the more prominent members.  Speaking in tongues takes on a very weird twist because within these spiritual structures, money talks.  This truth crosses all denominational borders.

I'm in this mix.  It is not a "they" thing to me...nor most likely to you.  If we are to follow Jesus we must ever be on the alert to refraining from slipping into "my-way-or-the-highway" thrust of much of modern religion's habit.  There is more to us than our Sunday best us.  The "more" would be God; and He still knows stuff we don't.

Therefore, I encourage us to perpetually work at breaking from our own imposing modes.  May we soar in our faith rather than be sore about another's. May we be known as praisers of God more than being known for "where we stand" which often really means, "where we sit".

The law "within-the-four-wall" religion will always be a challenge to break open and to break out.  Humanity, in general, has taken twenty-five or forty-three Bible truths and built forts against the community when it is that very community we should be letting in.