Thought For The Week

There is a current trend among believing Americans in which they claim to be followers of Christ but have no desire to have a relationship with the church. In 2014, a YouTube video entitled "Why I Hate Religion But I Love Jesus" received some 30 million views. In this man’s attempt to call out false teaching, people have misunderstood the intended message and begun to say, "I can follow Jesus without the church. Why would I want to be a part of an institution that requires me to attend its services, give my money to support its preachers? Why would I want to be part of a group of hypocritical and judgmental people? I can still love Jesus, accept God’s grace, have a private personal relationship with Him and be His disciple on my own terms with no strings attached."

Perhaps many of these folks have had a bad experience with other Christians, been treated with a mean spirit, or ignored by the church when they were in need. Maybe the idea of "Jesus Yes, Church No" comes from ignorance of what the bible has to say about the church. A recent survey said that only 3 out of 10 believing Americans attend at least one church service a week. That’s over 80 million people who say they believe in God but make no attempt to worship Him.

Jesus Christ purchased the church with His own blood (Acts 20:28) and He is the Savior of the body, the church (Ephesians 5:23). Therefore any attempt to separate Christ and His church is to promote false teaching. Rather we should all say, "Jesus, Yes! His Church, Yes!"

Jay Launius – 2023 Maud church of Christ Maud, Texas