It is establishment religion, in opposition to the One True Church.
One of the lies from the Garden of Eden is that you shall become like God. This is the pursuit of Satan and the unregenerate man. Men pursue wealth, power, and authority. Governments and councils seek it with material and worldly aims. The poor are oppressed and the average person is taken advantage of by such corrupt power. It infects the man, the family, businesses, governments, and social institutions, even religious institutions.
One of the most powerful Red Letter passages is found in Matthew chapter 10. Jesus is speaking to the disciples before sending them out among the Israelites...
Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. “A disciple is not above
his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they malign those of his household."Matthew 10:16-25 (ESV)
This passage is truly timeless. Since the inception of Christ' kingdom on earth, the establishment has opposed Him, His disciples, His teaching, and His kingdom. Man seeks to build his own kingdom. Man wants his own empire and his own rules. The natural man rejects the will and way of God, and establishes his own dominion, as far as the Lord allows.
Our experience with human institutions drives many of us away from establishment churches and other establishment organizations. Our experience tells us that these institutions become corrupted and political. Poor character, poor conduct, and human agendas take over, thereby, wrecking the organization. Organized religion has killed the prophets, killed the Christ, the apostles, the Bible translators, missionaries, evangelists, and many more left untold.
Even with all this, the true church, the bride of Christ lives on. The Beautiful Bride; The Bride washed in the Blood of the Lamb is being continually sanctified and purified. She is being fitted for that Great & Dreadful Day. She is being prepared for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, and you need her.
If you are His disciple, you need to be a part of the church. You and I need the fellowship, the accountability, the rebuke, the comfort, the joy and the teaching of the One True Church. No man is an island. Do not let your anti-establishment attitude bring your demise. Do not let the human institutions keep you away from the One True Church.
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