Upon Jesus' departure from the disciples, He encouraged them that they would not be alone, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14:26) It is from this passage, that I want to develop the vision for this website.
Before expressing what the vision is, I want to make clear what the vision is not:
- An attempt to build a church. The Church was established 2000 years ago, and was never meant to be a CULT, organization, or building. If you are reading this, you probably already recognize that you ARE the church - not merely a member of a local following.
- To get you to leave your church. If you are in a CULTural church, great! If you aren't, that's great too. In going through the Bible in an UnCULTured fashion, you will probably realize how similar the typical church is to the world by seeing things in the Bible that did not get filtered by the editors of the pulpit.
- To begin arguments. Amazingly, Biblical information is accepted more outside the church than in it, just as it was in
Moses day Jesus day the whole Bible. Although the Truth will set you free, captives of blind religion are in a comfort zone that most will fight you for. Jesus knows that when you bring the Light to the darkness, they will call you the instigator. Learn when to walk away. - For me to grandstand. At this writing, I am the sole writer (well, they are my fingers at the keyboard). That doesn't mean that I am trying to push "my" Gospel on you, or have any pretense that I am more spiritual or more learned than you. (more on this later)
- Looking for money. Finally, although past experiences with writing on UnCULTured Biblical topics had left me out of the "covering" of the CULTural church - effecting my livelihood, I have never asked for money to continue from any of those who would listen to the unedited Word of God, and I don't plan to now.
In contrast, the vision seeks to:
- Re-focus the church to the Word of God and teachings of Jesus. How could we ever guide our steps by "What would Jesus do" if we don't really look at what Jesus actually did or said? The Comforter can try to guide us, but without any memory of the First Love there is no "bringing all things to your remembrance".
- Develop people of light and salt within the church and the world. Contrary to popular belief, the church is filled with sinners - not with saints. Unfortunately, the identification of sinners (though saved by Grace) has left members unfulfilled. Struggles are not overcome by a platitude 3-point 30 minute speech. Bringing salt and light is as crucial (if not more so) in the church than bringing it to the world.
- Secure the Bible as the standard for resolving religious argument. Most "Bible believing and teaching" churches give a person the belief that the Bible, in its entirety, is the standard for the message in their fellowship - but that is rarely the result. Before you can expect the status quo to change, you must first establish in your own mind and soul that the Bible is the standard for yourself.
- Develop a paradigm of conversation and fellowship. "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?" (Luke 2:49) It is "about My Father's business" to question, as the 12-year old Messiah did. The method of Rabbi's and disciples of that day, and even now, was to develop good Q&A sessions - not monologues. How does the preacher know what is missing in his message if no one asks? How does the preacher ask if no one makes a statement?
- Build souls of humility and strength. There seems to be two sides of CULTural Christianity that churches go to - "It's God's Will to Offend" and "It's God's Will to Befriend". The unCULTural Biblical Christian that it DOES NOT FALL IN THE MIDDLE! It is actually both. Getting into God's Word and getting in His Presence will be both offensive to our pride as well as strength to our soul. This prepares us to walk in the Disciples sole commandment - to Love.
If you are reading this, the vision is probably for you. It doesn't matter if you are new Christian or come from a long line of Christians with great-grandchildren on the way. It doesn't matter the color of your skin, your gender preference, your religious beliefs, or your income. The only requirements that I believe you need are:
- You read, write, speak and understand English. It doesn't have to be your first language, but for communication purposes, English is necessary. If you are comfortable with other languages, great! You can reach others with God's Word where I, and the majority of my audience cannot at this point.
- You have a beating heart. I only say this because if your heart is not beating, it may frighten people. I don't say this in an allegorical sense. We have a certain sensitivity against dead people in groups. If you are dead, there is a Way to fulfill the requirements of being alive again.
- You are teachable. Disciples were given the power to cast out demons, raise the dead to life, heal the sick, blind, deaf, mute, lame... but not the power to make someone teachable. Your "free will" to be teachable or not is totally up to you.
- You are offend-able. There is nothing worse than an apathetic soul. You can know bad and know good - even the devil can quote scripture. However, this vision is not for simply for data for a thesis. You must be prepared to be offended. Some offenses will bring sorrow, but most will bring revelation of the true Goodness of God.
- Bonus if you are unlovable. "For God so loved the...", well you know the rest, but you may not have experienced it. Do you think that you are unworthy? Sorry, you don't get the choice (and neither does anyone else). The CULTural church may have pushed you down, aside, or up on the screen for public mockery. You may be someone who has left the church or still in it. You may have been talked "down", talked "at", or talked "around". Here, the tables are flipped in the House of the Father.
The Vision partaker responsibilities...
The Bible talks about being co-laborers and partakers. In this vision, thought-provoking Biblical text and principles will be written about - but that is the smallest part of the vision.
The vision really takes hold when readers start responding, asking questions, and using their experience to help fill in the holes. We cannot be hearers only.
The UnCULTured Christian Facebook group has been set up to help facilitate conversation about the articles here. Each article will have a corresponding multiple choice question to help you get more comfortable with being a partaker.
I know, this is a paradigm shift from what you are used to. Usually, you read an article, or listen to a preacher, say to yourself, "that was nice" (or "that was a waste of time"), and move on. I want to return to the community of believers from the Bible that works with our busy and geographically challenging lifestyle.
So whether it is during your lunch break, morning ritual, or late at night, take a moment to answer the poll question and write a quick note. Hopefully, you will have insight into something that I have missed that will help others.