On Your Own

We really get bogged down in this social construct of church now.  Now don't jump to conclusions on me.  I agree with the Bible completely.  (I don't think we have a choice as believers to not agree with it. Another day.)

We should listen to the writer of Hebrews and not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.  Hebrews 10:25.

I agree with that.  We should gather together.  It helps us stay strong together.  It helps build each other up.  Christ says that where two or three are gathered in His name, He is among them.  Simple concept.  Matthew 18:20.

Sometimes, we as the modern church almost put too much emphasis on the gathering together.  We schedule it in to our routine, it becomes the norm.  Sometimes it almost becomes motionless.  Am I the only one that this has happened to?  I know that some Sundays and Wednesdays I go numb and catch myself saying wait a minute.  I didn't come here to be seen or heard.  I came to worship a living God.  I came to hear the Word.  I came to grow, to be challenged, to be a role model for younger people, to love people.

We get that way though.  We become used to what we do and sometimes it is the only time we do it.  We pray awkwardly out loud, if we do that at all, because Sunday and Wednesday are the only days we pray.  We struggle through scripture and understanding what the pastor might reference if he didn't specifically point it out because we aren't well read in our own bibles.  We miss out on what could be a great experience if we would only prepare our hearts and minds.

We have to get ourselves together privately.  We have to do what the Philippians were instructed to do and work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.  Philippians 2:12.

Tozer says this and I love it because it fits so well.  "Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified."

Think about this.  When we purify our private religion, aka we get ourselves together in secret and work out our mess with God, we will see a perfected social religion.  We will see things start to come to fruition by essentially practicing what we preach.

I encourage you to purify your private religion.  It is something I strive for everyday.  It is a journey.  It doesn't happen overnight.  Try it out.  See what happens.