Many believers have enough faith to be saved, but not enough to live in the power that the Lord has provided for their lives because Christian religion has not taught people to cultivate divine intimacy, preferring to lead them into “learned dependence” and reliance on the institution. Yes, many churches are accomplished in teaching what the Bible says, but there is a universe of difference between information, knowledge, and wisdom, just as there is between knowing about God and knowing God intimately.

Some are going to be offended by what I’m about to say, but it’s important: I mean no disrespect to anyone, but church, as we have come to know it, is not the crux of the Christian experience.

One of the reasons Jesus came was to remove the obstacles and obstructions that stand in the way of you coming to know the Father and the love He has for you. Personally. The fullest extent of what God is doing in your life will always be empowered by the nature of the truly personal, direct relationship you have with Him.

You won’t love the Lord if you don’t know Him, if you haven’t or aren’t interacting with God yourself. It’s not about religion, it’s about relationship. It’s not about what you do, it’s about what Christ did for you. You do not transform yourself to please God and earn His favor by acting “good”, you are renewed and transformed by the Holy Spirit which allows the goodness of God to flow THROUGH you.

When religion is at the forefront instead of relationship, there’s a problem that is not fixed by merely attending church and adopting dogma. That mistake is as common now as it was in Jesus day:

>>>> Matthew 15: 8-9 — “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.” <<<<

It does little good to put Christian religion ahead of a personal relationship with Christ.

Let me be clear: I am not saying that you shouldn’t be in church. There are very good reasons to be part of an active, thriving, Spirit-led assembly including service to others, corporate worship, and accountability to one another. But it’s very important to understand that church as we know it, is a human institution and as such, it can be flawed, imperfect, divisive and wrong sometimes.

That’s why it is critical to let the Spirit of the Lord direct you to where you should be attending. And wherever that is, the primary purpose of coming together should be to help each other in cultivating intimacy with God. That is how you learn and grow or mature spiritually in the Lord.