Impressions

1Peter 2:5, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."

2Corinthians 3:3, "Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart."

Matthew 23:27-31, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets."

*Note: When the author renders the word 'Church' as shown here, he is referring to Man's Business Entity, Main Stream Institutional 'Church' System. When he renders the word church in all lower case letters, he is referring to Christ's Authentic, Legitimate Home church He conceived and continues to build.

We comb our hair, brush our teeth and press our shirts. We greet others with a smile and shake their hands warmly. We speak in engaging tones and offer help when we can. These elements and more regarding our social behavior helps us to make the right impression.

Impression: noun; 1. an idea, feeling, or opinion about something or someone, esp, one formed without conscious thought or on the basis of little evidence. *an effect produced on someone.

2. a difference made by the action or presence of someone or something.

3. an imitation of a person or thing.

These definitions of the word impression can easily be used to describe how we presume and assume many things in our daily lives. These presumptions are too numerous to list, but rest assured, they are many, most of which we assume, as definition number one suggests, 1. without conscious thought. Most impressions aren't scrutinized, when in fact, they should be. One impression addressed here will be that of some of the workings of the Institutional 'Church' System. The effect produced on someone in an Institutional 'Church' System can and has Proven to be devastating throughout history. If one needs evidence of this, just look at past 'Holy Wars,' 'the Crusades,' 'the Inquisition' and 'the Holocaust,' (which was Institutional 'Church' driven) just for starters.

As a little boy, the first impression I had of the Catholic 'Church' was one of wonder. I was amazed to see such attention to detail. The gold, the silver, the scarlet, the stained glass, the candles, the organ, the altar, the challis, the robes worn by the priest. I thought that God had somehow decorated His house to show us that He was indeed in that place. Later when I left the Catholic 'Church,' I was drawn to a simpler model; the Institutional Southern Baptist 'Church.' There I saw men dressed in business suits. Women in dresses. There was a baptistry in the front just behind where the choir sang. I even saw, dare I say it? Bibles under everyone's arms! A lot of the decor was toned down from the elaborate 'Universal Church' I came out of. There were no confessional booths, no holy water basins, no place to kneel down in our pews. This made a whole new impression on me.

After a year, I moved to Europe and found a little Independent Fundamental Baptist 'Church' off of the Air Force Base I was attached to. Inside, it had no platform. No altar. No pews. No fancy decorations. The baptistry was under the floor below where the pulpit stood. The main attraction was hearing the Pastor give a message and teach his lessons. My impression was, "No frills, but I'm learning." During the nearly three years I was there, I noticed that 'Church' life was a great way to build lasting relationships. We didn't engage in Programs and positions because we were known as a 'Military work.' The vast majority of our members were enlisted men and their dependents. This meant that there was the inevitable 'rotation' out of the country. We had a steady influx of families coming and going. We knew that we were different than most IFB 'Churches.' In fact, one might say that we were unique. For an Institutional 'Church,' my impression was a good one. I was comfortable. I had accepted this model as the LORD's design for His New Covenant church figuring that it must have evolved from churches in homes in the first century to what we see and accept today. So much for impressions. It took me over thirty years to discover that first impressions can be long lasting, but deceiving.

The fact is, when we search the Scriptures, we find that there were no Institutional 'Churches' for Christians. The only Institutional 'Churches' were made up from the religious establishment. The very same religious establishment that put Jesus onto the cross. Later after the Apostles died off, men seized the idea that they could make an Institutional 'Church' by using the judicial model of the day. That's right! The Institutional 'Church' system from the first century on was just a make-over of a first century courthouse. That's why the interior and floor plans of both are laid out so similarly.

When we enter into a courtroom, we see that the judge is elevated above all others on a platform. In the 'Church' auditorium, we see that the Pastor is in a comparable position above all others on an elevated platform. The judge rests behind a big desk called the bench. The Pastor stands behind a pulpit. In a courtroom, there is a partition between the bench and where the spectators sit. In the early Institutional Catholic 'Church,' there is a screened partition between the "altar" and where the people stood. This gives us the impression that those who are separated and elevated are more important than those who are not. This floor plan resides today in many preserved chapels throughout Europe. The Sistine Chapel in Rome is an excellent example of this. Can you imagine the sense of awe one might get when looking up at the ceiling painted by Michelangelo Buonarroti's brush? Imagine looking through the elaborately decorated partition into the area where pope Julius served the Mass. What an impression that would make! My point is, all the decorations, the floor plan, the stained glass, the candles, the marble altar, the positioning of the elite, the trinkets, and the aura, are all designed to give the impression Satan wants us to view as God's church. It adequately fits the number three definition above for an impression; 3. an imitation of a person or thing. Even in Protestant 'Churches,' while dressed down, we still see the same format in place evoking this same stimuli. I've got news for us. These make for a BAD impression. Why? Because it's just another Bad imitation.

The impression we've been taught is that our modern day 'Church' model had evolved from the first century church. To be blunt; it didn't. The Institutional 'Church' came from a different strand of DNA. The impression given is that Christ founded His church, the Apostles and carried on His commandments for His church after He left. But here is where history takes a bad turn. When the Apostles died off the self-Proclaimed 'Church' Fathers staked to themselves 'Apostolic Succession.' This means that they were supposedly 'imbued' with authority to make up rules to govern the people as they went along. This is an example of the number two definition of impression. 2. a difference made by the action or presence of someone or something. That is, the clergy makes a difference by their 'actions' and 'presence,' which others honor and follow. This is a whole different trail than what the Bible and history shows Christ's authentic church had taken. The historians of the 'Church' Fathers would like us to believe that the church evolved into the Catholic and then Protestant 'Churches.' The fact is, Christ's organic house church never ceased to exist and never had any part of either strand. They were just persecuted by the religious machine under the direction of Rome and her offspring Protestant 'Churches. While the Institutional 'Church' System strolled down the highway of deceit, writing their own view of religious history along the way, the true church of Jesus Christ was hiding out in caves, forests, and the mountains for survival sake. But they did survive. And, they were on a much different trail.

Christ's church has no religious show-business elements attached to it. Why? Because His church is made up of us, His lively stones. Christ lives in the tabernacles of our hearts. We are the church if we are believers in Him, and Him alone. The early 'Church Fathers have distracted most sincere people into believing that God speaks and acts through the clergy, and that their elaborate cathedrals are a manifestation of God's idea for what His ekklesia is all about. The truth needs to be restated. Christ's church is an organism, not an organization. We are a body of believers, not a business entity. We are a body with members, not the membership of a body. We are local and physical, not universal and spiritual. We are His people, not the 'sheeple' under the steeple. His church is meant to flourish from house to house, breaking bread, having all things in common. Any flavor of Institutional 'Church' may give this impression, but in reality it is just a knock-off of Christ's authentic church.

A lot of 'Churched' folk have the impression that men who preach behind the pulpit are doing what God wants, when in fact, preaching was meant as an evangelistic method to get the Gospel to the lost outside of the church. The impression most of us have is that when the 'Church' doors are opened, the saved and the lost are meant to form a congregation. The impression we are given is that pastors and evangelists come to a 'Church' and preach against sin to the lost and the Gospel to the saved. That doesn't make any sense, nor is this impression Scriptural. Believers in Christ are supposed to go to the lost to present the Gospel outside of the church. Once the lost are saved, they are then supposed to be added to the church where they're taught, Not preached to. When Paul. Peter or Jesus preached, they all were reaching out with the Gospel to the lost. What gave us the impression that the saved have to be preached the Gospel? I'll tell you what,... Satan and his religious impression. He wants every Christian to have the wrong impression of church, the clergy, preaching, the Gospel, so that we would be ineffective for the cause of Christ.

People may have different impressions of those who claim that their 'Church' is of Christ, but how does the Institutional 'Church' stack up against Scripture to verify this claim? The answer is, 'None of them do.' Whether Protestant or Catholic, Reformed or Casual, none of these systems make the grade. Why then are they so successful drawing people to their doors? It's the impression they give. Let's ask ourselves if we've ever been duped by the wrong impression before. If we have, we might investigate further whether or not our Institutional 'Church' system of today is from Christ, or Satan. I draw our attention to other articles in this blog for in depth Scriptural answers. 'When church Isn't A church Anymore,' 'Should Churches Have A Name?,' and 'Is Church A Multi-Billion Dollar A Year Industry?' would be good resources for one's interest in the matter. After searching out the facts, I wonder what impression will be left on the tables of our hearts. Will we steer away from man's interpretation of 'Church' and turn to God's, or will we remain in man's matrix ignoring the Biblical evidence to the contrary? What's your impression? Thanks for visiting ChurchPros.