I have a seperate blog (The Untried) that I maintain.  Feel free to check it out, the only thing you will find different is the very few comments that have been made there in response to some of my posts.  It has all the same entries I post here.  This post comes from a comment that someone made there about my “Church Idolatry” entry.

In the comments section of my last post (Church Idolatry) “divine” left a comment with several questions that I felt deserved answers. So, rather than make a lengthy comment back I decided to make a post with his questions and my answers. His statements and questions are in blue. My replies are in red.

i don’t know you, so I hesitate to comment in fear of misunderstanding you.

No worries there. I have been misunderstood many times in my life, but I have also been guilty of some pretty big misunderstandings myself.

Do intend to continue not going to church?

As for traditional church, I do not currently have any plans to go back. However, I am not ruling it out. I am open to wherever God leads me.

Do you plan on any sort of ‘replacement’ - i.e. Hebrews exhortation to not forsake the gathering of the saints?

I already get together with a group of people here locally that feel the same as me. That is, we all want to follow Jesus but we feel we can do that better outside a traditional church. As a matter of fact my relationships are so much deeper and meaningful now than they ever were in church. I intend to write a whole post later about why I believe these relationships are so much different than the ones I formed in church.

Do you think leaving church is throwing out the baby with the bath-water?

Not really. The church is what it is. I’m not going to change it. For me the bottom line is that normal church left me feeling further from God. My relationship with God has grown exponentially since leaving the church.

what about the idea that The Church (not meetings or buildings) is God’s plan - for repair and redemption of a lost and broken world?

I wholeheartedly agree that God’s plan is not about meetings or buildings. Unfortunately, as I see it those are exactly the things the modern church is all about. All my life I have watched a culture that places supreme importance on a building and the things that happen inside it. They are devoted to services, dinners, and various other functions all serving to entertain and minister only to those who are already part of their exclusive club. A world that desperately needs Jesus is right outside the church doors while those inside appease their conscience through devotion to a building and its various meetings. Sadly, in most instances this is not only supported, but highly encouraged by the leaders of the churches.

although i get concerned for people that leave churches, i always applaud anyone’s efforts to adjust their lives in order to follow God with passion and sincerity!

I appreciate your questions and your concerns. I can even understand them. I can honestly tell you that my passion and sincerity to follow God has only increased since I stopped “going to church”. The only other things I know to say is institutional church isn’t for everyone. There are an ever growing number of people that fall into this category. Most of us have found a deeper, more meaningful relationship with our Father than we even knew was possible while “going to church”.