Man-made religion structures have been built in place of Jesus Christ repeatedly and for centuries.  The great thing is that he personally dismantles these structures in the hearts and minds and lives of his people. He does this as they misrepresent him.

An example of this work of dismantling, his work of cleansing is found in Luke 2

And he found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers were seated at their table. And he made a scourge of cords (whip), and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and he poured out the coins of the money changers, and overturned their tables.

He dismantles (he whips, he drives out, he pours out, he overturns) the man-made structures we erect in Gods temple.

At the same time he works to build his very own temples, his very own dwelling places on earth, his temples made with living stones in every town, his ecclesia, his church, his body which gathers around him, and nothing can stop this work of building.

We can cooperate with him in this work of building and/or in this work of dismantling.  I watch many atheists and members from other religions who seem set on dismantling the hypocrisy they see among Christians, in doing this with such fervor (regardless of their motives), in a way they are working for Christ, joining his work of dismantling everything not of him, purifying his very own people.

We help him in his building work by making him Lord of everything that we do and everything that we are… in surrender of our everything to him.

Or we can resist him like the Pharisees did who at the time were no more than what I like to call community organizers for religion.

Community organizers for religion build what Jesus is tearing down, they must avoid Jesus’ Lordship while they do this, they sometimes attribute God’s dismantling work to satan; they make lousy Lords yet insist they have a their own mini-kingdom of people subject to their leadership.

Their ‘vision’ for God’s people becomes Lord of their group and Lord of their meetings.  They love to be in charge, but only in charge of compliant, mostly silent and passive people.  They don’t know or care about what Jesus is actually doing now and can’t seem to function… without your money.

Community organizers for religion can’t seem to function… without your money.

It says in Proverbs that the people “cast off restraint where there is no prophetic vision” Prv 29:18.  I think congregations abuse their pastors with this idea, in immaturity we passively threaten rebellion then blame it on ‘lack of vision’.  So the pastor, like a good earthly leader should do, during his tenure compiles a unique, custom-made, written vision to meet the demands of the congregation.

But… the truth is mature Christians do not need a vision from men to guide their gatherings, because we have a vision dwelling inside of us, the law of God written on our hearts, we are walking epistles of Jesus Christ.

What an advantage we have over earthly institutions and groups, led by good men, we have the power and life of God inside of us, we are literally the body of Christ on earth.  This is sufficient, his indwelling presence is more than enough to guide our Christian lives, and our ministry and our gatherings.  God with us is all that we need… is more than we need.

Jesus Christ himself is all the vision necessary for the mature Christian, for the Christian who is seeking him first, and making him Lord of everything.  So we never have legitimate reason to ‘cast off restraint’, we will never perish, we have the ultimate vision of the universe written on our hearts and that is Jesus Christ himself.

Community organizers have their place, maybe even in the White House but not in God’s house.