Christ or the Church?

Here are the questions I have for you: Do you think Jesus would prefer for you to be loyal to your church or to Him? If the hierarchy of the church is teaching something that is not traditional nor biblical (and that has happened in the past) is it better to be excommunicated for staying true to Christ or is it better to stay loyal to a dogma that you don't believe to be true?

That is not saying that any church is wrong today. Just that in the past there have been times that the churches have been more worldly than spiritually oriented. AT THOSE TIMES, schisms occurred.

I think that Jesus would prefer that we aren't loyal to a particular church or dogma. That we focus upon Him rather than any one church. There were 7 churches in Revelations and two of them were commended for getting it 'right,' not only one. I believe commitment to Christ himself is where we should be rather than judging any particular dogma as perfect. NO church is perfect because they are all made up of imperfect people. The difference in the churches I have attended (all Christian) have had dogma differences, but regarding faith, some Catholic churches have been deeply spiritual and touched my soul, some have not. Some Lutheran churches have touched my soul, some have not. Some Anglican churches have touched my soul, some have not. I am glad that you have found a church that connects you with Christ, I simply have trouble believing that it is the religion that did the work, rather than the Holy Spirit.

I am in no way saying the your church is wrong. I am simply saying that any church that says "Our dogma is the only dogma that is correct" strikes me as arrogant because rather than accepting there are different ways of explaining ONE truth so that different people understand it, it has implied in the past that the only way to the ONE truth is the way that THEY understand it. Some believers are still at the 'milk' stage and the Catholic Church is more like solid food for them. For others, the Catholic church is the 'milk' stage and another church is solid food for them. I think it is arrogant of me to think that MY understanding is the BEST understanding for EVERYONE. I attended so many different churches because I was trying to know GOD. I missed the closeness that I felt as a child and was looking for the exact same relationship. As I grew and learned more, I wanted to have a more mature relationship. One not on 'my terms' but on HIS terms.

I don't think the prodigal son had the same relationship with his father when he returned. I think the relationship he had was FAR more humble. Rather than feeling like his dad 'owed' him something, he was humbled, knowing his father owed him NOTHING and what he truly deserved was to be treated as less than a servant for the way he treated his family. That return, in humility, is the direction I returned to my faith from. I ran from God because I felt like he owed me something for taking my mother at such a young age. When I returned, I realized that he had already replaced her with Himself. I was simply refusing the gift. That isn't dogma from any church, that is just my relationship with God. The more I learn his word, the more I understand what he wants from ME. I don't want a church to get in the way of that, I want my fellowship to be an expression of that.

Every church out there tells their history from their own vantage point. The history of the church isn't relevant to my faith. What IS relevant is where is the church's center. If the church's center is Christ, then that is all that counts. I DO believe that the Catholic Church's center is Christ. I also believe there are OTHER churches who center themselves upon Christ. Those are the churches I want to attend, not those that put dogma ahead of love.

God bless