the sin of pride

Pride. Satan’s trump card that he plays often. The sin of pride is so prevalent in the church today it scares me. You see it everywhere. It walks through the door every Sunday morning. You see it in the way people walk and talk. You see it in who people are loyal to, and it is not Christ.
It is a sin that I see becoming more pervasive in our land/churches, more bold. And that makes sense because it is a cancer and it grows and grows if it goes unchecked. And it has gone unchecked for a long time. It is so prevalent in the church today that I wonder if the church (the corporate model) will stand much longer. Satan has not only been invited in to sit and participate but he has been invited into the leadership of the body. How do you combat this sin? Prayer! Corporate prayer and corporate repentance needs to take place before we can ever take back the church from the hand of satan.

IS THE CORPORATE CHURCH MODEL DEAD?
That is the question I have been asking myself lately. It may not be dead but I definitely think it is dying. It appears to me that it has gone so far away from the Biblical model that I wonder if it is possible to find its way back or do you have to start over from scratch. Scratch meaning a group of believers gathered together for prayer, study of the word and fellowship/community. Today’s “church” is all about money and power (i.e. Pride). It is not about going after the lost or helping the hurting in and out of the body. It is about control and who has it. It is about hearing what we want to hear (i.e. leaving a Sunday morning fat and happy), having things done my way. It is a consumerism mentality that has taken over the church- “I want it my way- now”. The church is not about you or me or what I can get from it. It is about what I can GIVE to the body. It is to be about worshipping God in prayer, in studying the Word, in song and in fellowship with other believers. Oh how far we have gone from what God intended. We have perverted the Word of God and molested the Bride of Christ to satisfy our own selfish desires. We should live in fear of God’s wrath of what we have done. But instead, we celebrate in our sin.
I have seen pastors and directors cater to the “money people” (or their children) because they know that is what they need to do, to get what they want. It is very sad to watch. Because it undermines the rest of the body. It is a high society social club atmosphere. You have to rub shoulders with the right people and kiss the right butts. What is even sadder is the fact that the money people expect it because they know that they have power and they are drunk on it.
I wonder what Jesus would do if he walked into my church on a Sunday morning. What about yours? Would He walk around and greet people or would He stand back in the shadows and watch. Would He feel welcome or feel He does not quite meet the standard of the type of people that are wanted in the church. Would He fall to His knees and weep over what has become of His Bride. Or would He make a whip and clean out the “money changers”.