A Treatise on Church Growth part three

Some will follow in our footsteps, others will leave home, begin new spiritual careers, forge new identities and destinies but all will, hopefully, advance the Kingdom of God in their day. Now remember this important point - those churches and denominations who take on the spirit of pride and say we have THE TRUTH, meaning our understanding of truth is the only one you should submit to (most denominational pastors, when they hold up their Bibles before the people and say "you better know the scriptures, the uncompromising truth of God's Word", what they really mean is "You had better know MY OR MY DENOMINATIONS understanding of God's Word). And they usually use fear to control or subjugate the people. Fear that if you don't agree with them, or God forbid, you agree with another denomination's teachings, then you will fall into serious doctrinal error and our of favor with God himself. Fear often becomes their primary source of motivation in teaching God's word. "You have need that no man teach you - you have the Holy Spirit" 1 John 2:20, 27). WE, not I, have the mind of Christ.
To say that one man, one church, one denomination has the Truth, or even a complete understanding of the Truth is to deny the deposit of Truth within every single believer who was ever born again, and yet, paradoxically, every single believer has the complete Truth from birth if his understanding comes from KNOWING THE TRUTH, the person of Jesus Christ. He has the truth in his spritual DNA, it's just that he can only comprehend it in bits and pieces till he reaches adulthood.
What then? you may ask. Do we not say we preach the inerrant truth of God's word? And a pure and undefiled understanding thereof? Listen, your motivation for teaching it in the first place must be pure. Often you teach in reaction to or because of the current state of affairs in "christianity", that is, denominationalism. You are often trying hard to prove to each person in your congregation why they are wise to come to your church in the first place. You must prove to them that yours is a better church than the one down the road (in most towns, churches are like pizza parlors in New York city, there are so many, each one has to prove theirs is the best so you will eat there, if you dont like it, you can just walk down the street and find another one). So to separate yourself, not join with, the other churches and denominations in your community, you must prove to them that your understanding of Holy scripture, or some aspect of your ministry, is better than any one else's in town. With this motivation, a church will become doctrinally centered and not Christ centered. Rather then the Holy Spirit being the ruling spirit when the people congregate, the spirit of pride takes over. Instead of genuine, God birthed and nurtured love for each other, people learn to walk in the flesh and bear it's fruit instead of the Holy Spirit's. This is a tragedy of epic proportions, yet repeated endlessly in churches around the world.

to be continued....