following who?

At the height of the Roman Catholic Church's power and influence, the Church dominated every realm of life. In fact, in many ways, the Church was given equal to or even greater than status God. Whatever decisions were made by the hierarchy of the church rulers stood as law regardless whether the decisions harmonized with God's ways as revealed in scripture. For most people, the church became more important than God. It was their security, their place of trust.

I am beginning to believe that most people who call themselves Christians today are no different than those who were in the Roman Catholic Church over 500 years ago. When the stability of the institutional church is rocked, people panic immediately. When people do not have the reassurance of regular Sunday meetings, paid professional clergy, and all the rest of the trappings of the institutional church, they become immobilized.

I am also convinced that the followers of Jesus today have much less dependence on the institutional church. Their focus is not on the church but on Jesus. However, they also instinctively know the power of deep heart connections with other believers. They gather together without needing to be chided to do so, without a sense of duty or obligation. Church is an outworking of their walk with God, not the focus of their walk. They may be part of the institutional church but their spiritual well-being does not depend on the welfare of the institution.

Just as the Reformation began to break people's dependence on the institutional church, so today God is shaking the structures in which people trust. People's response to that upheaval in the institutional church reveals much about whom they follow.