- “Yah, but do you go to a REAL church?” If by “real church” you mean are we part of a committed body of believers that are committed to obeying the Word of God, with godly servant leaders, who worship God, give, preach the gospel, and make disciples of Jesus, yes, we are all part of a real church.
If you mean, do you go to religious services on a religious campus owned by a government recognized 501c3 organization to listen to preaching by a seminary trained professional clergyman… some do, some don’t. - “Who’s your covering?” “By what authority do you do this?” was the question most asked by those most entrenched in the religious system of Jesus’ day of Jesus and His followers. They persecuted Jesus based on their perceived right to enforce their place as “gatekeepers” for the religious system. Not much has changed.
We are covered by Jesus, submitted to His Word, and accountable to Him and one another in His love. We have godly leaders who watch over us in love and serve us for Jesus’ sake. Because we live in relationship with one another, there are no pews or pulpits to hide behind. So we cling to the cross of Jesus together in faith, humility, and patience.
But if you insist that we must be in submission to some sort of religious heirarchy, we would point you to the Words of Jesus Himself who said, “But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Mat 23:8-12) Come learn what this means. - “Do I need to leave my church if I get involved?” No. While many of the people we reach and disciple consider their Life Teams to be their church, for others, they remain involved in their traditional local church. If you are part of local church, there is no reason to leave it. For the most part, however, we are mobilizing to reach those who are not going to any church. However, we also don’t allow our groups or the Jesus-Central ministries to be used as a platform to promote other churches or ministries. We promote Jesus and making disciples together, not organizations.
- “Are you Calvinist, Armenian, Charismatic, Pentecostal, Baptist, Catholic, Protestant, etc.?” We identify only with Jesus Christ. He is our only “system”. We embrace Jesus Christ as Lord and the Bible as our sole authority. We obey the gospel and practices of the New Testament church without a mindset of legalism. We embrace all those who follow Christ as our brothers and sisters. We cross traditional and organizational boundaries based on spiritual realities in Christ. We are free in Christ and refuse to be taken captive by adherence to anything other than Jesus Christ and His gospel. In other words, we evaluate all things as to whether it is “according to Christ,” not any man-made tradition or philosophy/theology… including that question… a question that Jesus never asked or answered, so… we just don’t think like that. So if you’re ready to give up your fleshly man-made approach to Christianity and “know NOTHING except for Jesus Christ and Him crucified” things will be just dandy. But if you’re not, let us know when you are. We’ll be here.