Religious Spirit destroys Churches Part 2

Religious spirit is dangerous, its demonic and contradicts the Word of God. It is a spirit of pride and we must be careful not to be influenced by it or operate in it.

People who possess a religious spirit tend to believe that they are closer to God than others and they know and understand God better. They elevate themselves as more godly, more Christian than others. They also believe that their church is better than other churches or claim that they are the true church.
Another mindset of the religious spirit is being judgmental. Always passing judgment, have something to say about someone. A judgmental person is always correcting people and always think and believe that their way is correct and everyone else is wrong. Jesus confronted this spirit in the Pharisees when he healed a man that was born blind. They were trying to work out who sinned. (John 9)

Another characteristic of a religious spirit is perfectionism. I had a personal encounter with this spirit when officiating a wedding in an old cathedral. I was told by the minister of the church believe it or not that we must abide by the spirit of their church, and that everything must be perfect according to the customs of the 100 year old cathedral. I am talking about the way people walk and the places to stand, no one was allowed to touch anything or change anything. I got told off for moving the pulpit.

As I mentioned before religious spirit always oppose new things. They resist authority and leadership. They have a mindset that they will only listen to God rather than men, especially when there are new changes to be made. Every little thing they need to pray about it, fast, and seek God for answers. Even with little things where they need to use common sense.
One last comment. If someone with a religious spirit is reading this blog right now they will disagree with everything I have said.

Religious Spirit destroys Churches Part 1

Last year I received more comments and questions of the topic ‘Religious Spirit’ than any other post on my blog. Here some more thoughts on the topic. Hope it will help you clairfy and identify this destructive spirit in the church.

A religious spirit or a religious mindset, seeks to substitute the Power of the Holy Spirit of God with religious activities and routines. The religious spirit strives to “maintain an outward form of Godliness, while denying the power of the Holy Spirit. (1 Tim 3:5)

This is usually achieved by focusing on works rather than the grace of God. Performance is important with the intention of appeasing God rather than true repentance and a change of heart.

What to look for:

1. Legalism: The focus is more on the ‘formula’ of doing things. If the formula is right then God will be pleased. Remember what God says “Our ways are not his’ we may have the perfect formula but far from the will of God. There is no exercise of faith in a formula. The scripture says ‘we walk by faith and not by sight’ and without faith it is impossible to please God.

2. Traditionalism: Traditions are good but never let tradition take over the power of God and what God is saying now to the church. Be led by the Spirit not by traditions. Respect tradition but don’t let it dictate you and the church. I have also found that this spirit has a tendency to oppose changes and resist anything new in the church. Pastors / Leaders must never bow down to the control of this spirit. Its popular statement is  ‘This is the way we have always done it in this church”.

more tomorrow…