Institutional Baggage
I will admit that I still clung onto some of the sensational and unrealistic promises that were made to me by the institutional church. I still could not see past some of the religious traditions that had been instilled in me over the years. I still tried to “believe God” for things, as taught by Kenneth E. Hagin, rather than trusting in God enough to allow life to unfold naturally and without recourse to worry.
I still had a desire to see miracles manifested in my life. I just reasoned that if I had the power of God in me – I could do anything. So I naturally became rather competitive as I mapped the outlandish and exciting promises of the church, onto my everyday life. I thought that as Christianity had developed such a bad name in the past - it was now up to me to impress people by becoming better than them in every way. But this approach just led to me getting disappointed and depressed as I put all sort of unrealistic expectations on myself. Furthermore, I just became trapped in that awful performance oriented aspect of Christianity in which I felt useless to God and other people, unless I was achieving something fabulous. With these goals set for me by myself and other, well-meaning I Christians, my self-esteem became rather low.
When you leave the I.C. or you “get into the wild” as Darin Hufford would say, you are left wondering how to do those things you did in the church: prayer, fellowship, tithes and offerings. In “the wild” these things are often totally different or they don’t even exist anymore.
The God Journey
Ever since I began listening to the God Journey podcasts and particularly The Free Believers Network: Into the Wild podcasts at the very start of 2010, my perspective on Christianity has changed, particularly in relation to mega-church sensationalism. The hosts of these podcasts are mainly ex-pastors of churches so they have seen it all before and know what it is like from the perspective of behind the pulpit.
There is a lot of sensationalism in the mega-church – it thrives on it; I think people need that in order to feel entertained, as if they would be bored otherwise. Whether this approach is right or wrong, I don’t know. But I do know that you can easily get swept away with it and become misled by making unrealistic expectations based on Bible verses that have been blown out of all proportion.
When I listened to my first ever God Journey podcast, I could not believe what I was hearing! These guys were just talking about fishing! I nearly turn it off there and then, but I’m glad I didn’t. After about five minutes or so the conversation shifted towards the subject at hand and what transpired was a truly amazing discussion on the performance trappings of the institutional church. I absolutely love the way that Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings, the hosts of the God Journey, just sum things up in such a succinct and beautiful way. Wayne and Brad’s casual conversation leads a person to see that it is all about living in the love of the Father.
They expose the way in which the church often manipulates people into a lifeless performance of rituals and formulas. When you know that you are loved by God, you do not need all that other stuff: the principles and formulas. Instead of anxiously praying to try to get God to make life happen the way you want it to, you understand that you are on a journey in a relationship with Him, learning to trust in His methods and timings, knowing that life will tend to go well for you – if you do not worry.
Wayne and Brad’s style is not particularly mocking, although they do sometimes look at things in a humorous and critical way. I find the God Journey totally refreshing; it is not a teaching, as such; there are hardly any Bible verses quoted and certainly there is no mention of original Greek and Hebrew words! It is more about learning to live from the heart in a relationship with the Father, in a way that is different from the way in which you were taught to “do church” and “be Christian” in the past.
The Free Believers Network
I began listening to the Free Believers Network because it had been recommended to me along with The God Journey. Nothing could have prepared me for this injection of Christian common-sense. Outside of the box of the institutional church, the hosts of this podcast were free to be genuine, without pretence and to be totally down-to-earth about their beliefs and experiences.
These podcasts had the same kind of style as the God Journey: a casual conversation between two or three people, which usually began with an unrelated conversation that would form an important part of the show as it would get you “in the mood”.
I will admit that I had avoided The Free Believers network in the past because I assumed they were bitter and were out to denounce the institutional church because they had been hurt. Some of the hosts have been hurt by the I.C. There is an element of anti-I.C. about their message: they do take a critical, honest and humorous look at the way we have tended to “do church” in the past.
You will probably find that many of the people who listen to Into the Wild podcasts are rather disillusioned with the church; for them, it is all about bashing the church. As soon as someone sticks-up for church practices, tithing or quotes a Bible verse on a related comments section on the internet – they will have people swooping down on them with a vengeance! I do find it rather curious that there are some Christians who came into the grace message via this route; for these believers, they don’t know much about Joseph Prince and the like; the focus for them is not on proving they’re right with God through scripture – it is more about taking a critical look at the institutional church and learning to live from the heart.
But what these hosts tell you and what you pick-up from the essence of their message is that their focus is on knowing the love of God and living freely from the heart. The focus of the Free Believers Network is very much the same as that of The God Journey.
Darin Hufford, the founder of the Free Believers Network who appears in all of the podcasts, has been a guest with Wayne and Brad on the God Journey. Wayne and Brad own Windblown Media which has published, amongst other books, The Shack by W.M. Paul Young, which is a number 1 best seller. Wayne and Brad were responsible for publishing Darin’s popular book, The Misunderstood God, through Windblown Media.
I think the Free Believers Network podcasts are somewhat “grittier” than the God Journey. The hosts do swear a little from time to time and they can tend to be critical – even political at times. Some people get all offended by the attitude and statements made by The Free Believers, especially those who are still steeped in religious performance and the trappings of the I.C. But I love this complete honesty and freedom to be you.
I used to wonder why Darin Hufford would not balance his “teaching” with Bible verses. But Darin revealed that there are people in the church who are used to a certain language being spoken in the church in which they relate to. Darin argues that we have substituted God with the Bible – as well as our heart with our mind. He therefore speaks in a way so as to confound those he calls “goats” so that the “sheep” will understand this language of the heart. For more information on this notion, check-out the following blogs and podcasts:
- Looking Past the Lingo 16th April 10, podcast
- Glittering Generalities 18th July 09, podcast
- Speaking Shoat blog
- Backup Verse Theology blog
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