In the sight of God each man exists as an individual and he is dealt with as such. He cannot change this by joining an organization in the hope that he will be dealt with on a group basis. He does not become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ by affiliating himself with a company of believers. There is no institution that can mediate between God and man. No man should try to hide from God in an organization. You cannot identify yourself with God by becoming identified with a church.
Christian individualism as a way of life for the active believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is being practiced by many who have discovered that their loyalty to God's truth has brought them into conflict with the practices of the organizations that call themselves churches. These organizations settle matters of great spiritual importance by majority vote, feeling that the voice of the people is the voice of God. Decisions and programs are often handed down from someone above, and the individual is supposed to submit to these no matter what his personal convictions may be.
Most men revere organizations, and they worship crowds and numbers to such an extent that they cease to have any personal feelings. They are persuaded that if a thing is believed or practiced by many people it must be true and right and all others should conform to it. Thus they cease to have any real personality or character because all their springs of individuality have dried up. Personality and character are built by the exercise of discrimination, evaluation, and choice. If these personal faculties are not used, they grow blunt and dull and finally wither away. When this happens a man becomes depersonalized, a human automation. This is supposed to be an ideal situation in relationship to man's spiritual activities. In the realm of religion men are supposed to be depersonalized, to act, to think and move as a group, not as individuals. If they ask questions, they must be stock questions, and they are expected to receive stock answers without further discussion. They are not supposed to exercise discrimination or to evaluate anything.
This is an intolerable situation for the active believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why should he fight with some great organization in order to take one step in advance in the truth? He is constantly urged to read and study the Bible, but he is subjected to abuse if he finds anything in it that contradicts the traditional creed. Thus the only path open to him is one of Christian individualism. In this way of life he can fulfil his place as a believer in this unbelieving world.
Well said. To my mind it is an effect of what I always say: it's not the church in the world but the world in the church. They follow after the flesh which seeks safety in numbers and security in following earthly leaders. It's just like the wicked Israelites demanding God give them a king, and they get their king but it is not Christ, and they get their religion but it isn't the way. It saddens me that the eyes of so many may never be opened because they hang on for dear life to their iniquity. It's a very old problem in the church going all the way back to the early Catholic Church at least. The need for belonging is strong but we must belong to Christ first, or it's all in vain. Thanks for the thoughtful comment
No worries - its cool to find someone on Substack writing about this, thanks for your work. I grew up in my late teenage years with Mr. Sellers words. After moving from home to university I tried a few different churches (church of Scotland, Brethren/ evangelical, Reformed Presbyterian) but I always felt entirely ignored and sidelined (I divide the Word of God at Acts 28:28 into a new dispensation of grace) because I don’t comply with the traditions expected from churches like that. I've never found a place amongst other Christians. Choosing to follow Christ in this way is a lonely pursuit.
You're right, it is a product of early disciples splitting off from the teachings of Paul.
If you are interested, I'm compiling my grandfathers writings and studies on Substack https://bygrace777.substack.com/ He was an independent bible researcher who introduced me to Sellers' work.
The disregard for passionate youth, especially young men, is in my mind the #1 reason the institutional church is dying out. I've been genuinely shocked at how many times aging churches and pastors have been happy to see me go and made 0 effort to talk to me or retain me. It's a total disregard for continuity or a future out of hubris, so I say they reap what they sow. Their founders and former leaders were just like me, but now they think "they know better". It's disgraceful. Appreciate the link, I'll check it out. I'm writing a sequel to this essay right now
I'm sorry to hear that your experience has been rather like mine, but I guess what to expect from man-made institutions? Imagine the offering to women... If you don't like looking after other people's kids, womens groups that have no substance (and are basically just a social group) and watching reality TV for fun then good luck!
The most fulfilling group I've been involved with was as part of an art gallery and studios run by artists where we tried (or perhaps prentended) to be non-hirearchical in the way that decisions were made between a mixture of men and women. It was good because it taught me how to control myself - that not everything that I wanted to say was actually useful. I got to see how different people's personalities worked and various neurosis' including my own. It was a mess at times but we were forced to piece it back together and make it work.
Hah, I can imagine how crap that is for women. It still seems like women's preferences are more catered to in general though. That's very interesting, was it a Christian group? It sounds pretty neat. I wish we had more of these hobby and interest groups like that are based around Christ but not necessarily meant to be a church, just a Christian community
Well I guess it was for me, seemed like the others enjoyed it, it just pushed me away. Its hard to put your finger on it... maybe its just treating people like the individuals that they are, and caring about their growth and giving each other opportunities for growth. (cringe?) Were you ever offered a chance to put your energy into a meaningful outcome in a christian context? - this Substack seems like one of them.
The art group was not christian no, totally secular.
I was also part of a larger artist group who were Christian (a national charity), but again felt that their work just passed me by. Their focus was on supporting artists but, though I'm thankful for what they offered me in fellowship, I always felt like I was part of a process. (Towards what I dunno - greater participation? Kudos in the artist community?)
Maybe what this is telling me is that you can't put your faith in any group whatsoever - except for perhaps family - and maybe that's a fine lesson we've both been taught? The messaging is strong to be part of or identify with a group, but maybe it brings more problems than it solves? There are administrations when God deals with people as a group, but we are not in one of those times.
In the sight of God each man exists as an individual and he is dealt with as such. He cannot change this by joining an organization in the hope that he will be dealt with on a group basis. He does not become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ by affiliating himself with a company of believers. There is no institution that can mediate between God and man. No man should try to hide from God in an organization. You cannot identify yourself with God by becoming identified with a church.
Christian individualism as a way of life for the active believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is being practiced by many who have discovered that their loyalty to God's truth has brought them into conflict with the practices of the organizations that call themselves churches. These organizations settle matters of great spiritual importance by majority vote, feeling that the voice of the people is the voice of God. Decisions and programs are often handed down from someone above, and the individual is supposed to submit to these no matter what his personal convictions may be.
Most men revere organizations, and they worship crowds and numbers to such an extent that they cease to have any personal feelings. They are persuaded that if a thing is believed or practiced by many people it must be true and right and all others should conform to it. Thus they cease to have any real personality or character because all their springs of individuality have dried up. Personality and character are built by the exercise of discrimination, evaluation, and choice. If these personal faculties are not used, they grow blunt and dull and finally wither away. When this happens a man becomes depersonalized, a human automation. This is supposed to be an ideal situation in relationship to man's spiritual activities. In the realm of religion men are supposed to be depersonalized, to act, to think and move as a group, not as individuals. If they ask questions, they must be stock questions, and they are expected to receive stock answers without further discussion. They are not supposed to exercise discrimination or to evaluate anything.
This is an intolerable situation for the active believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why should he fight with some great organization in order to take one step in advance in the truth? He is constantly urged to read and study the Bible, but he is subjected to abuse if he finds anything in it that contradicts the traditional creed. Thus the only path open to him is one of Christian individualism. In this way of life he can fulfil his place as a believer in this unbelieving world.
Otis Q. Sellers
Well said. To my mind it is an effect of what I always say: it's not the church in the world but the world in the church. They follow after the flesh which seeks safety in numbers and security in following earthly leaders. It's just like the wicked Israelites demanding God give them a king, and they get their king but it is not Christ, and they get their religion but it isn't the way. It saddens me that the eyes of so many may never be opened because they hang on for dear life to their iniquity. It's a very old problem in the church going all the way back to the early Catholic Church at least. The need for belonging is strong but we must belong to Christ first, or it's all in vain. Thanks for the thoughtful comment
No worries - its cool to find someone on Substack writing about this, thanks for your work. I grew up in my late teenage years with Mr. Sellers words. After moving from home to university I tried a few different churches (church of Scotland, Brethren/ evangelical, Reformed Presbyterian) but I always felt entirely ignored and sidelined (I divide the Word of God at Acts 28:28 into a new dispensation of grace) because I don’t comply with the traditions expected from churches like that. I've never found a place amongst other Christians. Choosing to follow Christ in this way is a lonely pursuit.
You're right, it is a product of early disciples splitting off from the teachings of Paul.
If you are interested, I'm compiling my grandfathers writings and studies on Substack https://bygrace777.substack.com/ He was an independent bible researcher who introduced me to Sellers' work.
Looking forward to reading more of your writing.
The disregard for passionate youth, especially young men, is in my mind the #1 reason the institutional church is dying out. I've been genuinely shocked at how many times aging churches and pastors have been happy to see me go and made 0 effort to talk to me or retain me. It's a total disregard for continuity or a future out of hubris, so I say they reap what they sow. Their founders and former leaders were just like me, but now they think "they know better". It's disgraceful. Appreciate the link, I'll check it out. I'm writing a sequel to this essay right now
I'm sorry to hear that your experience has been rather like mine, but I guess what to expect from man-made institutions? Imagine the offering to women... If you don't like looking after other people's kids, womens groups that have no substance (and are basically just a social group) and watching reality TV for fun then good luck!
The most fulfilling group I've been involved with was as part of an art gallery and studios run by artists where we tried (or perhaps prentended) to be non-hirearchical in the way that decisions were made between a mixture of men and women. It was good because it taught me how to control myself - that not everything that I wanted to say was actually useful. I got to see how different people's personalities worked and various neurosis' including my own. It was a mess at times but we were forced to piece it back together and make it work.
Hah, I can imagine how crap that is for women. It still seems like women's preferences are more catered to in general though. That's very interesting, was it a Christian group? It sounds pretty neat. I wish we had more of these hobby and interest groups like that are based around Christ but not necessarily meant to be a church, just a Christian community
Well I guess it was for me, seemed like the others enjoyed it, it just pushed me away. Its hard to put your finger on it... maybe its just treating people like the individuals that they are, and caring about their growth and giving each other opportunities for growth. (cringe?) Were you ever offered a chance to put your energy into a meaningful outcome in a christian context? - this Substack seems like one of them.
The art group was not christian no, totally secular.
I was also part of a larger artist group who were Christian (a national charity), but again felt that their work just passed me by. Their focus was on supporting artists but, though I'm thankful for what they offered me in fellowship, I always felt like I was part of a process. (Towards what I dunno - greater participation? Kudos in the artist community?)
Maybe what this is telling me is that you can't put your faith in any group whatsoever - except for perhaps family - and maybe that's a fine lesson we've both been taught? The messaging is strong to be part of or identify with a group, but maybe it brings more problems than it solves? There are administrations when God deals with people as a group, but we are not in one of those times.
Correction : 'Stralian is more correctly spelt Stray-yan. The 'stray' is drawn out like straay. The yan is shortened to yn. So it is Straay-yn.
Thanks for the excellent post 👍🏻
haha thanks, good to know. Glad you enjoyed it! Blessings to you
this is a good substack...glad I found it....