Fellow Christians,
Are you aware that for the first 300 years, the Lord's Congregation did not have the complete New Testament? In fact, for the first 20 years after Pentecost, the Congregation did not have a single page of the New Testament. It was not until A.D. 50 that the first book of the New Testament was written.
There were no "church" buildings, no Bibles, no Bible schools, no Bible study, no pews, no pulpits, no sermons, and no "pastors."
Tell me, how did the early congregations function without any of these things? Have any of your "pastors" or "theologians" or "scholars" ever told you any of this information? I am willing to bet that they have not.
There is zero similarity between what you and I experience as "church" today and how we practice Christianity compared with how the early Congregation practiced Christianity in the first century. There is a vast chasm of difference between the two, and whether you want to hear it or not, or like to admit it or not, your experience is unbiblical.
Regardless of what denomination you are in, the theologians have told you many things that simply are not true. They have turned God's Holy Scriptures into verses that they abuse for their own sordid gain. They pretend to understand the New Testament while actually understanding nothing about it.
The Bible was not written with chapters and verses. These are a distraction. Ever since their invention, the theologians have been ripping random, isolated verses out of their immediate context and forcing them to say whatever they want them to say. This is not how we should treat God's Word.
Have your "pastors" informed you that no one has understood the New Testament for 1800 years because it is presented in a chaotic order and provides zero background information as to what led to each letter being written? Out of religious tradition and superstition, Bible printers have refused to correct the order of the Bible so that people can understand it.
Most Christians, no matter how much you encourage them to do so, will not long continue to read the New Testament. There is a reason for this. Most Christians who read the New Testament never read it again. Those who continue reading it cannot understand what it says.
None of the New Testament is individualistic. It is corporate. Until you realize this and come to terms with it, you will have a difficult time attempting to live the Christian life. The Bible is not theological; it is life. It is not a book to be "studied," but a book to be lived. Again, for the first 20 years, there was not a single page of the New Testament in existence, and for the first 300 years there was not a complete New Testament. Think about that carefully and ask yourself what the early Christians did. What did organic congregational life look like?
Contrary to what the theologians have told you for the past 1700 years, God is not concerned with our theological dogma; He is concerned with our fruit. Abandon all the nonsense the theologians have been filling your head with for years, and start bearing fruit. Start living corporately. Start living by the words that Jesus spoke. Your particular theological bent will not matter one lick if you do not give drink to the thirsty, food to the hungry, clothes to the naked, etc.
The Bible talks about love quite a bit. We are supposed to love our neighbour. We are supposed to love the brethren. Our love for one another is how the world will know we are Christians and that we have had an encounter with the living God. How many "one another" statements are within the pages of the New Testament? Drop your personal theological convictions and love your brethren! By not doing so, you are a heretic according to the Bible's definition and usage of the word: you are a sectarian who causes division over non-essentials. Your example is the first 200 years of the Christians.
Repent, and get back to Christ. Keep your eyes on Jesus and obey His teachings. It is as simple as that.
"It is a small and narrow mind that is afraid to change; it is a sign of greatness that one is prepared to admit at times that one has been mistaken, and that therefore you have had to change your position." ―David Martyn Lloyd-Jones
"There is no similarity to how we practice present-day evangelical Christianity as over against the way the church practiced Christianity in Century One." —Gene Edwards
“It is our desire to accept and proclaim the whole word of God....We seek to follow the leading of God’s Spirit, but at the same time we seek to pay attention to the examples shown us in His Word. The leading of the Spirit is precious, but if there is no example in the Word, then it is easy to substitute our fallible thoughts and unfounded feelings for the Spirit’s leading, drifting into error without realizing it.” —Watchman Nee