Church?

First: what this is about

If you are in a congregation where you feel comfortable, where the Bible is read and the New Covenant is understood — wonderful. Stay there. Community is good. Community is biblical. No one has to believe alone.

But: community is not the same as institution. And exactly here lies the problem. What today is called "church" — with structures, hierarchies, dogmas, duties and traditions — often has little to do with what the early believers lived.

jesusTALK is not anti-church. jesusTALK is anti-religious-overlay. That is a difference.

What institutions demand vs. what Scripture teaches

Here is an honest comparison. Not to provoke, but to invite reflection. Check yourself whether it is true.

The problem: Old and New Covenant get mixed

The basic problem of many churches and congregations is simple: they mix two covenants that cannot be mixed.

The Old Covenant was a contract between God and Israel: 613 commandments. Keep them, then blessing. Break them, then curse. This covenant was limited in time — it was in effect until the Messiah came.

The New Covenant was sealed by the blood of Jesus on the cross. It does not function according to the principle of "keep rules", but according to the principle of "trust the one who has done everything".

Jesus himself said: "No one puts new wine into old wineskins" (Matthew 9:17). The New Covenant does not fit into the structures of the old. Whoever tries anyway gets what we see today: grace plus rules. Freedom plus duties. Forgiveness plus guilty feelings. A mix that is neither fish nor flesh.

Hebrews 8:13: "In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away."

"Penance" means changing your mind

The word "penance" in German Bibles is one of the most consequential mistranslations. The Greek original is metanoia: meta (changed) + noia (thinking, mind). It literally means: change of thinking. New way of thinking.

In church history this became: penance. Remorse. Self-accusation. Crawling in dust. Listing sins. Humiliating oneself before a priest.

But metanoia has nothing to do with humiliation. It means: stop thinking the way you have. Think new. Recognize who you really are — not the sinner who must torment himself, but the child of God who is loved and accepted.

That is a massive difference. A system that is based on guilt needs people who feel guilty. A system that is based on grace frees people from guilt.

Priesthood of all believers

1 Peter 2:9: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession."

Not: "Some of you are priests." Not: "Those with the theology degree." Not: "Those who were ordained." You. All. Every single one who believes.

In the Old Covenant you needed a priest as mediator between you and God. You were not allowed to enter the holy of holies yourself. Only the high priest, once a year, with blood.

At the cross something physical happened: the curtain in the temple — that separated off the holy of holies — tore. From top to bottom. Not from bottom to top. The human did not earn access. God opened it.

Since then you need no human mediator. No priest. No pastor as gatekeeper. You have direct access to the Father. At any time. Without appointment. Without confession ticket. Without sacrifice.

Hebrews 4:16: "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

With confidence. Not with fear. Not with shame. With confidence.

The curtain tore — from top to bottom

Matthew 27:51: "And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom."

This detail is no coincidence. The curtain was massive — according to Jewish tradition about 18 meters high and a hand wide thick. No human could have torn it. And it tore from above — from God's side.

God himself ended the separation. God himself opened the access. That was no accident, no earthquake damage. That was a statement: The old way is over. The new way is open. For everyone.

Every institution that places itself between you and this open access — that requires a priest, a ritual, a membership, a payment or an office as condition — rebuilds the curtain that God tore.

If you are searching

Maybe you are in a congregation and notice: something is not right. You become tired of the expectations. You feel guilty even though you "do everything right". You ask yourself whether this is really all — Sunday morning, worship, sermon, home, repeat.

Or you were in a church and left because it felt wrong. And now you think: if that is God, I don't want it.

Then read the letters of the New Testament. Not the Sermon on the Mount (it was pre-cross, to Jews under the law). Read Romans. Galatians. Ephesians. Colossians. Read what Paul wrote to the churches he had founded. Read it without church glasses.

You will discover a God who is completely different from the one you may have been taught. Not the strict judge who waits for your next mistake. But a Father who says: "You are my child. Come home."

Closing

Test everything. Hold fast what is good. And let no one force you under a yoke that Christ has long since broken.

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery!" — Galatians 5:1