I travel for work with my full time job, writing articles to try and offer insight to those out there who are perplexed and downtrodden is a passion of mine. And it's a ministry I believe God has called me to.

So when I travel, I usually drive, and I drive lots of miles between stops because I have a territory that encompasses 6 states in the south central USA. So I get a lot of time to think and reflect. Last week, the song "The Old Rugged Cross" came on, and it reminded me of how old the "church" is. I'm referring not to a physical building, but the metaphorical church that Jesus started with the apostles and the disciples. You see the bible (scripture) describes the church as Christ's bride. It's not actually a physical structure, although man erects structures for convenience and purposeful congregation of church members.

It's important to remember that our relationship with Jesus Christ is the most meaningful relationship we can have, and it's the only one that ultimately presents an outcome that can make the difference between eternal life and eternal death. So don't be discouraged when you attempt to explore a body of people who attend a specific building, sometimes that's just not where God wants you. Keep looking, keep praying and keep reading the word.

Matthew 7:13-14 - ¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Make no mistake, you do NOT have to go to church to be saved or to be a Christian. The Old Rugged Cross syndrome is one where people become like little huddles and groups of people, and they like their little groups. They feel safe, they feel protected, and they don't necessarily have the great commission on their minds or hearts, they have the need to belong and feel good about themselves. That's pretty normal from my experience. Ultimately, it's rare to find true followers of Christ anywhere out there. It's ironic that Jesus' whole ministry surrounded the premise of preparing people for the "second" coming of His own existence. He was about the Father, everything had to begin with the Father, yet the only way to the Father was through Jesus. Your free gift doesn't come from the church, the free gift of eternal life comes from Jesus.

I'm coining a phrase that will probably not stand the test of time, "The Old Rugged Cross Syndrome", but to me it represents the way the Jewish people (sadducees and pharsees) as well as the Sanhedrin became Jesus' judge, jury and executioner. The sheer hypocrisy of the situation was horrific. The very son of God who was sent as the prophesies suggested, was disbelieved, doubted, tried, found guilty and crucified by His very own people.

Organized religion is more about business and growing the attendance numbers and the offering than it is about spreading the gospel because if it were about seeing other people come to Jesus, those over the church would take a different approach about ministries in the church.

I had a friend share with me that he was feeling Gods call on his life, and he naturally thought that would likely mean some pastoral role in a church. This friend consulted with one of the head pastors at the church he was attending and asked for his advice on how to answer the call. His pastor told my friend that the fact he was divorced would be problematic in his calling. My friend exclaimed, "wait a second, I'm not the one who was unfaithful, my wife had an affair and a subsequent child, how can that be problematic?" The fact is Jesus saves and Jesus forgives, but people don't always follow that path. People are petty and people can be clickish. People hold others to a higher standard than they typically do themselves. It's a sad state but it's the reality.

However, don't lose faith, there is a body of believers out there who you will fit in with and who you can do life with. It's especially difficult for mid-life aged people, because the luster is gone, there's not that shiny new coat of paint on a new car, with kids and "fun" to offer. Usually it's more likened to a life of challenges and hardship, broken promises, broken families and broken hearts. The very people Jesus ministered to in His church. And Jesus didn't pick his disciples based on a spotless past, He chose them because they "had a past, they had scars, and they weren't blameless".

Don't turn away from God and His Son because you get your feelings hurt at a church where people are more worried about the car they drive, or the neighborhood they live in, or the school their kids go to. That's not what Jesus was about at all. Jesus was about taking broken lives and making them whole again. Jesus is in the business of forgiving and saving lost souls, and healing the sick, making the lame to walk again.

In closing, take a look inside and see if you're looking in the right place for an answer to your problems. Look to the future, not the past.

Read Ephesians 5: 1-33 - We're not to continue in sin, we're to repent and turn from it. If you have things in secret, repent of them and let God shine His bright light on your life.