Have you ever noticed that when anyone talks about the problems in the church it is usually received as a rebuke to every OTHER church – but, “…not MY church – I go to a good church.”
This reasoning is based, almost always, upon that particular person’s level of comfort, familiarity and nearly never upon how closely their particular church resembles what Jesus proposed over two millennia ago.

How important is it to you to get this right?

There are a number of identifying points to recognizing a “True” (by that I mean Biblical) Church.
The red ink in the Bible give us many of these points.

1. There is no hierarchy (bosses).

…Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.  But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;  And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant…

Matthew 20:25-28

But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.  And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.  Neither be ye called teachers: for one is your Teacher, even Christ.

Matthew 23:8-10

2. There would never be heard a pretentious public prayer.

And when you pray, you shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues …  But, when you pray, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which sees in secret shall reward thee openly.  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.  Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knows what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Matthew 6:5-8

3. There would never be a public offering.

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men …  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand does:  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which sees in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Matthew 6:1-4

How are we doing so far? Not so good.

The truth is that we are a sick and feeble generation of believers who cannot make it through a day without some reinforcement, support or, as some say, “getting our batteries charged”. Therefore we don’t care that the steeple is a phallic emblem of our “church’s” pagan past – as long as we get our assurance fix. 

Is this crippled and powerless replacement for the kingdom of God, really worth attempting to repair? Are we even supposed to?