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There are churches which teach that when an infant is 'baptised' he gets born again and becomes a child of God. This blocks those churches from preaching that people must repent, believe in Jesus and be born again. There are churches that teach that when people eat the wafer in communion, they are receiving Jesus in their heart. What a simple and easy way, avoiding the pain of having to acknowledge themselves as sinners, repent from their sins, and trust the grace of God entirely for their salvation!

Think of different things you have been taught in your church which you know are not true or right, but which you accept just because you are in that church. They need not be just doctrinal but also practices that have been carried on for years and have become a tradition. They may be things your founders have taught, and you think you dare not even consider that they may be wrong.

We are not going to be admitted to heaven based on which denomination or church we have come from. We are all going to be judged based on our private lives – what we have thought, spoken, done, planned, schemed, etc. Motives and intentions are going to be judged more strictly than what we actually did. When we get to those, it is going to be tough to see that we cannot take cover under the teachings and traditions of our church, or the organisation where we worked, etc. It is each one to himself.

Walking in the light before God whose eyes penetrate to the depths of our heart is not easy (He.4:12,13). But this is why He has given us His word. When we look at the mirror of the word and allow it to show us where all we are wrong, it gives us the opportunity to cleanse ourselves. Our thinking and understanding do not have to be bound to the confines of our church, but we can come out of that box and go directly to God's word and let Him speak to us.

When we hear God through His word, we are obligated to act on it. The first thing, of course, is to cleanse ourselves where we have been wrong, and to start behaving in the new way which He has shown us. Then we can move on to influencing others around us, including in the church. We can all be little influencers bringing about little reformations in our own little circles.

Churches may not be willing to make any changes because they will have to first admit they were wrong before. If it is difficult for us individuals to admit our mistakes, it can be more difficult for leaders to admit their collective mistakes. So these little reformers are not going to be welcome but looked upon as trouble makers who are trying to ruffle the feathers. But we cannot give up our understanding of the truth just because others do not accept it, because it is not with these people but the Lord with whom we have to deal (He.4:13).

Thinking outside our boxes is primarily for our cleansing and growth. We submit personally to God's truth, and then God will take care of using us as light to others.

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