“The current state of affairs, then, is exactly as one might expect it to be, although I also believe that things will gradually become clearer as God leads and directs. However, what is clear, is that there are increasing numbers of people from all denominations for whom church as we know it clearly isn’t enough anymore; they simply want God for His own sake, without all the ‘church-stuff’ that gets in the way. Ironically, more and more people are making the decision to move out of church-as-a-thing-in-itself in order to move on in God.

Should you decide to come out of the existing set-up—not because you’re ‘rebellious’, or because you have a ‘problem with authority’, but because you firmly believe that institutional church does not square with the Scriptures—then be confident, and take strength from the fact that you are not the first to take such action and you certainly won’t be the last. Indeed, pray that more people who feel the same way will have the courage, the faith, and a level of desire and love for God that will cause them to step outside the confines of church-as-a-thing-in-itself and into the freedom that God promises to those who fellowship with Him.

For, ‘… the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty’. 2 Corinthians 3: 17 [NASB]”

— Mere Churchianity (Formerly 'Flatlining'): Church and the Threat it Poses to the Body of Christ by John Hampton