017 – Why I Hate The church – Part 04
(Updated Show Notes - May 2025)
Episode 017 – Why I Hate the Church (Part 4)
Originally recorded: November 2006
In this episode, I reflect on:
- What changed when I took a few Sundays off from church
- How teaching my kids about Jesus outside of Sunday school brought me back to life
- The danger of outsourcing your faith to Sunday morning
- The beautiful tension between accountability and freedom
- Why I still believe in the local church—but not in the form most of us inherited
- What I believe needs to shift for the Church to become more alive, more flexible, and more aligned
I also finish my reflections on George Barna’s Revolution.
And I close with a prayer—for me, for you, and for all of us trying to walk this out with integrity.
✨ What I Believed Then
I believed the church needed to change—and that I needed to change with it.
I believed routines were killing our spiritual creativity.
I believed accountability mattered, but control was killing our joy.
I believed that Sunday morning didn’t always lead to transformation.
And I believed that I was still called to stay in spiritual community… even if I needed to help reshape what that looked like.
🌱 What I Believe Now
I no longer try to fix the church.
I embody Christ consciousness.
I no longer need a program to feel connected.
I carry Presence into every space I enter.
I no longer see skipping Sunday as a red flag.
Sometimes it’s a sacred reset.
I still believe in the Church.
But now I know the Church is not a time slot.
It’s a frequency.
🔥 Why I’m Leaving This Episode in the Feed
Because it marks the end of a chapter—and the beginning of my emergence.
Because it shows what it looks like to wrestle with truth until it blesses you.
Because I want you to hear how my clarity was born—not in certainty, but in surrender.
And because someone listening might still feel trapped…
And this might be the message that sets them free.
Cliff