It might be ignorance, tradition, fear, or manipulation. And then again, it might be a combination of all the above; however, it still boils down to LAW. Most churches in America CONTROL their congregations with FEAR. The wrapper looks different, but the goodies in side the box are all gathered around how to CONTROL, not how to set people FREE.
I decided two years ago to LET GO of anything that smacked of control, looked like manipulation, or had even a tinge of a condescending flavor to it. Let’s be more specific.
1-The TITHE is the LAW. But the church had held that over the head of members forever. In the New Testament, you should give MORE than 10%, but it must come from the HEART! Let people off the hook though and the church will go bankrupt. Well then maybe it should if the people can’t get from the head to the heart as to how it’s to be done. I give way more than 10%. Blessed people want to.
2-Get people signed up and on the ROLLS! In other words, make a big deal out of MEMBERSHIP and then you can threaten to take that away if they are not abiding by the house rules. Sure, you need to know who’s with you on the journey (as far as they want to go) and that’s why we changed from membership to “Participants In The Journey“.
3-Remind people of their SINS weekly. And remind people that only the church can offer forgiveness and mediate mercy. Sure, right!
4-Threaten people with HELL if they don’t repent. I believe in an end time judgment that I call “divine judgment” but no eternal hell fire and torture. More control lost, eh?
5-Break the TRADITIONALISM that holds people instead of being held by relationship and love. So, we did away with Sunday and went to meeting as a church body on Friday nights.
I could go on and on and I am sure you’d have some items to add to the list; however, the point is this. God is LOVE. Jesus gave it ALL for LOVE. If I can’t hold a family or an individual by LOVE and common commitment to the Journey to know Jesus and Him crucified, what’s the point? I leave the Seven Steps To Prosperity to others. I leave the LAW and LEGALISM to others. And I leave my FAITH to God to hold a band of people together that’s called a church. If God can’t do it rightly, what makes me think I can do it unrighteously?
I’ve let my people go because they were never mine anyway. If they were, they are out of LOVE and for no other reason.
Time will tell if church can be done without its traditional controlling methods 
You have two sheepies here, with glad hearts full of appreciation and gratitude for the journey you began and by example we want to follow. We like the FREEDOM that has come with this enlightening journey, FREEDOM to BE, to BE ONE with Jesus, with Jesus IN God, and within each other, ALL are ONE; God, Jesus, me, you, ALL others (including Hitler, Manson, Homosexuals).