House Church Talk - Body Life in Montana

[goodwordusa at att.net]

My wife and I live in Montana, an area that is very different than the 
Southeast Texas we are both from.  Aside from the obvious climatic 
differences, there is a great difference in the church's impact on the local 
society, as well.

Back in Texas, the church, overall, still has a big influence on local 
politics, on social traditions, on everything.  This is not to say that 
people are more generally holy.  They are not.  But there is more of a wide-
spread understanding of what Christ and the church are supposed to be about.

I noticed in our first year in Montana that here the local bar takes the 
place, in many towns and communities, that the church still holds down in SE 
Texas -- not that there aren't plenty of bars down there.  People in many 
areas of Montana meet most often at the local bar -- even if they do not 
drink.  Most drink.  And it is common for towns that have no supermarket, or 
even a service station, to have a bar or two.  But many small towns have no 
church at all.

Billings, the city we live in, has lots of churches.  There are only about 
100,000 people here in the Billings area.  And that is also different than 
the millions of people I'm used to in the Houston, TX area.  

So, yes, here in Billings, there are many believers.  I meet Christian 
believers and christianized religious people everywhere.  There are also a 
lot of Mormons here, and a lot of very active Jehovah's Witnesses, as they 
call themselves.  The Mormons, in fact, chose Billings as the home for their 
regional temple a couple of years ago.  And now they are very active here, 
working a lot behind the scenes.  The local cable TV service (more important 
in Montana than in some parts of the country) has a new 24-hour Mormon 
channel -- as part of the basic service, so that everyone will get it.

My wife and I have visited a number of the denominational and independent IC 
churches here in Billings.  Some are pretty good for teaching and/or 
preaching.  Some or OK for fellowship, in the traditional sense -- they are 
friendly places where you can get to know people before and after 
the "services".  All of the ones we've visited have genuine believers in 
them, people who know and love the Lord Jesus.

There are very few people here, to my knowledge, who have any idea of what 
body life might be, as the Scriptures briefly describe it.  Even some of the 
HC people here have no great desire to see the Lord work in that way.  But 
there are some of us.

My view of the church itself (the whole body of Christ) makes me want to find 
a way for all the believers in Billings to interact more and to do things 
together in the city for the glory of God.  There is, after all, only one 
church in Billings, Montana.  And, of course, we in Billings are only a part 
of the larger body of Christ that stretches all around the planet.  

So, while I see the many little church groups here, I also see that every 
true believer belongs to the Lord Jesus and to each other.  In Jesus Christ 
we are one, not many.  No wall exists between the believers in the IC or HC, 
or in any other division of the church.  Any wall that seems to exist is only 
of our own making, the product of our own minds.

I sometimes think about visiting an IC church more often, or even becoming a 
regular part of one.  But there is no "home" out there among the IC churches 
for us.  Not as yet.  Not that the groups in the IC churches are somehow less 
spiritual than we are, or a contaminating influence.  But to me, the 
traditional meetings and rituals of the IC groups is not what church is about.

The denominations in America have their own agenda.  They concern themselves 
with numbers and with money and with programs.  Some hold a tight control on 
the local congregations, directing them even in the hymns they are to sing on 
a given Sunday morning.  And all of them look to the people in the local 
churches to give money for all kinds of programs.  Some churches struggle 
under a heavy load, sending money out to the denomination -- to pay fat 
salaries for "administrative" office people, and many other expenses -- while 
the local people suffer want.  

If a church tries to break away (as quite a few do, at one time or another) 
the denomination often threatens to sue for the land and building.  When they 
sue, they often win.  So then a corporate "non-profit" enterprise in another 
state owns the building that the local people sacrificed to pay for.

That shadow hangs over the whole structure of denominational churches, and 
similar pressures are on many churches that call themselves independent.  
Even in independent churches the pastor is usually licensed by a group 
holding certain doctrines and traditions as dear and important.  If he drifts 
too far in some point of doctrine or in some traditional practice, he may 
lose his license to preach.  So the meetings and "services" in a great many 
IC churches are constrained by the desire, and even the need, to please some 
unknown persons in the faraway offices of a religious headquarters.

This guiding pressure is on everyone from the pastor to the youth leaders and 
Sunday school teachers.  It keeps many from ever thinking about what the Lord 
may want to say or do in a class, a meeting, a worship service.  There is 
already an agenda.  Certain things must always be done, and they must be done 
in a certain order.  There is a religious obligation to be met, regardless of 
the spiritual needs or consequences.

Group leaders, SS teachers, and even pastors are often chosen, not for their 
spiritual life and concerns or convictions, but for their willingness to get 
up there and do the job.  And many have no idea, other than the church 
manual, or SS lesson, or denominational policy, what that job is supposed to 
be.  If they can get up and speak or lead some songs or play the piano, then 
everything is fine and great, the people are happy, and the strain is removed 
from regional leaders who might otherwise need to step in.

But body life is different.  In body life ministry, the Lord Jesus directs 
the saints.  He is directing them each day in their daily life.  And He also 
directs them, speaks to them and ministers to them when they meet together in 
groups.  He uses each brother and sister to do some part of the spiritual 
work -- a work that is being done by God Himself, in Christ, through the Holy 
Spirit, carried out by the various members of the body.

In body life, each person gives to all, and receives from all, the blessings 
of the Lord Jesus.  It is not a mystical thing, really.  It is a very real 
and tangible thing.  We all receive from the Lord all week long.  And as we 
meet together, He begins to bring these things (whatever He has given to each 
life) together in various ways.  Some of the blessings will be shared in song 
and praises.  Another will be given in the reading of a passage.  And then 
another.  And some other blessing will be offered in a testimony or even in a 
confession of need.  Others will pray.  It is never the same, but always as 
the Lord Himself directs each person in each meeting.

This isn't to say that some will not emerge as teachers or singers or 
whatever.  Maybe even preachers.  But the Lord Himself directs each one.  And 
the Lord Himself directs the group.  And He, the Lord Jesus Christ, brings 
glory to the Father as He is glorified in and through the church -- the 
saints of God.  There is fellowship, that is, the sharing of hearts and lives 
together.  Some members are weaker and some may be stronger.  But all are 
invited to share whatever the Lord gives to them.  In Christ Jesus, there is 
no tradition that takes the place of His leadership, or that takes the place 
of the needs of the believers on a given day.

So far in Billings, we have seen no opportunity for this kind of sharing in 
the regular IC meetings.  But some church groups do enter into something 
closer to this in other kinds of meetings, such a Bible study or prayer 
meeting in the home.  Some Saturday morning prayer breakfasts for men get 
closer to this kind of spiritual gathering -- even in denominational churches 
that have a reputation for being dead.

Christ, after all, cannot be stopped by the organizing and ego of human 
beings.

Jim