House Church Talk - Re: Yet another newspaper article...

[jesusislord343 at juno.com]

Dear Jeff,
Very hurriedly, I'd like to respond to your post, the thrust of which I
heartily agree.

You wrote:
> I have to admit that this is not the most comforting of news.
> With people leaving the churches to worship at home as families--is
this organic, or are we seeing the ultimate division of the body into the
least common denomination. (A play on words). 

We should recognize first of all that there are various reasons why
people leave churches, and each case should be measured carefully as to
its validity by the word of God.  On one end of the spectrum are the many
who are rebellious at heart and thus in self-will seek out "house church"
in order to do their own thing, and have things on their terms; while on
the opposite end are those who learn the will of God from His word
concerning the assembly of the saints, are joyfully corrected, and then
find that they are unable to practice full obedience to the Lord they
love while remaining in such an organization, which "nullifies" His word
"in many things."

> This way, every person can believe however they choose. Religion
personalized. 

You've really hit the nail on the head here, Jeff.  As the proverb
presents us, "A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing
his own heart" (Pr. 18:2).  

[Very sadly, what we find on the extreme rebellious end of the HC
spectrum are a high number of "churches" composed only of one self-willed
couple, who oftentimes well resemble Ahab and Jezebel.  These
single-family churches cannot "say the same thing" (I Cor. 1:10) in unity
with others in the body of Christ, thus in remaining alone in their homes
they find safety from the "doctrine, reproof, correction, and training in
righteousness" that the Lord would bring to bear by His word through the
assembly of His saints.]

> And, they are accountable to themselves only. No duty to a church body.

We should note also that one family simply cannot compose a "whole
church" (I Cor. 14:23).  The assembly time is one of various "men" and
"brothers" (plural) using their spiritual gifts in turn (I Cor. 14:26-40;
Heb. 10:24-25; I Tim. 2:8-15).  It is a picture of a body of
complementary members (I Cor 12; Rom. 12; Eph. 4; I Pet. 4, etc.).  

> It used to be that when people in a church couldn't agree they would
split in half. Now we are splintering into families. This cannot be
totally the churches' fault. 

This is quite true, but the strongly libertine atmosphere in the churches
promotes much of this low commitment in relationships and subjective
"personalized religion" of which you speak.  Our compromised religious
organizations are ultimately composed of compromised members who have
sought out the compromised leaders of their liking to keep them running
smoothly.  Blame, if it is to be given, lies with all who have winked at
sin and failed to discipline those inside the body (I Cor. 5:1-13)--as is
presented in scripture as a matter of foundational importance to the
health of the assembly.

> I am truly sorry if I am unable to see justification in why many people
leave their church families. I can't find any examples of people leaving
their church family by choice in the scripture. I read about a lot of
them that were cast out for preaching Jesus and I know about a time in
the 1800's when many were thrown out for preaching about Jesus' second
coming. Even Martin Luther, the great reformation leader, was stunned to
be excommunicated from the church he loved. 

My own personal experience is that I sought to see the Lord bring about
scriptural reform within my church.  I appealed to a close friend, the
"associate pastor," and we together appealed to the "senior pastor."  He
was a man with much to lose in all that we proposed in the way of the
various biblical corrections, and who could (or would) not discern either
of the two basic elements of the corporate assembly time: Spirit-led
brotherly interaction (I Cor. 14:26-33a), and gender role distinctions (I
Cor. 14:33b-38).  We knew we had to submit to "the Lord's commandments"
for our family's assembling with others, thus we sought to find those in
our area practicing careful obedience to the word of God in all things. 
We were led quite miraculously to others faithfully doing so (though
"small and despised" - Ps. 119:141), and have yet to be without others to
gather to the Lord in His joy with for over ten years.

> Please help me understand why this is happening? Is it healthy for the
body to be disjointed? Can the body function when the members are
separated from each other? Can it rightly be called a body when parts are
missing?  Perhaps a severed piece of flesh, but a body? I can understand
home churches in a country such as China where open worship is forbidden.
And, I even know about corruption in the IC. But I don't understand "just
leaving." 
> I am confused and not sure this is all of God, since God is all about
unity and not division, and organization not confusion. Please set me
straight, gently...

Jeff, I would only say that in our rightly desiring earnestly the unity
of the body of Christ, that we must be careful to not pursue what
ultimately constitutes a false unity.  

"The righteous should choose his friends carefully" (Pr. 12:26).  That
is, our only real friendships will be enabled by our Lord with those who
are indeed His friends, who will "do whatever (He) commands" them (Jn.
15:14).  Find fathers who will as Noah "in holy fear" build an ark for
their families in these times--who will lead them in continual spiritual
discipleship (Eph. 6:4), open-hearted brotherly relationships (Heb.
3:13), and all with a view to wholehearted submission to the Lord Jesus
and His word in the corporate assembly times.  You will find such men to
have joyful, restful wives and gentle, obedient children--families
without offense, who are edifying to others.  These are in the pathway of
true spiritual (Spirit-worked) unity, around their Lord and His holy
word.

Grace to you,
Glenn S.

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