Comment to 'The Synagogue'
Comment to The Synagogue
  • David, You wrote:

    "No, we cannot present the truth without exposing error. Much of what goes on in traditional churches has little or no basis in scripture. Nevertheless, the "out of church movement" would do well to overcome evil with good - rather than continually attack the institutional church, in word and print, for the wrong reasons."

    This is one of my concerns as well. I was once caught up in the trend of vindicating what I believed the Lord wanted me to do by discrediting what others were doing. In several cases I alienated people who still believed in traditional church forms. Eventually I began to remember many of the wonderful ways God had used the traditional forms for my benefit in the past.

    Also I observed a sort of "legalism" in the house church movement that would forbid many things that were taught in scripture! After that the trend to discredit the scriptures began to emerge.

    Take the issue of leadership for example. We know there have been many abuses of leadership. We also know leaders themselves can be abused by unbiblical pressures put on them by the system as we know it today. So is the answer to convert to "leaderless" church meetings? I say no, and will go so far to say that is a myth.

    I was once in a gathering of several house church minded people when a brother stood up to share a teaching. Then another brother attempted to set him down I supposed because he thought he was trying to lead us. Some times no one in charge leads to the wrong ones in charge!

    In trying avoid the "one man show" that has become the norm in our day, I think fear can take over.  Cannot we trust that Jesus is still building His church, even our imperfect, less than ideal settings?