Readers are Leaders! My friend Buff Scott, Jr. had three books published that have now been converted to PDFs. These are free to read and distribute. The first one is called Mad Cow Disease about the blunders and digressions of the Institutional Church. Another book is entitled Roman Catholicism and discusses if Jesus Christ was the author of Catholicism. The third book is unique as two men take sides as to whether the institutional church is Apostate or Authentic.
Buff Scott, Jr. produces Reformation Rumblings a weekly newsletter that covers all topics faith related. To be added to his email list please contact him at renewal@mindspring.com.
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My brothers, show no partiality…For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ while you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or ‘Sit down at my feet,’ have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? [James 2:1-5].
It is visibly apparent that most religious parties have adopted earthen titles to describe the function of various leaders who represent them. At the outset let me say our Lord, of course, does not sanction them. As badly as many of us would like to see a rapid change, it takes time and efforts to rectify “wanderings” and “ramblings” that have developed over centuries and fastened themselves onto us. Correcting radical apostasies cannot come about overnight. So we ought not become weary in well-doing.
Specialized human titles should be re-examined and corrected. For in using those terms, a few within the flock are elevated above other sheep. “Associate Minister,” for example, leaves the impression that the brother who is saddled with this earthly title has not graduated to the level of “Chief Minister.”
All sheep in the pen are ministers or servants-everyone of us! None are either “associate” or “chief.” There should be no distinctions among us, according to James, who says that favoritism should not be shown [James 2:1-7]. God views all of us on the same level, regardless of our gifts. If we can invent an “Associate Minister,” why not an “Associate Saint”? Or an “Associate Servant”? I’m afraid our titles are a major part of our digression.
Buff Scott, Jr.
Even “elder,” “shepherd,” “pastor,” and “overseer,” legitimate terms of the Holy Spirit, appellations that refer to the same function or gift, are not to be viewed as someone “in charge” of others. Instead, the terms describe the ability or gift to lead, as opposed to being a warlord with authority. They are not titles! They are functions, and functions only. Human titles and human offices within the body of believers have their genesis in pride. Pride breeds all manner of departures.
When we take a common noun of the Spirit and amplify it to a proper noun, we have attempted to hoist someone above his fellows. This is contrary to the spirit of humility. “Instead, whoever wants to become great [elevated] among you must be your servant” [Matt. 10:26]. Away with titles that tend to move some of the sheep to a cushioned seat while others are expected to sit in a pew.
“Don’t Be Called Leaders” is a 75-page treatise whose Author is a personal friend and brother of mine, Jon Zens. If you would like a copy, please contact him at jzens@searchingtogether.org. You might wish to look over his library of other books as well at jonzens.com.
Reformation Rumblings is a weekly email sent out by Buff Scott Jr. If you would like to subscribe please contact him at renewal@mindspring.com.
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The book House Church and Mission:The Importance of Household Structures in Early Christianity by Roger Gehring is hard to find at a reasonable price. I’m not entirely sure why. I did find a 15 page pdf summary by John White, author and Co-founder of LK10.
Gehring’s thesis is that house churches are at the center of the missional strategy of Jesus and the early church. The implications of this idea are huge! For one, it requires that we rethink our understanding of what we call The Great Commission in Matthew 28.
Rather than bringing our own ideas and strategies for fulfilling this Commission, we must now ask how Jesus went about that task. Gehring makes a compelling case that Jesus had a clear strategy for making disciples of all people groups. At the center of that strategy was the birthing of house churches (small, family-like communities of faith), which became bases of operation for His mission. Jesus implemented that strategy himself and then taught it to His disciples. (The clearest description of His strategy is found in Mt. 10 and Lk 10.) Those disciples continued with that same strategy throughout the New Testament.
Gehring demonstrates this strategy through five stages: Jesus’ ministry, disciples’ ministry (pre Easter), disciples’ ministry in Jerusalem (post Easter), disciples’ ministry transitioning to the Gentiles, Paul’s ministry. He also demonstrates that an understanding of oikos(household) is critical in understanding not only the nature of mission but also the nature of the church and of church leadership in the New Testament.
Because this book was written as a doctoral dissertation, it is rather long and difficult to read. For that reason, I’ve taken the liberty of gathering and organizing, in the paper below, the key quotes from the book.
As evangelicals, we affirm that “Scripture is our authoritative guide for faith and practice”. House Church and Mission brings new clarity to the “practice” of church and mission in Scripture. How will this understanding now guide our “practice” of church and mission today?
If you would like to learn more about how to start and nurture house churches, go to our website at LK10.com
The Open Church by James H. Rutz was published in 1992. Rutz and contributing writer Gene Edwards encourage pastors in “closed churches” to begin the process of opening up their services to the laity. I’ve read other books written in this same time period that also encourage institutional churches to do the same or add cell groups. Unfortunately it never caught on and doesn’t seem to work. The book does have some great historical content and I enjoyed the excerpt below written by Gene Edwards.
The modern concept of the pastor grew out of Wittenberg, Germany, and was but an adaptation of the pastoral duties of a priest! If you aren’t shocked, you sure ought to be.
From that day on, people have written literally millions of books on every theological issue conceivable to the mind of man, yet almost no one has closely questioned the Biblical basis for the all-in-one pastor, a superior being who operates as the heart and soul of the church. He is just there. I repeat, he was not born as a result of profound scriptural study. He just grew like Topsy out of the swirl of events in Wittenberg from 1525 to 1540. Before that he never existed, nor was he ever dreamed of.
In all of the millions of debates in church history, there has not been so much as one day of controversy over his scriptural right to exist! Yet there is not one verse of Scripture in the New Testament that describes such a creature, and only one verse that even uses the term “pastors” (Ephesians 4:11). Nonetheless, he is the center of the practice of Protestant Christianity.
One of the most fascinating things about the modern day practice of the CEO/pastor is that ministers seem to know-or sense-that their job is non-scriptural. As a pastor, then later as an evangelist, and until this very hour, I have brought up this question to scores of fellow ministers: “Where is the practice of a pastor in Scripture? I cannot find it.” The most reaction I have ever received was either agreement or a resigned shrug! No honest pastor will defend the role of today’s pastorate in light of the New Testament.
Today’s version of Protestantism rests on the concept and practice of the pastor, but he exists nowhere in New Testament Scripture. Yet ironically, he’s the fellow we hire and put in the pulpit to call us all to be faithful to the Bible! O Consistency, where are thy children?
I’m throwing in this extra little section at no additional charge. Call it “the confessions of a minister who hated being a pastor”!
Please do not look upon these examples as indicative of any lingering pique remaining from my years in the pastorate. Whatever traumas I may have suffered as a pastor have long since been faced, forgiven, and nearly forgotten. Besides, I gave up grumbling for lent!
The snapshots below are only to show you how the theoretical problems of an unscriptural pastorate have real-life consequences…
1-“Ladies and gentlemen, this evening we are gathered together to see the hockey team from Montreal get out here and murder the hockey team from Seattle. They’re going to beat one another senseless with clubs and sticks and knock one another over and hit each other. Also there will be riots in the stands. But just before that happens, we’re going to have the pastor of the First Baptist Church come and lead us in prayer.”
(Have you ever tried to think up a prayer for two groups of men who are about to kill one another over a hockey puck?)
2-The local businessmen’s club is about to start…amid chaos, noise, dirty jokes, swearing, bragging, and cocktails. Then the announcement: “Will Reverend Edwards please lead us in prayer?” And 1.001 seconds after the prayer, the carousing resumes.
But that pales in the presence of number three:
3-“Hello, pastor. Uncle Kurt died this morning. I’d like you to do his funeral Tuesday.” (“Who is Uncle Kurt?” I wanted to ask!) My reply: “Why, of course, sister. What time will it be?” (I have to say that. I’m a pastor. We alone bury the dead. I know: It’s not in Scripture; it’s a Catholic practice brought over from heathenism. Nonetheless, we Protestant preachers bury the dead. We dare not do otherwise!)
The reply I wanted to give: “I’m sorry, that just wouldn’t be right. I never did know him very well, and for the life of me, I can’t think of a single kind word to say about the old hypocrite. Let someone in your family do it. Let a neighbor do it. Preaching over the corpse of a man who may well be on his way down, not up, is something I refuse to do. Plus, funeral services are a holdover from Old Testament and pagan customs, anyway. Christians didn’t even have funerals in New Testament times.” (Burials and mourning, yes; funerals, no.)
Why didn’t I say that? Because that reply would have won me first place in the unemployment line within 24 hours.
4-“The Democratic Party this evening is gathered to hear the Honorable Sam Squeak speak, and now will Reverend Edwards lead us in prayer?” Maybe Reverend Edwards is a Republican, but he still has to pray. Why? Because he is a pastor. That’s what pastors do.
But even worse is number five:
5-The telephone rings, and a devout Sunday morning attendee says, “Pastor, my daughter wants to talk to Santa Claus. Be Santa Claus for my daughter. Here she is.”
A little bitty voice asks, “Is this Santa Claus?” And for five minutes I play Santa Claus on the telephone. My salary of $55 a week and a parsonage depend on it!
How would you like to have to do things like this? And wear a suit at all times except in the shower or in bed?…See your wife and kids subjected to constant, town-wide scrutiny?…Never be allowed to be angry, depressed, short-tempered?…Be required to talk piously all day long and do and say some of the most stupid things imaginable? It’s all part of the job description. But it is not in the Scriptures.
There is not an honest man alive today in the ministry that has not wished to unload and drop this whole masquerade and be an ordinary human being. None of this has anything to do with the Christian faith. In fact, the Christian faith stood against this kind of thing for the first few centuries.
But number six is the darkest snapshot of all!…
6-A conversation that is a blend of many true incidents: The telephone rings. “Hi, Pastor, this is Benedict. Pastor, my wife and I just want you to know that we love you so much.”
“Thanks so much, Benedict. You’re a fine person to say so. God love you, brother, for so thoughtful a nature.”
“Pastor, we’re going on vacation to the French Alps for the next month, and we have a country retreat house out on the lake. Lulu and I just wanted you to know that it’s yours every week while we’re gone. You can take your family out there, and rest and pray and enjoy it.”
“Why, Benedict, that’s the most gracious and Christian thing a person could do. God bless you, dear brother. My wife and I think so highly of you.”
They both hang up. Each has-knowingly-“scratched the other’s back.”
Benedict feels all warm inside, knowing God must love him because the pastor does. The pastor hangs up knowing he has gotten something out of another layman with the scepter of religious blessing. It feels so good, and the rich seem to need it more than the poor do. (Maybe they have a guilt complex about being rich?)
This kind of co-dependent relationship sometimes grows up between pastors and laymen (even poor ones) to the point it almost becomes a science. I, the pastor, bless you, the layman; that means God loves you. You, the layman, bless me (and buy God’s favor) by giving me gifts, special attention, special meals-and sometimes a weekend retreat house. You, the layman, become a sycophant, treating me as someone special. And I, the pastor, use my sacred call from God for ego gratification or material gain. While this sort of thing goes on, reality lives in some other part of the world-and heaven weeps while hell chuckles.
Symbiotic relationships will continue as long as we have a rigid division between clergy and laity. Psychologically, in fact, this just might be the main reason we have a hired servant of God and an endowing laity: so that laymen can shirt tail into God’s favor without doing all the heavy work!
If open church life is ever to be widely known on earth, the whole mentality that spawned the modern CEO/pastor/priest role must go. It demeans the layman and exalts the pastor-at the expense of God.
W. Carl Ketcherside lived his life teaching and attempting to bring unity amongst his brothers and sisters in Christ. His book In The Beginning is one of the best books I’ve read on the topic of unity and what true fellowship means. You can download the book free at the end of the excerpt below. I have also included a short testimony of his life in the Unsung Heroes section.
My father had six children, and they often differed with each other and even with their parents, but it never once occurred to me to deny they were my brothers and sisters because we argued loud and long. We were brothers not because of what we had done but because we were introduced by birth into a family state or relationship. The relationship into which we are introduced by the new birth is the fellowship of the new covenant. We have been in fellowship with a lot more people than we ever realized, or even yet realize. I am in fellowship with every saved person on this earth, that is, if I am saved. When I was younger, the family of God was a little one but now that I have grown out of my own provincialism, that family has increased perceptibly. Praise His name!
Every person who has received Christ Jesus, and thus has been born of the water and of the Spirit, who has experienced the riches of the glory of God’s mystery “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,” is in the fellowship. They are partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, having been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of the Messiah. Having been called into the kingdom and glory of God, and having been sealed by the Holy Spirit they are in communion with God and with every other person on earth who has been born again. They are the beneficiaries of the grace of our Lord, of the love of God, and of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14).
When the apostle wrote to Corinth he told them they had been called into the fellowship of Jesus Christ. They were torn by partisan strife, tolerant of immorality, intolerant of the scruples of the brethren, impleading each other in heathen courts, and even so factious they could not eat the love feast together. He was fearful of coming among them lest he find quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, deceit and disorder. Yet he did not tell “the faithful” to go and start a “loyal” congregation! He did not even intimate that he would split them and take out a group when he arrived. He asked, “Do you not know that Jesus Christ is in you?–unless indeed you fail to meet the test” (2 Cor. 13:5). What was the test? Was it an attitude as to classes for Bible study, individual cups, fermented wine, unleavened bread, orphan homes, etc.? These are tests which men have concocted to shatter and split into factious groups those who are in the fellowship.
God devised no such tests. Jesus Christ can be in men, who in their weakness and ignorance, differ in opinion as to these things. Paul said “What we pray for is your improvement” (2 Cor. 13:9). Not once in all of the divine revelation of God was a congregation of believers ever advised to split or separate. Not once was a group of believers told to come out from, or separate themselves from the other believers. If so, where is the place? Paul did not advise the congregation of Corinth to divide. He did not advise the establishment of two “Churches of Christ” in Corinth–one a “heathen courts congregation” and the other an “anti-heathen courts congregation.”
Here is what he wrote: “Mend your ways, heed my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” Never in the checkered history of the saints has this exhortation been needed more than at present. Every word needs to burn and sear our hearts until “we put no obstacle in any one’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry” (2 Cor. 6:3). The Christian life is difficult enough in these days without adding an extra burden of hate and animosity kindled by the factious spirit. Let us labor for unity!
God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, has quickened us together, raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:4-6). We are together because of grace, the undeserved kindness of God. We walk with God and He walks with us and in us. Is this conditioned upon our perfect understanding of all things as God sees them? If God can walk together with me while I am learning, seeking, searching, and yearning to know more about His will, can I not walk with all others in Him who are in the same condition? Jesus walked with two disciples on the way to Emmaus, and asked them, “What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?” After hearing their stumbling explanation, he said to them, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken,” and beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures concerning himself. Will He who then walked with foolish men who were slow to believe all that was spoken, refuse to do so now? Or, will His gentle grace abide with us, through His Spirit, that our hearts too may burn within us while He talks with us on the road?
We are not in the fellowship because we understand everything alike, or because we have reached a certain stage of spiritual development. We did not come into the fellowship by making an “A” on a test on doctrinal matters, or by passing a test. The fact is that we are in all sorts of developmental stages from lisping babes to mature men. Even those who are mature have much yet to learn. The fact is that we will never pass beyond the disciple stage in this life. “The brotherhood we are told to love” (1 Peter 3:17) does not consist merely of those who agree with us upon some controversial point such as Bible classes, colleges, individual cups, the pastor system, contribution baskets, long hair, or a manner of breaking the bread. There are those who would like to limit it to those who wear ties, have their hair cropped and have no beard. But they are schismatic and factional in their outlook. They suffer from restricted vision and spiritual astigmatism. “The brotherhood” of Christ stems from the fatherhood of God. Jesus is not ashamed to call us brethren because we have the same Father as himself. He said “Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father” (John 20:17).
I really enjoy getting together for coffee and conversation with my new friend Buff Scott Jr. Last week Buff mentioned W. Carl Ketcherside and I promised to look him up. I found this written about him.
Few individuals among Churches of Christ in the 20th century were as well-known as W. Carl Ketcherside (1908-1989). He described his journey as that of a piece-maker who became a peacemaker. He was for many a champion for the recovery of a lost unity amid a divided fellowship; for others, his voice represented a dangerous departure from historic restorationism if not biblical teaching.
I found a pdf of his book In The Beginning written in 1957. I would encourage you to read this (pdf at the end). You can read an excerpt of his book here. The second half of his book is dedicated to explaining what true fellowship is. This is so incredibly important if we want to get relational fellowships right. I wanted to do more than a book review and wanted to honor his life in some small way. People like this shouldn’t be forgotten. The excerpt below is from the first chapter of his book.
In the Beginning is not just another book about creation. It does not deal with the primal order of things. Rather, it is about the beginning of a new approach to the vexing problem of sectarianism in our day. It was an approach made by one who had long been steeped in the sectarian spirit without realizing it. It represents some of the things said and done in order to discover freedom in Christ and to stand clear of all that opposed such freedom. It is not by any means the last word in such a struggle. It is possible there will be no last word on earth.
The articles appearing herein were all written about 1957. Some of them were sent forth in fear and trembling. “I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3). Some were delivered orally. There has been no intent to be slavishly wedded to them as they originally appeared. Changes have been made in their construction. They have been altered and amended to better convey the idea originally hoped to achieve. The only thing that can be said about them is that they represent an honest attempt to find and recommend a better way than the one previously known.
There is probably nothing more traumatic than for one who has been shut up as a sectarian to be delivered by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. It is as if an earthquake had occurred which leveled the prison and left one standing in the midst of the wreckage unharmed and unhurt. All that had ever furnished security and protection is now gone, swept aside by the elements. There is no retreat to be found, no shadow in which to hide. All of the subtle little hypocrisies of the past, the caviling and the accommodations are gone. There is no place to flee except to Christ.
It is very difficult to confess that one has been in error much of his life. All past training is opposed to such a confession. It stifles pride. It runs counter to the ego. There is the question of those one has taught. His fellow-prisoners resent his admission. There is the problem of the congregations he has planted. Many of them would rather continue where they are than to acknowledge they have been mistaken. They prefer to embrace the errors with which they are familiar than the truth that is new.
There is the tendency to dart furtive glances in this direction or that, seeking some solution which will allow one to hold on to his own prestige. There is the frantic search for an escape. But none of these can avail. It is only when one admits that he is wrong, and has been wrong all of his life, that he can shed the past as a snake divests himself of his old skin, and be ready to move on to new heights. In the final analysis it is the best thing to do. One does not want to be forever trapped by his own past.
I began in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. It was a venerable institution with a stately ritual. Gathered about it were all of the grand teachings of the Monk of Erfurt. Not the least of its history was the tacking of the Ninety-Five Theses on the church door at Wittenberg. I entered it by inheritance. My grandparents were from Denmark and Schlesweig-Holstein. Like thousands of others they brought their religion with them. It was one of form and not of substance. They knew but little about it and nothing of its origin.
But they bitterly resented any attempt to merge with the social order around them. They kept their manners, customs, and language. They expected all to conform to them. My grandmother even kept her old-world form of dress as far as possible. They resented all change with a deep hostility. They were old-order. When I was sprinkled by the Rev. Mr. Peterson I was really inducted into a way of life, more than into a church.
I left the Lutheran Church shortly before I was twelve. In spite of the tenderness of my years the plea that one could be a Christian and Christian only, without being some special kind of a Christian, gripped my heart and provided a certain kind of exultation. It was genuine and now almost sixty years afterwards, I remember how the Spirit strove with me. I recall the deep inward sense of gloom which was mine and the ineffable joy which came when I surrendered to His claim upon my life. I was immersed in a clear creek which wound its way through the pasture, and knew that I was forgiven for the childish sins I had committed.
It was only after I had been preaching the good news for a number of years that I awakened to the fact that I had not been a Christian only, but a partisan. I was actually a Church of Christ Christian. Although it came as quite a shock to find it out, I did not feel betrayed or frustrated. I realized it was a natural development. But I began from that moment on to recognize that the body of Christ was greater than any movement within it. The community of the reconciled was not limited to a movement which began arrogating to itself the name “Church of Christ” but embraced every saved person on the face of the earth. I was helped by a crisis experience in North Ireland in which I was brought face to face with Jesus. If I had never left the United States, or if it had never happened, I would no doubt be today exactly where I was. God forbid.
From 1951 to 1957 I went through all of the “withdrawal symptoms” essential to coming off the party spirit. I lay awake in bed at night and thought of all I had advocated that was wrong. During the day I studied the Word, and prayed, and sometimes wept. How precious it all seemed to me then. I read every copy of the MillennialHarbinger, every ChristianBaptist, and all of Lard’sQuarterlies, during that time. I finally became convinced that we had betrayed the restoration movement as it was in the beginning. In its stead we had contrived something of our own which we advocated and which pampered our hearts into thinking we were heirs of that wonderful idea of those who launched it.
I became conscious of the scriptures we had twisted to justify division which was always condemned by the Spirit. Finally I was ready to launch out. It was in 1957 that I first began to advocate what has now become much more popular than it was in those first days. What I advocated was an idea whose time had come. Gradually, as we gained courage and momentum, and as knowledge increased and multiplied, the MissionMessenger began to grow until it went to every continent on the globe.
In the Beginning will recover for you some of our feeble attempts to help men think, to let them see a brighter vision, and to lift them to a broader fellowship in Christ the Lord. As you read it, we sincerely hope that you will recognize it for what it is, the first faint vision of a fellowship which is truly non-sectarian, based upon His will for the lives of us all. It is not the last word upon the theme. Much more and better material will be written by others in the future. May God use it all to His purpose and to the glory of Jesus!
This is the second excerpt from Megashift written by James Rutz. The first excerpt and my thoughts about the book can be read here. The concept of traditional church pastors becoming surrogate husbands is a topic worth exploring.
What do you want, geldings or giants?
No issue could be clearer: It’s emasculation vs. empowerment. The ordinary sit-‘n-sing church brings one, a team church brings the other.
For many of us, the most exhilarating part of the new Christianity is our rapid growth in power, versatility, and knowledge. We’ve put in too many years in the closed-church system, which locked us into piddly roles, put a cork in our bottle, and gave us burgers and beans instead of a banquet for the soul. Now we’ve got a life without limits.
The house church meeting pattern is great, but the real goal is the house church dynamic, the wide-open tornado that sweeps us into action, propelling us into countless situations where we must use our gifts, take exciting steps of faith, and grow like a radish. Perhaps we’ll even see more miracles soon. As someone has said, “If you want to see what you’ve never seen, then do what you’ve never done.” In an open church, you fall kersplat on your face now and then, but you learn to stand up, wipe off the mud, and keep going. The kersplats are part of the lifestyle. The fast-track discipleship of the new churches is not for invertebrates.
The Holy Spirit has millions of growth tracks to choose from, and your own path of growth will depend to a large extent on what gifts He has given you. Team Christianity opens up avenues of ministry for you that will utilize the full range of your current gifts plus an extended range of higher gifts that you don’t have yet. But take it from me, you’ll love the feel of the wind under your wings.
We have few spectators in open fellowships. “Every-member ministry” sucks in everybody sooner than later. Call it your pilgrim-age, quest, journey of faith, or adventure of adrenaline; the core reality is that you’ll spend the rest of your life in uncharted waters!
The emasculation problem springs from the Christian caste system, which feeds on itself: The greater the pastor, the more that people sit back and say, Wow! I could never preach like that. As lazy laymen dump more responsibility on the pastor, he accumulates a larger share of the church’s spiritual experience, and before long, he is indeed far above his flock.
Tragically, he may even begin to think this is God’s ideal, that he is supposed to hover in the heavenlies and bring down to his benighted followers a weekly blessing of wisdom and inspiration. ChristianityToday, which does run a lot of helpful articles, is a leader in this sorry trend. In 1997 they featured a cover article in which the pastor-author tried to woo readers back into pre-Reformation darkness. Excerpts:
…in worship, the pastor must become priest…The pastor assumes the role of mediator, incarnating God to the people…
Through our craft, we will facilitate worship…As pastor-priest, we bring to the congregation the glory of our encounter with God. Having spent long, enduring time in the Lord’s presence, we speak to our congregations out of those encounters…And as we worship, liturgists and leaders become a priesthood, mediating God, showing the depth of their own experiences, radiating God’s glory, pointing weary souls heavenward…
I remember when one of our daughters was baptized. She stood near the baptismal font as our pastor bent over, asking her questions of faith…Later she said, “I remember Pastor coming near, and I was covered and lost in his long, black robes, and he baptized me.”
Mediator? Incarnating God? Lost in his robes? In such veneration, Christianity Today has spun out and left the track. As Paul wrote in I Timothy 2:5, “There is but one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” And Peter added that all of us are “a royal priesthood.” (I Peter 2:9)
Am I quibbling here? Perhaps a bit. But why don’t more American men attend traditional services along with their wives? Is it maybe because they’ve figured out that the pastor has taken on the role of surrogate husband of every woman in the congregation? Is it because they instinctively recoil from a game where they’re shut out and have to play a passive part? You betcha. When there’s no room left for strong men, they opt out.
Open churches offer a reason to opt back in: unlimited empowerment,which produces men of iron and women of fire.
The first half of the book Megashift by James Rutz highlights miracles and supernatural happenings around the world. It’s exciting reading and the author encourages us to get ready for more. The second half highlights the importance of relational gatherings and gives advice on how to start and sustain them. Written in 2005, James’ predictions for Western society was unfortunately overly optimistic, but let’s continue to be true to this vision. I would recommend this book because it contains some great insight into relational gatherings. An excerpt from the book is below.
The Holy Spirit is rapidly revising Christianity.
He is putting at the core of His new church small groups that are interactive, informal, exciting, and geared to rapid multiplication.
This is the beginning of the end for Spectator Christianity. Suddenly, it’s out of style to be a pew potato, doing little for the kingdom except sitting in a row on Sundays, looking at the back of someone’s head, and wondering if your team will win the afternoon game on TV.
For centuries, the main way to express your Christian identity has been by “going to church.” There, a lone, overworked pastor exhorted you to be holy, love your neighbor, be salt and light, and do great stuff for God.
But before you got a chance to actually do any of that, you got a benediction and a hearty handshake at the door…after which you were supposed to go home and improvise your own lifestyle of state-of-the-art sainthood. And a week later, there you were in the pew again, looking at the back of someone’s head.
Both laymen and pastors are starting to figure out what was wrong in that routine: It was like having the hockey team listen to the coach’s pep talk for an hour, and calling that “the game.”
So now we’re changing the whole shebang. Around the world, we’re rapidly drafting Christians into ministry teams-and the players are loving it. The bleachers are beginning to empty as 707 million action-oriented Christians start to pour out onto the playing field and discover the joy and challenge of every-member ministry.
The church’s “fighting force” is thus being multiplied-up to 100 times-as God redeploys large, passive audiences into small, power-filled teams where every person has an important function-plus a chance to widen his or her ministry by reaching out to help more and more people while pursuing the higher gifts.
Instead of one pastor doing the heavy lifting while 100 laymen watch (and often criticize), you may now have 100 “team Christians” sharing the work of ministry while various people with pastoral gifts coach and equip from the sidelines. This megashift to EMPOWERMENT is at the core of the new Christianity.
Being part of a small group takes effort. It requires thinking, whether you’re in a house church or cell church meeting-or some other group with a name like microchurch, heart church, Alpha group, metachurch mouse cell, organic church, Serendipity team, simple church, life transformation group, community of care, jacuzzi fellowship, or just a plain old open church meeting in a pub.
But it’s worth the work. Whereas traditional churches tend to produce spiritual babies, small groups tend to produce maturity. (BABIES is my acronym for Born Again But Is Enjoying Siesta.)
Nobody snoozes in small groups. The body life of the group will buff up your character, soothe your sorrows, sprout your gifts, heal your wounds, lift your spirit, teach your mind, disciple your soul, and bring you face to face with God again and again. You should understand that if you’re serious, an open fellowship looms large in your future. Two generations ago, eminent Christian spokesman A.W. Tozer thundered,
The fact is that we are not producing saints. We are making converts to an effete type of Christianity that bears little resemblance to that of the New Testament. The average so-called Bible Christian in our times is but a wretched parody of true sainthood. Yet we put millions of dollars behind movements to perpetuate this degenerate form of religion and attack the man who dares to challenge the wisdom of it.
Below is an article from Reformation Rumblings by Buff Scott, Jr. entitled “Taking Another Look at The First Century Assemblies”. If you’re interested in receiving his weekly emails please contact me. Buff writes on a variety of subjects. To find out more about Buff click here. Thank you.
An interesting concept is that the early Christian assemblies were similar to what is known today in the psychiatric field as “Group Therapy.” I participated, and assisted in, organizing and leading Group Therapy sessions when I was employed in the psychiatric arena for 34 years. Group Therapy in the psychiatric realm consists of numerous patients under psychiatric care, plus one or two leaders. The seating arrangement is among the most crucial expressions of each meeting.
Each group was seated either in a circle or semi-circle. Everyone was able to see each other’s face, as opposed to gawking at the back-of heads. Unless a previously agreed-upon topic was announced, the leaders invited anyone with a problem, or simply someone who had a matter to share, to verbalize.
No one person dominated the meetings by doing all or most of the talking. As participation makes for “therapy” and growth, most everyone in attendance was encouraged because his/her self-esteem was boosted. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings function on the same principle-mutual engagement.
I envision the early believers practicing “group therapy” as their chief source of encouragement and support. It is assuring that not one scripture can be found that remotely indicates their meetings were dominated by one man, not even in Acts 20:7, where Paul was the visiting apostle and did a lot of talking in the form of reporting. Their meetings were formulated and led by shepherds called “Elders”-mature and older men.
Actually, the meeting at Troas was a verbal exchange, with Paul being the principal participant. The English Standard Version captures the Greek best by saying that “Paul talked with them.” Our oldest Greek manuscripts do not carry “preached” in Acts 20:7. This was another of King James’ blunders.
Regular meetings called for the benefit of all believers consisted of general participation, but there were occasions when a gifted orator or visiting apostle or evangelist was invited to address the assembly on some special topic, issue, or problem. Paul’s visit to Troas was one of those occasions.
Consider seriously the idea of all congregations dismissing the paid functionary and substituting group therapy or house meetings in his stead. Reflect on one important result: A staggering sum of money would be available to alleviate the needs of the destitute and promote authentic evangelism, the two commanding ministries of the early believers.
Buff Scott, Jr.
“Mutual ministry” is an attractive term to describe this type of setting. If group therapy-“mutual ministry”-were practiced in our assemblies, not only would a staggering amount of money be available to meet the needs of the genuinely poverty-stricken and promote evangelism, but the average believer’s faith would be strengthened through mutual or group participation.
Believers would no longer need to be bottle-fed and pampered by an elite servant, the professional cleric or pulpit minister. Self-confidence would increase and he would be prompted to spur others on toward love and good deeds. Heaven’s testimony confirms this idea. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” [Heb. 10:24]. Motivated and insightful leaders would truly shepherd. They would no longer need paid professionals to do their shepherding for them.
I challenge you to take a firm look at the model I am describing by turning to 1 Corinthians, chapter 14, verses 26-33. Mutual ministry was the order of each assembly. Yes, I know, as the old argument goes, “As time changes, so do cultures, including the assemblies or meetings of believers.”
But the core or central principle of growth for each believer or participant never changes, regardless of culture-not even in the domestic and secular fields! This principle or precept was designed by someone who knew-the God of wisdom. May He give us a portion of His wisdom as we promote heaven’s design.
Again, please contact me if you would like to be placed on Buff’s mailing list. You can contact me at jirovetto@yahoo.com. The below link is to subscribe to my blogs. Blessings
This is the second excerpt from David W. Bercot’s book Will The Real Heretics Please Stand Up. The first excerpt was about love (click here to read) and this excerpt is about serving two masters. Bercot references early writings of the saints and pagans and if you’re not convicted reading this, you don’t have a heartbeat.
“No one can serve two masters,” declared Jesus to his disciples (Matt. 6:24). However, Christians have spent the greater portion of the past two millenniums apparently trying to prove Jesus wrong. We have told ourselves that we can indeed have both the things of God and the things of this world. Many of us live our lives no differently than do conservative non-Christians, except for the fact that we attend church regularly each week. We watch the same entertainment. We share the same concerns about the problems of this world. And we are frequently just as involved in the world’s commercial and materialistic pursuits. Often, our being “not of this world” exists in theory more than in practice.
But the church was not originally like that. The first Christians lived under a completely different set of principles and values than the rest of mankind. They rejected the world’s entertainment, honors, and riches. They were already citizens of another kingdom, and they listened to the voice of a different Master. This was as true of the second century church as it was of the first.
The work of an unknown author, written in about 130, describes Christians to the Romans as follows: “They dwell in their own countries simply as sojourners…. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time, they surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men but are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned. They are put to death, but [will be] restored to life. They are poor, yet they make many rich. They possess few things; yet, they abound in all. They are dishonored, but in their very dishonor are glorified…. And those who hate them are unable to give any reason for their hatred.”
Because the earth wasn’t their home, the early Christians could say without reservation, like Paul, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). Justin Martyr explained to the Romans, “Since our thoughts are not fixed on the present, we are not concerned when men put us to death. Death is a debt we must all pay anyway.”
A second-century elder exhorted his congregation, “Brothers, let us willingly leave our sojourn in this present world so we can do the will of Him who called us. And let us not fear to depart out of this world,…deeming the things of this world as not belonging to us, and not fixing our desires upon them…The Lord declares, ‘No servant can serve two masters.’ If we desire, then, to serve both God and Money, it will be unprofitable for us. ‘For what will it profit if a man gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?’ This world and the next are two enemies…We cannot therefore be the friends of both.”
Cyprian, the respected overseer of the church in Carthage, stressed a similar theme in a letter he wrote to a Christian friend: “The one peaceful and trustworthy tranquility, the one security that is solid, firm, and never changing, is this: for a man to withdraw from the distractions of this world, anchor himself to the firm ground of salvation, and lift his eyes from earth to heaven…He who is actually greater than the world can crave nothing, can desire nothing, from this world. How stable, how unshakable is that safeguard, how heavenly is the protection in its never-ending blessings-to be free from the snares of this entangling world, to be purged from the dregs of earth, and fitted for the light of eternal immortality.”
The same themes run throughout all the writings of the early Christians, from Europe to North Africa: we can’t have both Christ and the world.
Lest we think that the early Christians were describing a lifestyle they didn’t really practice, we have the testimony of the Romans themselves. One pagan antagonist of the Christians remarked:
They despise the temples as houses of the dead. They reject the gods. They laugh at sacred things. Wretched, they pity our priests. Half-naked themselves, they despise honors and purple robes. What incredible audacity and foolishness! They are not afraid of present torments, but they fear those that are uncertain and future. While they do not fear to die for the present, they fear to die after death…
At least learn from your present situation, you wretched people, what actually awaits you after death. See, many of you-in fact, by your own admission, the majority of you-are in want, are cold, are hungry, and are laboring in hard work. Yet, your god allows it. He is either unwilling or unable to assist his people. So he is either weak or unjust…Take notice! For you there are threats, punishments, tortures, and crosses…Where is the god who is supposed to help you when you come back from the dead? He cannot even help you in this life! Do not the Romans, without any help from your god, govern, rule over, and have the enjoyment of the whole world, including dominion over you yourselves?
In the meantime, living in suspense and anxiety, you abstain from respectable pleasures. You do not attend sporting events. You have no interest in public amusements.You reject the public banquets, and abhor the sacred games…Thus, wretched as you are, you will neither rise from the dead, nor enjoy life in the meanwhile. So, if you have any wisdom or sense, stop prying into the heavens and the destinies and secrets of the world…Persons who are unable to understand civil matters are certainly unable to discuss divine ones.
David W. Bercot
When I first read the criticisms that the Romans leveled against the Christians, I painfully realized that no one would accuse Christians today of those same charges. We aren’t criticized for being totally absorbed in the interests of a heavenly kingdom, ignoring the things the world has to offer. In fact, Christians today are accused of just the opposite-of being money hungry and hypocritical in our devotion to God.