It is very easy to bring the errors and excesses of the Church into your body of Christ fellowship group. If you and others in your group were once members of a local church, much of their practices were so familiar to you they became natural. And of course, they were seldom if ever questioned. It is often the case that when a group of Church people are uneasy and dissatisfied with Church life and decide to go out on their own, they often bring much of the baggage of the church they left behind into their new group. For instance, they might still meet regularly on Sunday morning, they may continue to follow an order of worship in an attempt to have church-like services or they may begin by establishing a doctrine of beliefs or electing a leader or leaders. All such activity may seem to be normal, natural or even necessary, and is therefore likely not questioned by the members of the group.
I can attest to the above from my and my wife’s first experience to serve and worship the Lord outside of the institutional Church. Our discontent with the doctrines of the church we were attending developed over a period of time as we compared the activities and beliefs of the church with what we read in the Bible. To our amazement, there was a marked difference. At first, we didn’t understand what we were experiencing, and we questioned why the church was not acting in a manner prescribed in the Bible. Did they not know what the Bible taught, we wondered? Or were they in open rebellion? Needless to say, this was all very perplexing. When we talked with other church members about our disturbing dilemma, we often received blank stares in return. There was one couple, however, who was seeing just what we were. After several discussions with this couple, we decided that we would quit attending the church and start meeting in our homes. Of course, we met on Sunday mornings. Both the husband and wife played the guitar so we had music. When we met, we began with music. Our singing was followed with sharing how the Lord had led us that week and then we studied from the Word. We usually ended with a meal. All in all, it was pretty much like a church service except for the number of people involved and the locations of the meetings. And just as it often is with churches, a disagreement rose up between us after a short time and we quit meeting together. Our idea was good and our motives were pure, but we unknowingly followed a pattern that was doomed to failure from the beginning. We had easily and mistakenly brought the man-made traditions of the Church into our tiny home fellowship. Our sincere attempt at being the body of Christ had not been successful.
Our small fellowship of four was suddenly reduced by fifty percent. My wife and I didn’t go to church, and we were both involved with a major television ministry. Religious practices abounded in our world. We felt like we were living in a huge city without knowing a single soul we could relate to or have fellowship with. We were completely alone. Or so we thought. We were desperate for fellowship with like-Spirited believers. One day as my wife was meditating on the Lord, she fervently cried out, “Lord, where are the people who believe as we do?” The Lord’s response came quickly, “Doris, I have pockets of people all over the world.” When I came home from work that evening, she related her experience to me, and I said, “Isn’t that interesting, something that is in a pocket is hidden from our sight.” This revelation of hidden pockets of believers has been a source of strength for us ever since. When we yearn for fellowship we are comforted in the knowledge that we are not alone, accepting that for some reason the Lord has chosen to keep His pockets of His people separated.
Following a Church pattern in a fellowship is nothing more than merely starting a church in a different setting. A fellowship that belongs to the body of Christ is nothing like the Church. When a fellowship of the body of Christ meets, it isn’t for the purpose of conducting a service. Rather than resembling a church service, meetings of the body of Christ can more aptly be identified as a family gathering. For example, when families get together, they meet in a home not a lecture hall. Chairs are not lined up in rows in front of a speaker’s podium where the head of the family tells all of the family members what they are supposed to think. And if a family member wishes to inform the family of their fear of a possible financial crash, he or she does not stand up and say, “Thus says the guru of economics, remove your money from the stock market and withdraw your money from the bank ahead of the impending financial collapse, thus says the economic guru.” Instead, he or she might wait until everyone is gathered around the dinner table and say something like, “I’ve been reading a lot about the state of the economy lately, and things aren’t looking so good. One well-known economist is predicting a financial collapse and recommends selling stocks and withdrawing money from the bank before the collapse takes place.” This would likely spark a conversation as others add more information and differing viewpoints. As a result, all of the family members would become better informed.
A gathering of body-of-Christ believers might take on the familiar tone of a family gathering. Like a family, they would gather in a comfortable, familiar setting, probably one of the brother or sister’s home. After a short period of greetings and pleasantries, the conversations quickly turn to Jesus Christ and His involvement in their lives. Some testimonies may be for the entire body, so everyone would be gathered together to hear what the brother or sister has to share. Things such as these will probably take place before, during and after a meal, the purpose of which is to remember the member’s shared covenant with the Lord, Jesus Christ which is possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This meal (an agapē meal or love feast) is therefore a solemn event, but it is not depressing. It is a time of great joy and thanksgiving over the expectation of seeing the Lord’s hand at work in the lives of every member of the family of God.
When a group of people meet as a church, and function according to the Rules, Regulations, Rituals and Traditions (what I call the three R’s and a T of organized religion) they have established, they are actually assembled in a worldly way. Gatherings of assemblies of the body of Christ are led by the Holy Spirit and will never be recognized or understood by the world or the Church. Body of Christ interactions are guided by the invisible hand of the Holy Spirit, and Church groups are, therefore, not able or willing to understand the behavior or the source of the activity of the body of Christ.
The bond that unifies groups that are part of God’s family (the body of Christ) is the abiding presence of the person of Jesus Christ and His indwelling Spirit. They create among believers a covenant bond that is so powerful that the strongest forces of evil cannot prevail against it. A fellowship of believers that is related in this way is guided only by their love for Jesus and each other. There is no more powerful force in all of the universe.
Any system that attempts to artificially arrange or order the activities of a fellowship that is in the body of Christ is a negation of the very bond that is their identifying characteristic. Recall that Jesus taught that groups that are bound by the love of Christ would be known by the love of the members for each other.
When members of a fellowship meet they are expressing and celebrating the love they share for each other which is made possible through Jesus Christ. It is this love that drives each person to share with the rest of the assembly the inner revelations of the Spirit which were so comforting, so encouraging and so personal. Paul taught that it was only natural to share with others the comfort with which we are comforted.
One of the identifying attributes of a body-of-Christ gathering is this: Every member participates in the edifying of the fellowship. This is the way a group in the body of Christ matures into the fullness of Christ.
If this is true for a single fellowship of the body of Christ, I believe it is also true for groups of fellowships. However, sharing the Holy Spirit’s revelations between fellowships can often be problematic. Some fellowships may feel isolated and alone, sometimes wondering if their group is the only one. Others, while battling a growing sense that their fellowship is floundering, fall into despair, losing hope but not finding any encouragement. However, if there were a point of contact where fellowships from around the world could share what the Holy Spirit is revealing to them, a large collection of believers and fellowships would be edified. And body of Christ fellowships would discover that they truly are not alone.
It is my hope that Whole Grain Bread would be the beginning of such a contact point. A rallying point. A place where individuals and fellowships of believers who are separated by miles can build each other up by sharing their experiences with the Lord. Your comments to the articles posted on Whole Grain Bread, as well as other comments, can be a powerful source of encouragement for other members of the body of Christ as they discover they truly are not alone.
