Our house church is no longer a free-standing operation, in theory. We need pastoral coverage; it’s a spiritual principle. If the Lord calls us to remain as we are for several years coming, we would go forward without complaint. Time is not the factor, but the nature of the thing is what stands before us. We are keeping our eyes open for opportunities.
I truly hate church-shopping. Long ago I came to understand the justification of numerous denominations, and it bothers me little. Pure visions of a unified organization under Christ is a Western myth, not a biblical standard. It is easy for fellow believers to unite in spiritual worship, no doubt. It’s when we sit down to teach things go ragged. You will surely have experienced Christ in a different way than I. Those experiences color our understanding of God, and at some point the differences cannot be ignored. That’s why we have labels; it prevents us wasting time in a church where we cannot avoid feeling alienated. When humans organize, regardless of the divine purpose, we must of necessity divide from each other. I’m stuck with the task of seeking a level of compromise which doesn’t leave me feeling dirty. That’s a tall order, in our case.
For example, any church with an American flag inside the auditorium is unacceptable. Whether you like it or not, that flag is not “the people of the United States,” but a martial symbol. It’s a battle flag, which should not be displayed outside military formations. Nothing can symbolize the people, so any such talk is missing the point. Churches which host that battle flag are compromising with a pagan god. Jehovah has already made clear He won’t send His protective and supportive hand among troops who sin flagrantly against Him, and torture is a flagrant violation of Noah’s Covenant. It’s a doorway for demonic presence. That sin taints anything organized under the battle flag. That’s the logic of Scripture, so if you have a US battle flag in your auditorium, don’t pretend I’m invited to join you there.
As you might expect, that closes a lot of doors for us. Indeed, it’s most of the church doors, as it were, in the entire US. And there are many other considerations on top of that. Our insistence regarding the necessity of embracing the ANE (Ancient Near Eastern) intellectual culture is another huge barrier. We are more flexible on this, as long as any church hoping to gain our trust must at least accepts our adherence to it, regardless of what brand of Western rationalism they own. Still, you have to know it will cause some friction. We would find constant reminders in taking positions somewhat aside from strict orthodoxy in just about every theological tradition I’ve examined so far in American Church History. Also, those differences result in many pragmatic differences, arising from applications of that theology. But in this case, it’s more a matter of them tolerating us.
For example, a very significant difference is our lack of sympathy for modern Israel, which is coupled with our rejection of Dispensationalism. Never mind we realize intellectually every generation of Western Christians seems to think theirs is the last, and that such is the result of unconscious arrogance. We find zero support in Scripture for the notion. Israel of the Old Testament died on the Cross; the Veil was torn in two. Their purpose was fulfilled in Christ, so the Covenant of Moses is now closed. The New Testament meaning of “Israel” now is the True Israel of Christ, a nation whose identity is in Heaven, not in any earthly meaning — not in DNA, nor culture, nor religious organization. Judaism is a dead religion; being Hebrew people means nothing in God’s eyes, any more than being Arab, Persian, European, Asian, etc. You are either in Christ or going to Hell. Israel needs Jesus, not billions of dollars and shiploads of munitions — if they had more of the former, they wouldn’t need any of the latter.
To some degree, we might be comfortable with operating as a peculiar satellite off some churches. That raises a whole new bunch of questions, but I note the possibility simply on pragmatic grounds. I have no trouble believing a true pastoral soul can find room to care for peculiar adjuncts. It really depends on the conscience of the man and those to whom he is accountable. Any number of unique and creative arrangements are acceptable.
What remains is the question of finding a place, whatever we mean by “place,” where the association is not painful. The last church my wife and I attended worshiped too much the god of war and politics. The difference was painful. The pastor’s friendship and favorable disposition for us could not bridge the difference. The church before that was simply a political organization in disguise, pretending to be a church. We now realize we have cast adrift forever from the Baptist traditions, and have no great sorrow from the loss. So far, none of the other denominational groups we experienced are likely to be any more welcoming of us, since they all have this assumption theirs will be the only folks in Heaven. Yes, that’s hyperbole, but it gets at the truth of the matter. We have found no home for our souls in the Vale of Sorrow.
Still, I’m keeping my eyes and ears open for a reasonable offer.
Having had to live through my own Church shopping pretty recently, I understand your sentiments. I have had my faith questioned, I’ve been told I was going to hell, etc just because I chose to follow the Bible and not denominational traditions that didn’t align with scripture. (Sure, I’ve had my fair share of being wrong myself, but not always.) But I just want to encourage you and tell you that people who actually serve God first, and way far above “patriotism.” Thanks to some great friends, I’ve found two sort of near where I live (close enough that it’s worth the drive, at least). There are churches out there that encourage health discussion, search for the truth, and actually admit when they are wrong. Sure, it took me a really long time to find them, but I’m so happy to know that they are there and actually exist!
We’ve just gone through a change in pastors. We were drawn to this congregation because of some of their beliefs and philosophies. (They didn’t push Christmas celebrations on everyone, and indeed several families, including us, did not observe it due to it’s pagan origins. Also, they didn’t succumb to another pet-peeve of ours, encouraging the congregation to worship, and then cutting things off after three songs. Worship was allowed to happen, and when it was done, then preaching started. This was an anomaly within this strain of church in our area.)
However, it was discovered recently that the pastor was addicted to some street drug and was AWOL and unrepentant. The state level members of the organization were asked by the remaining three corporate officers to address the congregation and help find a new pastor. Several try-out Sundays later (and about 5 months) we have a new pastor. He is a seasoned pastor trying to bring some organization and unity to a church that is used to things being more laid back and rural. Times are interesting.
Personally, I grew up in a house-church and “pastoral authority” is a concept I never grasped very well. My spiritual leaders were my Grandfather and when he passed away, my Dad. There wasn’t a lot of differentiation between “dad” and “pastor”. Or maybe better put, what use did I have for a pastor? Dad was the authority in my life.
So, I’m trying to work through in my own mind what the role of a pastor should be in my life, and what is an overstepping of the pastor’s scriptural authority. I’ve seen many times in churches I’ve attended where father’s tell their daughters that if they want to date a certain guy, they need to get the pastor’s approval (in my mind, totally abdicating their own responsibility to vet any such suitors, etc.). It’s very much like outside the church where people look to the state to make up the people’s minds for them.
I say all that to say that my wife and I are not jumping ship casually of frivolously. We do believe the Lord directed us to this congregation and He would have to direct us back out before we left (and He hasn’t yet)… but it is on our minds and as you have mentioned, church-shopping is burdensome. Home fellowship is an option in my mind more so than my wife’s although she’s somewhat open to it, at least in a complementary role to some other association, if not solely. The whole necessity of having a Pastor (capital P) is something I’ve wondered about and can’t fully accept the Church’s word for, since pastors are mentioned in the five-fold ministry along with four other roles, and no pastor I know is talking up those guys any where near as much as they talk up themselves.
I probably don’t fully comprehend the burden and responsibility of leading a house church. Growing up we mostly listened to messages on cassette/CD or watched DVD’s or preaching/teaching that my parents or grandparents had previewed. At this stage of my life I feel like I should be doing a lot more studying than I am, even not leading a house church. I let too much “life” get in the way.
I read your post on corporate church with much interest and this post as well and will continue to watch for articles that address this overall topic. Thanks for posting.
I admit to keeping away from static definitions of what pastors and other church offices should look like. Spiritual leadership is as much an effect as a role or function. While I emphasize the role of elder in my home congregation, the effects of my service are quite pastoral. Should it ever become much larger, though, we would need someone more dedicated to the spiritual shepherding while I give more attention to the organizational matters. That is my current intention, which is always subject to God’s move to refine things.
That said, you might guess we have found no local organization ready to take us as we are. I’m currently not feeling much concern about pastoral coverage, but for reasons I’m not exactly sure I can verbalize. I suppose there is simply too much, as yet unseen, coming down the chute at us and I am not in a position to predict what I’ll be doing soon.