Role of the Apostle (Part One)

In this issue, I want you to help me. In issues past, I have been regaling you, in a quite opinionated, cocky matter, with certain truths concerning the NT church, and its pale counterfeit, the American system church. This issue, I am going to express doubt, confusion, uncertainty (except, of course, when I reject an application for last issue's million-dollar reward!) The issue that has me stumped is what is the Scriptural and best way to get house churches started? What is the role of apostles a/k/a/ church planters?

I risk misstating Gene Edwards' position, but is seems to me he is saying that church-planters come along only every two or three millenia, and when they do, they ask their disciples to quit their jobs, move from their homes, buy new houses together in the same neighborhood in a big city, but never in the same neighborhood. This seems to me to be a counsel of perfection.

"What is the Scriptural and best way to get house churches started? What is the role of apostles a/k/a church-planters?"

I also risk misstating Steve Atkerson's position, but it seems to me that his position is this: he welcomes the work of an apostle when there is an apostle, but many healthy churches get started without one, and this is perfectly OK. The problem I have with this is Scripturally, it seems to me the general pattern was that apostles went out and founded churches, setting them in order, etc. I am not aware of any churches that were definitely founded without an apostle, although I suppose that there are some for which that claim could be made. However, for every church whose method of founding is not mentioned, it is just as easy to posit an unnamed apostle starting it, as it is to assume that the church started without one. In any event, the apostle is quite evident in the establishment of the young churches. So: does the aspirant to NT home-church Christianity proceed without one?

WARNING!! The Surgeon General has determined that the contents herein are subversive, radical, shocking and weird; but because he is a Federal bureaucrat unacquainted with the Bible, he cannot prove them false.

Closely related to the question of the establishment of house churches is the question of authority. I was struck by a comment at a recent house church conference by a participant who had just come back from a close-up observance of house churches behind the former Iron Curtain. His experience was that leaders naturally arose, and nobody gave it much thought; but in contrast, Americans were absolutely obsessed with issues of leadership, authority, apostles and elders. Most people in the house church movement run from all of the above, unlike their overseas brethren. It is probably a reaction to our experiences in the hyper-authoritarian, fouled-up American church that causes us to act this way. Listen to Artie Hall...

By Artie Hall... In the late Sixties and early Seventies a lot of people got saved. You might even say there was a real revival. A lot of these newly saved folks met in informal gatherings across the country. Some were Charismatic in nature. Some were a little more Evangelical, and some were a blend of the two. They were all characterized by a whole lot of freedom and spontaneity and downright fun.

This lasted for awhile. Things changed. Many felt the need to become more organized. Many wanted recognition by more established Christian groups. Some groups grew older, married, had kids and wanted Sunday school. Some sought the security of organized denominations. When they did, they were often told outright that what they were doing was wrong.

"O Offended one! ...at some time in your life you are going to meet some really nasty, bad, abusive, disgusting authority."

Usually, some kind of leadership emerged. At first, most of these leaders were harmless enough, but often that didn't last. One of the major weaknesses of this last wave was a tremendous lack of preaching of the Cross. There was a tremendous lack of living of the Cross as well. Consequently, many of these new leaders became increasingly self-serving and ambitious (the previous generation of leadership hadn't exactly been St. Francis of Assisi, either).

Most of these little spontaneous began to be reorganized or to dissolve altogether. The members were scattered to the four winds. Some became part of a local existing denominational group. Some became members of parachurch organizations. Some turned these little groups into tax exempt religious organizations hat were called New Testament churches or some such title--creating in the long run a non-denominational denomination.

Within this latter group, you'll probably find the saddest story. With no real accountability (not that that really makes a difference for self-serving, evil men), these groups became a really wicked field of Christian battle. This battle was not against the powers of darkness but against each other. Splits, arguments, excommunications, personality conflicts, deep-down gut hatred, sexual immorality and worse, all sometimes were going on in the middle of what looked like a great body of believers.

Much of this was hidden for awhile, and in the midst of this there were some really genuine and godly people who got caught up in this meat grinder. They became the casualties of the revival of the Sixties and Seventies. To these folks, many of whom are no longer in fellowship with any believers, I address the rest of this stuff.

Why did all this happen? The only answer I have is one I gave to a friend of mine who asked me why this bad stuff always seemed to happen when a great move of God was taking place. My answer was a slogan I saw on a beer mug. (Not while drinking beer mind you, I grew up Baptist!) It said, "People are no damned good." Shocking answer, I suppose, but what do you expect from fallen human nature? Most of us don't really believe how terribly busted our human nature is and how horribly fallen we are.

The people who became casualties of all this and emerged share some common characteristics. They are very cynical and critical. They are bitter and mad with the world, God and everybody else. They also will probably never again trust a Christian worker. Ever. [And this, my friends, is the real reason we American house-churchers have so much trouble with getting apostles and elders. The stumbling-block is not only doctrinal. It's personal. We need to GET OVER IT!! -- DLT] They are also not too much fun to be around, rehashing the old days and the like.

I can understand this, because I had this basic experience. I was part of one of these little groups which became a tax-exempt religious organization. In fact, the thing became a little denomination. Boy, we had everything: money problems, morality problems, dictatorship, mind control, manipulation, intimidation, you name it. Am I a casualty? Most folks I know don't seem to think so. (But then, crazy people never think they're crazy, either.) Let's assume, then, that I made it. How did I survive? What did I learn?

I survived by the eternal mercy and grace of God. There is no other way. Jesus kept me out of trouble. I did, however, make some choices along the way that seem to have helped out. When I was 19 years old, I decided that God was right. I belonged to Him. Whatever He did in my life was right. Sounds simplistic, huh? Simple, yes, but this is a fundamental truth that you must come to grips with.

What else? The Bible says that all authority is from God (see Romans 13:1). All authority is from God, but not all authority is godly. Why? Fallen, imperfect men exercise authority. It's a little like giving a three-year-old a hand grenade. What a mess!

I offer to you, O offended one, that not only is all authority from God, but GOD has ordained before the foundation of the world that at some time in your life you are going to meet some really nasty, bad, abusive, disgusting authority. I'd bet the family farm on that. You have one basic problem that can only be improved by suffering: your human nature. Your human nature is busted. The thing is broken. You can't fix it. It has to die. One of the ways GOD has chosen to kill it is by placing you in situations with lousy authority. This doesn't always happen in the Church. In your case, maybe it did.

In my own experience, I could tell you stories that would curl your hair. I counted up once all the church messes I have been in, most of them really major messes, in the 13 years I was part of that non-denominational denomination. It was somewhere near a dozen, four of them in the local church I was in. So what, you say? This is what. Most people don't survive one and never make it through two. I saw four, plus lots of others around the country in the church we planted. So, do I deserve a medal? Probably not. I was not a saint through the whole ordeal. I did not always say or do the right thing. In fact, sometimes I fouled things up worse. But through it all, there is one thing I knew for sure. God was right. What He was doing in my life was right.

I know. Your situation was different. It was your own special Hell. No one could ever understand how bad it was. You had no one. He was a monster. You were abused. You were taken advantage of. You were used. Hooey! No matter how bad it was, I guarantee that somebody, somewhere can top your horror story, and mine too. I have heard some.

That doesn't mean that your pain and anguish was any less real. Nor does that mean that I have no sympathy for you or compassion for where you are.

First of all, you have to accept the fact that God is right. What He does in your life is right and it is good for your own good. I know that sounds crazy. I know the fear that rises in my own heart when I realize what things I may still face in my own life that will greatly attack that conviction. All I can say are the words of the Lord to Paul, "My grace is sufficient." I have to believe that it is, or I wouldn't get out of bed every day. What else?

This is probably going to be harder. You have to trust people again. At least you have to trust the Lord again. For every Adolf Hitler--Joseph Stalin--Torquemada Christian worker, there is one who has the character and temperament of the Lord, who only wants to help. I know they're out there because I've met them and even served with them. It's true that "People are no damned good." But it's truer that God in people is always good. God is a good God. He has blessed your life. In the midst of all your nastiness, He has brought you good. Even your Joseph Stalin--Torquemada--Frankenstein had his good points.

I say all this because sometimes you can find in house church people a reluctance to lead as they should. And a reluctance to be led. Just mention the words elder, authority, apostle, submission and they're out the back door. If there is not one, they'll make one. Those words are in the Bible. The early Church did have these things. House churches can have these things, too. Maybe by the grace of God, we can do something right for a change. God have mercy on us all, but O Offended One, don't you really want to give it one more try?

Can I guarantee that all your troubles won't happen again? Can I give you a pledge that all house church people bear the cross and walk like Jesus? Are you kidding? There are some real nuts out there. I don't know what else God has planned for you. I do know that you can't let this thing continue to paralyze your spiritual growth. The people around you don't want you to continue to let this thing paralyze your spiritual growth. In fact, they are kind of sick of it. For the love of God, get on with your life. Decide that He is right. Give Him your life again. Ask Him to heal your hurt. He is the only thing that's really important anyway.

You maybe made a mistake offering a One Million Dollar Reward for "Scriptural evidence of committed believers who were: sourpusses, pessimistic, cynical, or a pain-in-the-rear." Several prominent believers seems to fulfill these criteria. So maybe you owe me some money.

First, sourpusses. Job personifies complainers... [He] begins Chapter 6--"If my troubles and griefs were weighed on the scales...God has lined up his terrors against me."

Next, pessimists. How about [the writer of] Ecclesiastes, a chronic pessimist. Why, in Chapter One, he gripes, "It is useless, useless... Life is useless, all useless." Clearly, he does not follow a doctrine of positive thinking. One more verse, 7:3 -- "Sorrow is better than laughter, it may sadden your face, but it sharpens your understanding." Meditate on that.

As for cynics--those who have a sneering disbelief in sincerity and integrity--Eve is nominated. "She replied (to God), 'The snaked tricked me into eating it (apple).'