TO PRINT Back to the Ways of Jesus

Perhaps you have read a recent Kingsway Publication called "We must stop meeting like this…".

About me As a christian in my sixties, who has been a member of various churches for 35 years, I feel my service for Christ has become ineffective and unworthy of so great a Saviour. After a dramatic conversion, I have followed the leadership line for most of these years, but the results have been disappointing. For a year or so now I have stopped meeting, and am comparing the life of Jesus with the life I have been living. I can find nothing wrong with the church I attended. The gospel is preached, the Spirit touches people, there are house groups and a pastoring network, there is missionary work, I could not ask for any more. I still have fellowship with its leaders and many of the members. However, the roles of leader, teacher and singer, for which I was probably ill suited, are no longer open to me, and I am challenged to find God's track for me to be useful in His Kingdom.

Some big questions

1. If church is the expression of Christ on earth, why do the denominations find each other such hard work! ?
2. Why do the crowds not find us as interesting as they found Him?
3. Why are we still fighting for some standards which seem less and less tenable?
4. Why are we not able to keep the standards that we do hold dear?

Is it more important to function as a christian or to fill a place at the many church meetings?

It examines the diversity of meetings and the diverse expectation of those attending.

It observes that tastes are becoming more fragmented as though following the mutually intolerant trends in society in the West.

It mourns the power base that is build from the leadership of key meetings and catalogues the alienation of modern man from the hour long monologue or enforced participation in singing.

I learned a lot about the history of various movements. It was particularly interesting to learn where the long sermon on a text originated. Apparently Calvin assumed this presentation following the scholars of his day who would provide such a monologue on a classical author to show off their scholarship and to impress their peers. The book describes how such a sermon leaves the hearer with self satisfied admiration, but with little or no life change as a result.

However the book ends with a challenge to look at the priority we give to our meetings.

Is this sufficiently radical and soul searching to make the difference needed?

Jesus is central The book comes from the point of view that the main purpose of the church is to grow and make converts and, as this is the Great Commission, this must be right. Many churches have chosen to do this by gathering for teaching, worship and prayer meetings and explaining a "gospel" to those we meet. The result of this is that most people find what we do pointless and a little odd, and we too have our doubts.

If we are to question our methods, then we should question all of them. What standards can we apply? I suggest, only the standards and practice of Jesus. Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament and bring in the New and the way He did it appears in the Gospels. We fillet the Old Testament and apply the teaching in the New Testament but fail to give weight to Jesus as the source.

The result is that we do not mate with our children, as Lot did, we reluctantly surrender "a life for a life" and "spare the rod and spoil the child", and are still not too sure about women! We appear to trail behind the world as it discovers that it can give good for evil, and love its enemies (or are these christians in disguise?).

Adapting to the ways of Jesus? Suppose we were to do nothing that is not recorded as being done by Jesus. What would be left out?

• Nearly all the singing
• Monologues
• Nearly all the public prayer
• Regular attendance

What would our lives consist of?

• Ad hoc teaching and healing gatherings with interaction between teacher and hearer
• Manifestation of demonic disruption and a power struggle
• Forays into the villages to tell them the Kingdom of God is at hand
• A lot of free time to live the gospel at home and at work

Changes led by man or God? Changes have taken place in the model which Jesus gave us. Have they been led by God, surrounding culture, or the nature of man? The book points out that it is hard to evaluate the effect of culture "because we are part of it".

So too it is difficult to measure the influence of our human nature, "the flesh" as the scriptures describe it. The establishment of paid leaders and teachers to organise a "church" forms an organisation which both leader and people have an interest in maintaining. This creates a penny-saving and head-hunting ethos which is an anathema to the gospel and to the generous giving of our Father.

I would suggest that our deviations from the practices of Jesus have a "natural" source:-

• Singing is something to do which is part of many religions and bonding processes and usefully reinforces the teaching.
• Public prayer enables a group to express their agreement and unity regarding an objective without anyone being to blame for its non-achievement.
• Regular attendance reassures the leader that his living is secure and is mutually encouraging that the budget will be met.
• Failure to cast out demons and heal people is a matter which is in God's hands, not ours. As it is His gift of power, it is not something we should try to manipulate or engineer. Many unsung healings do take place, but Jesus method was to meet need when it came to Him.

I will not decry any of these activities but they should not push out the basic purpose of the "ekklesia", which is to continue the work of Jesus on this earth, as little children of the Father. God is Good! Do gooders!

The Church I have been taught that "ekklesia" meant "the called out ones". This describes the "people of the Way" very well. Called from a pagan life to live differently. They lived so differently that it showed, wherever they were, and people wanted to join them. Of course, we have to argue that there were groups of them in every area who met together, leaders were appointed, they went full time, and took control. They decided that the New Testament, which describes this process, is equally inspired by God, with the gospels, and so they perpetuated their position.

Only such trained and learned people could work out when the Old Testament, when the Gospels, or when the New Testament applied, so we needed them to argue it out, for 2000 years!

But is the gospel Jesus taught so difficult? Does it need the lifetime of learning? Or is it because we have made it complex?

"Did not our hearts burn within us" when our soft word was successful in turning aside wrath, or when a little God-given reason proved a blessing? We found our gifting, and destiny in God, and should be released to explore it because it is given to no one else on earth.

What alternatives are there? At this stage there are no complete and brilliant answers because the results of church history have been good in spite of all the error. As the book points out, God builds His church and He uses funny, imperfect, people like us to do it! Everything changes as we let Jesus make us more like Him. This sounds rather vague and pious but it includes honest evaluation of what he taught and the way He taught it, also what He did and the way He did it. It includes letting the goodness and generosity of God in us spill over into a needy world without counting the results in heads. Every other activity must become secondary.

What is the small or large meeting for? Everything Jesus did was obviously useful, understandable by the crowds who loved Him, and not ridiculous! I believe Jesus makes our assemblies ridiculous because He wants to change them. He wants to get our attention. Jesus taught what He knew, He helped those who came to Him with what He had, He responded to circumstances. The structure was dictated by those who came, and their questions, and the good results are recorded.

Our meetings must respond to need, and apply what we have to that need. There is the need to teach the gospel, but there are other needs. We see the needs of the world on our television. We have the viewpoint of God as never before. He wants us to be partners in solving these problems, not people perpetuating a decaying school, for those who know too much, and do too little.

Christians like Wilberforce have been at the forefront of change in the past. Today many well motivated initiatives are needed to solve so many difficulties in the world. Does God not want to use christians to initiate change instead of reacting to it? Where do good ideas come from if not from God?

The "ekklesia" should be gathering in a series of widely drawn working groups, using what the christians have in gifting to combine and work out solutions for the world. How will they meet? The internet has come to maturity at just the right time! The church universal has never had it so good! Please use the facilities on this web site to make your contacts for doing good.

What happens to the leader, pastor, teacher? He should lay down his control of the christian community. All the book's examples of success are examples of the growth of fellowships fed by interested unbelievers. It's all great fun while it's growing! What you learn one week you share with someone else the next week, and then you want to learn some more. Surely this can go on forever! But it can't! Who goes to school forever?
The activities of teaching should be led by a teacher. To the extent that that teacher needs to lead by demonstrating the life that he teaches, he must be a pastor, and lead in practicing the life of Jesus. However the school aspect of church needs to be limited, so that christians may combine in different groupings to solve the world's problems.

Limit the teaching to make way for the serving Jesus only taught His disciples for three years. They were fishermen etc. but they had an exceptional teacher. After that He left them to it, giving them the Holy Spirit as we have. If you can't learn effective christianity in 5 years then you are over complicating the message. 6 months of the message of the gospels is enough to drive many into the world for a lifetime of service.

So if the pastor is a paid leader of education then we can allow God to call others to be leaders of enterprises. The ideas which God gives can be encouraged in the local church, published on the internet, and work on them can be done by those with the necessary gifting throughout the world.

As everyone is gifted in something then everyone will be employed making the world a better place. They will be partners with God in His creation, as they were intended to be. Their efforts will be "worship in Spirit and in truth".

This becomes home or church "groups with a purpose". They die when the job is completed. The education continues at the level of need of the local grouping.

The world recognised the activities of Jesus as good, and they followed Him. It is clear that His motivation was not to gain a following, but to live the life of His Father. He was very relaxed when His following fell away. This non-headhunting, non-controlling, attitude of Jesus must be the key to our relationships today.

Start now ! Do make full use of the facilities of www.practical-christianity.org to discuss these opportunities and to build fruitful relationships.

Yours sincerely,

Malcolm Crocker