Leading or Lording?

by Alan Allison

From: Alan Allison
Date: January 18, 2004 6:52:54 PM PST
Subject: Mutual ministry--listening to one another

Friends,

I just took the family to visit a Protestant Reformed Church. I read the basic statement of faith on line and scanned their regulations which seem to fill almost half of their Psalter. There were 20 people there. My family seemed to be a big chunk of it. Somberness filled the air the entire meeting. The pastor began by reading out of Exodus 20--the Decalogue. I recognized none of the songs. We stood to sing every one. The opening prayer by the pastor lasted at least 20 minutes. The message from Genesis was good as a lead in to a future teaching on the "total depravity of man." We sang a few more songs. The pastor lifted his hands and blessed us. The people greeted us with warm smiles and handshakes. The pastor came and greeted me. I could tell he wanted to know where I was coming from, so I cut to the chase. Since I read where he was coming from, I thought I should let him know a few of my convictions. I told him that I was trained in a Reformed Baptist Church and as a result I was a sovereign grace. Then I tried to get out some my distinctives by saying that I thought that each denomination's major distinctive was oftentimes correct. I said that the Presbyterians were right about sovereign grace and election; the Baptists were right about believer's baptism; the Charismatics were right about the gifts still being for today, even though they misused and misunderstood them. I tried to speak about the Brethren's view of ecclesiology, but the pastor changed the subject to something regarding last days. I told him that I was a full Preterist and he began to take me to task. I never got out my view on priesthood and the gifts. I did tell him that I was New Covenant in my theology. He didn't know what that meant, and I began to explain that Christians were no longer under the law.

All I wanted to do was tell him my statement of faith and go to lunch with my girls. This brother started to aggressively challenge me on my views. I indulged him for about 45 minutes. Much of the time he became quite agitated and loud. I told him that it would be better to keep our conversation a little less intense. Another time I asked him to settle down a little. He said that he was really frustrated. We talked of Daniel 12 and the great resurrection, the power of the holy people being broken, and the end of the altar sacrifices which were "the time of the end" by which the resurrection had taken place. We talked of covenants vs. covenant of grace. When I could get a word in side ways, I explained that I had thoroughly studied the 200 places that word "covenant" was mentioned in the Scriptures and nowhere did I find that the word was used in the manner and way that he used it. I said that there were no mentions of the word that spoke to this "covenant of grace", but that each time it was mentioned, the context made clear exactly which of the several covenants was being referred to. We talked of placing Christians under the law; we talked of moral law vs. ceremonial, and case law. I spoke of signs of covenants such as circumcision for Abraham and Sabbath keeping for Moses; he insisted that circumcision was a sign of the Mosaic covenant, in spite of the three texts that say that the Sabbath was the sign of the Mosaic. We talked of Colossians 2 "Sabbaths", and he insisted that we were not to forsake the assembly of ourselves together from the passage in Hebrews. I asked him questions about the purpose of Hebrews and what the sin was that was spoken of in Hebrews 6 and 10. He admitted it was the apostasy of the Jews back under the law. I said that the passage of forsaking the assembly was speaking not of meeting together every Sunday as a Sabbath keeping principle, but rather that it spoke of forsaking Christians and the gospel for the law. He became very frustrated and got louder. His 15-year-old son jumped in and said, "Why did you come here anyway?" A fair question. I was going to tell him, "Because I represented a Christian family looking for loving fellowship with serious students of the bible that were inclined as much to listen as to speak." But his father put up his hand toward his son and shook his head telling him to butt out as it were.

Much more was said. I was calm and he was extremely agitated. I thought it best to conclude our discussion and leave. He gave me some books to read by Engelsma, and Hoeksema. I said that I own and have read books by both of these authors and thought I had one of the books already. He said then just to pass them on to someone else. I thanked him and told him I found our conversation stimulating. He said that he enjoyed it too. However, it was clearly visible to my wife and girls that no one else in the room enjoyed it. All who were left at the end were the pastor's family and mine. And I didn't even get to inquire about article three in the Church Order regulations that said that if you weren't ordained and authorized to teach, and you continued to do so, that you would be punished--excommunicated. I wanted to talk to him about Corinthians 12 and 14, but I was afraid he was not ready for it.

You should know that I didn't start out with any other purpose but to let him know where I was coming from, since I knew where he was coming from. I thought that honesty would be the best policy and that if I was up front with him, he could tell me whether or not I was welcome. The intense debating was not my idea. However, it became obvious that we were not welcome.

Upon reflection, a thought re-crystallized in my thinking and that is this. To all young Christians I say: Do not study the bible and draw conclusions and convictions because if you do, you will be driven from every fellowship from then on. It is axiomatic that the traditional business church requires, as a condition for peaceful and continuing fellowship, that you abandon you own biblical convictions in order to become a blank and gullible slate on which the proprietor/pastor can write his convictions whether right or wrong. Few will humble themselves and consider changing their views based upon proper hermeneutical exegesis because their continuing livelihood is based upon an accrued core clientele that have become convinced or simply accustomed to his existing teaching. A change in theology would cause a split and an exodus of an unknown percentage of his support. It may seem cynical, but I was young and now I am old and I have seen many righteous bible scholars rejected from churches because of their biblically sound convictions. The idolatry of income and unwillingness to humbly see that one's teaching may be wrong, stands in the way of mutual ministry and the priesthood of all believers as is clearly set forth in the Scriptures such as in Corinthians 12 and 14.

To all who have been taught in one fellowship to believe something that you now hold dear because you know that it is true, you must be willing to abandon those convictions when you have to move on to another congregation, especially if God has called you to teach the full counsel of God, or you will suffer the same fate. This is a prayer request. Thank you my friends.

Alan

From: Mike Nichols
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2004 11:38 AM
To: Alan Allison
Subject: Response to Your Church Experience

Hey Alan...

It is always a blessing for me to hear from you. I count you as one of my best friends. You are a valuable resource for me in the world of Christian doctrinal studies. That does not mean that you and I agree on every issue. I may need to learn more on some of the positions about which you are obviously very convinced.

Thanks for your report about your encounter at the Protestant Reformed Church with their pastor. You mentioned that there is a subtle pressure "to abandon your convictions when you have to move to another congregation". You stated that this was a "prayer request".

My dear brother, I pray for God's wisdom to guide you in finding a local fellowship of believers. You have so much God given giftedness to offer to the Body of Christ.

In a word, you are a "keeper" and a very valuable resource to any church, in my opinion. Now, you did not specifically ask for my input, but I would like to share a couple thoughts with you anyway.

Your report taught me something. That is--the importance of Godly WISDOM.

If you and I moved to the outback in Australia, we would probably go to the same church, if we could find one that was basically biblical and even slightly evangelical.

Now, at our first visit to the church, we would surely be disappointed in the service and even the message by their pastor. Afterwards, we would certainly be able to "pull the chain" of the pastor if we chose to really let him know in some detail from whence we commeth doctrinally.

However, if it was the ONLY protestant church around and God led us there, we should be able to share biblical truth in LOVE and with WISDOM as we demonstrated our Godliness and established credibility with the people who were willing to learn. This might take a few months, but that is the way this whole Christian fellowship business seems to work.

The only other way to do it is as you have been doing over the past few years. That is to have your own church in your own home with your own family and a few others who might attend from time to time.

By the way, I am an advocate for both of the above. Attend a larger church in the community on Sundays for corporate fellowship, greater evangelistic influence in the community, and more impact over the political world. At the same time have a smaller weekly bible study in your own home with more one on one ministry for deeper spiritual growth.

In a sense the above Australian example is what happened in your encounter at the Protestant Reformed Church. You visited. You were not too impressed with the service. At the end of your first visit you made sure to "pull the chain" of the pastor. You succeeded!

Was anything accomplished by your adventure?

Alan, I maintain that this turned out to be a very positive experience for the following probable reasons:

First, you discovered that the church was pretty dull and did not have much to offer. With that knowledge, God may be telling you to move on and investigate another possible church.
Second, you perceived that although you would probably be welcome, the pastor would not be jumping up and down to have you attend there.
Third, you discerned that the fifteen other people in that small assembly (not counting your own family) were apparently comfortable with their pastor, just as the dozen or so in your home church have been with you as pastor.
Fourth, you fathomed first hand that there might be a tendency for a visitor to be offended if you, as the home church pastor, were not very gracious in your response to his telling you what he believed and where you were wrong.
Fifth, you grasped the concept that if you are going to attend a larger church for additional Christian Life blessings for your family to go along with your home bible study or home church, it needs to be a larger church, not just a one man show with a few people.
Sixth, you realized that just as you did not become so convinced of your doctrinal views overnight, you cannot and should not expect another to change his views after one informal debate.
Seventh, you grasped onto something that helps the rest of us, who are seeking to find the "perfect" church, so that we can put this thing in a reasonable perspective.
Finally, there are probably other blessings and insight that you have gained from this experience that I have not thought of here.

Now, Alan, in my humble opinion, an even better way to approach finding a new church would be as follows:

Preview the church's general statement of faith.
Visit the church.
Use discernment about what you experience and observe there.
Pray for God's guidance as to whether or not you should continue attending there.
If the church seems basically what you are looking for (Godly leaders, Scriptural, Doctrinally sound, etc.) then continue to attend and share your spiritual gifts with the other believers there.
At some point in the future, if you are convinced that God wants you to fellowship there permanently, then commit to get fully involved and support the ministry for the glory of God.
If you have biblical enlightenment that the other Christians do not have, then God will, in a timely manner, use you as a vessel to get them on the right path. If not, then it might then be time to go elsewhere.

Alan, I am willing to bet you a cup of coffee that there is not one church anywhere in which the pastor would react any more submissive to your approach on the first visit. You attended and assumed that he wanted you to let him know who you were and what you believed. This was probably not the case considering his reaction to your warm and sincere outreach.

His attitude should have been, "We are here, you are welcome, do you want to join us?" Your attitude should have been, "Do I feel that God is leading me and my family to attend here?" Apparently, I suspect the answer to both of the above questions is NO.

Now, I know that you did not really expect to enlighten the pastor enough to convert him to the truth on your first meeting. That, of course, would have been the height of ignorance. In fact, as much as you and I respect each other, I do not think that you would even fully convert me with all of your doctrinal positions in this report. Surely, you and I as beloved brothers in Christ, could fellowship together as Christians. I am not saying that I might not "come around" in the future. That is up to God.

This does not require a response. It is written, in the spirit of love and exhortation to share my initial reaction to your report. All of this is between you and God. May His will be done.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike Nichols

From: Alan Allison
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2004 11:59 PM
To: Mike Nichols
Subject: RE: Response to Your Church Experience

Mike,

Thanks. That was well thought out and wise. I have done that very method you mentioned in several instances. The problem was that what happened yesterday was just protracted over a year and a half and the cost to my family was grave. It would be too long a story to tell you here. I have approached this problem in several churches. With one of those churches we had most everything in common as far as beliefs were concerned. The only difference was mutual ministry vs. a traditional one-man ministry and the other was that I believe that all Christians are members of the church when they believe. To add to that another membership is to create an exclusive membership that sets one believer on the inside and the other on the outside. This I believe is divisive in the whole body of Christ. Because of conscience, I could not then become a "member" all though my attendance and commitment to the brethren was considered exemplary. It was said of me that my family and I showed far more commitment than those who signed on as exclusive members. I wrote a paper at the request of the pastor demonstrating my biblical position on exclusive membership. After fellowship there for over 1-1/2 years this issue and the biblical teachings on mutual ministry stuck in the craw of the pastor. Without any warrant or substance to their false charge of being contentious, I was excommunicated in one day without a hearing. Half of the church were appalled and demanded to know what I did that was contentious. Letters and phone calls flew fast and furious for weeks. Then the church disbanded--it was a decision that the elders had made months before for others reasons.

I have documents of a stack of letters exchanged in my defense and against me that is 3" thick. It was the most horrendous miscarriage of justice some there had ever seen in the church. My family and I were devastated by this. For almost 2 years since, I wanted nothing to do with traditional fellowships. I became very discouraged in my Christian walk. It appears to me that the church is an abysmal failure and the gates of hell have indeed overcome it. I began to languish without regular fellowship and my children wanted no part of it because of the injustices that have befallen not only me but also them. They were emotionally and even physically attacked by those in the church that hated us without cause. It is more than I want to remember right now. I kind of tried to bury this whole thing. But I did want you to know that I have done the things you have said and found that it is a recipe for disaster to start to build friendships for my family and I and have it end in such great emotional trauma to my family and I. It is far better for me to let people know who I am before hand. If they can accept me even though we don't have to agree on what I believe, I can handle that. But finding others that can handle it is quite another matter. Prolonging the discovery process makes them feel I betrayed them and makes me look like I have come surreptitiously to undermine what they believe. And permanently resigning myself to silence on vital doctrines without at least trying to persuade others of a better way is as impossible for me to do as it is to refrain from preaching the gospel to the lost because someone tells me I shouldn't. It is a betrayal of God's word and God to shrink back from presenting the truth of his word when he has clearly called me to teach and preach. If Paul and Jesus had done that, I would still be lost in my sins. The problem isn't my approach, but rather the arrogant and unbiblical one man ministry that seeks to extinguish the voice of God's people so that he can keep the pews and the offering plates full. Mutual ministry and an open forum are clear in the Scriptures. Until churches change their entire unbiblical tradition, teachers and gifted men will be slandered and driven off into isolation. The church will suffer for the loss. And the Holy Spirit will continue to be quenched and grieved.

I do thank you for your concern and encouraging words Mike. I know you love me and want the best for my family and I. That is always evident in your communications to me. I need brethren like you. Even though you are far away, we have a relationship and one of a precious few that keep me from despair.

Alan