Buff Scott Jr.
Sophomore
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2023
- Messages
- 409
- Reaction score
- 127
- Points
- 43
The Sweet Taste of Freedom From the
Ultra-Modern Church
Ultra-Modern Church
“Buff, I just recently became part of your mailing list and have a question on today’s Rumblings. As I understand it, you are not part of any gathering of Christians outside your family. This concerns me. How are you connected to the Body of Christ? How are you connected to Jesus and His bride, the church?”—Tim.
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As a defector of the modern church, our meetings are house assemblies and composed of both family and friends, as were the assemblies of the early believers. As to my being connected to the body of Christ, if I met only with myself, or if I were to find myself deserted on some far-away island, I’d still be part of the body of believers and part of Jesus’ bride—namely, the congregation of the redeemed.
Just because I am not aligned with some religious party, church, sect, or denomination does not invalidate the fact that when I experienced the new birth, I was joined to every believer within the family of faith. We must crucify the idea that unless we are “members of a church” we are separated from Jesus and what He founded. This concept is divisive and sectarian, all the way to the bone and back.
Rubel Shelly once said, “I just want to be a Christian, but ‘the church’ won’t let me.” Rubel was a well-known author and preacher. And that’s the history of churchly-addicted believers. Generally speaking, the local church will not permit anyone of their brand and within their corral to be a Christian only. You either wear their brand and adopt their agenda or you’re disinherited—not by the Lord, but by those who feel they have aready arrived.
Jesus said it best when He announced on two different occasions, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold,” and “I have many in this city who are my people” (John 10:16 & Acts 18:10).
The late Edward Fudge hit the target when he wrote, “The vision of a community of disciples is also obscured today by the almost-exclusive use of the term ‘church’—a word which in much modern usage hides the individual within the group, replaces interdependent relationships with static membership in an institution, and loses much of the sense of personal commitment, allegiance, and responsiveness to Jesus Himself as Master and Teacher.” Amen!
We can serve others better when we are free of all partisan fetters, and that is because we don’t have to look over our shoulders to see if our party’s chieftains are looking our way. The free man in Christ does not nor cannot represent any church, faction, denomination, or cult upon the face of this earth. He is God’s representative. He answers only to his Lord, not to the “chief priests and teachers of the law.” He has no earthen lords, popes, or masters to whom he must give account.
If I might describe such a man, he is bold but not violent, firm but not rude, outspoken but not mouthy. The free man will be compassionate and loving. He will always remember that a man called Jesus transformed the world without throwing a rock, burning a building, drawing a sword, or brainwashing weak and innocent minds. This man Jesus changed the world by the simple act of persuasive teaching. There will never be another like Him. Praise His Holy Name!
Just because I am not aligned with some religious party, church, sect, or denomination does not invalidate the fact that when I experienced the new birth, I was joined to every believer within the family of faith. We must crucify the idea that unless we are “members of a church” we are separated from Jesus and what He founded. This concept is divisive and sectarian, all the way to the bone and back.
Rubel Shelly once said, “I just want to be a Christian, but ‘the church’ won’t let me.” Rubel was a well-known author and preacher. And that’s the history of churchly-addicted believers. Generally speaking, the local church will not permit anyone of their brand and within their corral to be a Christian only. You either wear their brand and adopt their agenda or you’re disinherited—not by the Lord, but by those who feel they have aready arrived.
Jesus said it best when He announced on two different occasions, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold,” and “I have many in this city who are my people” (John 10:16 & Acts 18:10).
The late Edward Fudge hit the target when he wrote, “The vision of a community of disciples is also obscured today by the almost-exclusive use of the term ‘church’—a word which in much modern usage hides the individual within the group, replaces interdependent relationships with static membership in an institution, and loses much of the sense of personal commitment, allegiance, and responsiveness to Jesus Himself as Master and Teacher.” Amen!
We can serve others better when we are free of all partisan fetters, and that is because we don’t have to look over our shoulders to see if our party’s chieftains are looking our way. The free man in Christ does not nor cannot represent any church, faction, denomination, or cult upon the face of this earth. He is God’s representative. He answers only to his Lord, not to the “chief priests and teachers of the law.” He has no earthen lords, popes, or masters to whom he must give account.
If I might describe such a man, he is bold but not violent, firm but not rude, outspoken but not mouthy. The free man will be compassionate and loving. He will always remember that a man called Jesus transformed the world without throwing a rock, burning a building, drawing a sword, or brainwashing weak and innocent minds. This man Jesus changed the world by the simple act of persuasive teaching. There will never be another like Him. Praise His Holy Name!
