Peter Sammons recounts a recent conversation
OUT OF FELLOWSHIP
Just before Christmas I had a puzzling – and slightly shocking – conversation with a retired Methodist Minister. It began innocuously enough, at a charitable Carol sing-along organised in a secular charity setting, albeit within a church building. We spoke about mince pies, a subject upon which it is rather difficult to fall out. Then the discussion moved on ……
I should begin by explaining that my wife and I are not part of any institutional church at the present time – we are “out of fellowship”. This is because we have found, as have so many others, that all of the UK’s main denominational churches are today seeking to build upon sandy ground in terms of their theology, and praxis. Jesus instructs us to build upon rock. [ Matthew 7: 24-27 ]
REBELS
It was perhaps inevitable that I would find my way out of the main denominational churches. Back in 2009 I wrote “Rebel church” subtitled “a challenge and an encouragement to the believer”. This explored the reality that parts of the institutional church have always rebelled against Jesus, but concluded that something very different is happening today. My book goes on to ask what does the Bible tell us about the rebel ‘church’? And what did Jesus teach about a rebel ‘church’? And finally, it asks how individual believers can reinvigorate their faith when their ‘church’ seems hell bent on opposing the Holy Spirit? [ My book does not ask the question, but in so many of the collective church’s antics today, are we seeing quite simply blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?, stated as THE unforgiveable sin ]. “Rebel Church” did not endear me to the main denominations of the UK!
Nevertheless, there remain today some good and faithful local churches – especially of the independent varieties – that seek to follow Jesus faithfully and steadfastly. Wherever and whenever possible Christians should support such faithful churches even if, perhaps, at some points their praxis or theology may not be totally to our liking. As the old Christian quip has it, “if ever you discover the perfect church, don’t go there, because you will only spoil it!” There is no such thing as a perfect church and any Christian who seeks one will be ultimately disappointed.
My wife and I persisted with one of the main denominational streams until comparatively recently. Whilst our church itself was – theoretically – an independent one, nevertheless it was a willing participant of the ‘Churches Together’ grouping. Accordingly, with profound regret, we felt our local church’s willingness (even enthusiasm) to be associated publicly with other churches that were – and are – preaching great peculiarities that cannot in any way be defined as historical Christianity, meant that we should cease to be a part of it. I explained our reasoning on moving out, but frankly doubt anything that I said was understood. For too many Christians ‘togetherness’ is a sine qua non to their worldview.
NOT DODGE THIS
Back to the conversation: the retired Minister asked me what church we attend. I thought immediately “I’m not going to dodge this”. Plainly I might have provided some diverting or deflecting answer, but I replied “my wife and I have chosen to leave the denominational churches as we find that all have serious question marks hanging over them. We seek the Lord on a Sunday morning privately at home. And we feel this is absolutely the right move for us”.
The retired Minister retorted, “Question marks? Give me an example?”. I replied, “Marrying men to men”. Our retired Minister then went into a sort of robotic overdrive, almost as if someone had flicked a switch and he rehearsed a speech he must have given hundreds of times in the past two decades. I have to admit, as I heard his words “love” , “acceptance”, “ love”, “affirming”, “love”, “misunderstood” “love”, and so on, I was not really listening! Rather, I was thinking, “how am I going to extricate myself from a rather boring and highly predictable set of preconceptions and justifications?” I did not seek to respond to anything the Minister said directly, as this was the province of ‘water off a duck’s back’. Or as Henry Fonda exclaimed in the rather wonderful film “Twelve Angry Men”, “don’t talk to them. Don’t talk to them. They can’t hear you. They cannot hear you!”. The era of reasoned debate on the fundamentals of the Christian faith are (I suggest) long over. The goalposts have moved too far apart to waste time on such issues.
BORN AGAIN?
When our retired Minister paused for breath I said quite simply, “When were you born again?”. His immediate response was “I’m not born again”. And for a minute or two he rehearsed yet another speech which – in truth – I did not listen to. I awaited the next pause for breath that would surely eventually come. When it did I said “When were you baptised?”. Without pause he said “I am not baptised” and supported this with yet more words.
Eventually I responded, “So let me replay back to you what I’ve just heard. You’re not born again and you’re not baptised. And yet you are a leader of a ‘church’?” Again the man shifted to overdrive and I heard words emitting, only one phrase resonating with me; “the traditions of the Church”. I think he was playing an elaborate “Top Trumps” game (for anyone who remembers that childrens pastime) where you deploy your trump card(s) to trip up others’ cards. In this case (I think!) the ‘Church’s’ traditions are seen to trump Biblical expectations and demands, presumably as our ‘Church’ has moved beyond the need for biblical reverence, revelation, or obedience. We’re almost moving towards the idea that we know better than God how to be God. Truly tragic ……
PAIN IN THE BACKSIDE!
When my interlocutor paused for breath once more I mentioned something of St Paul (cannot remember what, it might even have been just the mention of Paul’s name in context). The ex-Minister’s response, again immediate and without pause for breath, let alone reflection, was “Apostle Paul. He’s a pain in the backside!”. After this the ex-Minister sounded off again but the only thing I specifically recall with this final part of his discourse (almost a soliloquy, in fact) was that Greek words don’t necessarily mean what Greek words say. I think this was part of an overall attempt to deconstruct St Paul as an early leader of the ‘church’, and certainly to elevate the thoughts of Methodist Ministers over and above the Apostle!
GRATEFUL
Three times I relayed back to this retired cleric that I was grateful for all he had revealed to me, as it simply affirmed the rightness of my wife and my own decision to leave the so-called mainstream ‘churches’ and seek pastures new. Jesus said “my sheep know my voice” [ John 10: 27 ] and that they will follow Him, not hirelings [ John 10: 12 ] . This Minister did try to backtrack at one point about his lack of baptism, and said he had been baptised in 1947. I decided not to follow him down this particular rabbit-hole, but stuck with my main theme;my gratitude for his clear exemplar of the rightness of my wife and my choice to leave, and the fact that we cannot foresee any likelihood we will ever find our way back to so-called ‘mainstream’ denominationalism. As for me and my house, we will follow the Lord …… [ Joshua 24: 15 ]
In mentioning to this retired Minister one reason not to cosy-up with local churches, I might have offered several others (syncretism, social gospel, Jew-hatred, far-Left politics), but ‘reasons’ are frankly immaterial when the age of reason – and of reasoning – is past. Today’s mantra is “your truth is not the same as my truth”, even within ‘churches’! How wonderful that Jesus tells us that truth is not a set of disputable propositions, but truth is a Man, and His Name is Jesus [ John 14: 6 ]. Enough said!
EXIT STRATEGY
At this point I’m still thinking, how do I remove myself from an opinionated interlocutor with absolutely no possibility of a meeting of minds? When my Methodist Minister started to say that Greek words don’t mean what they say, I was blessed to be within earshot of a mature Christian friend who happens to be half Greek and has a passing knowledge of the ancient language (possibly equalling the Minister’s knowledge!). I seized the opportunity to say, “Here’s my Greek friend, and I’m sure he would like to discuss with you Greek lexicology” (or words to that effect). I exited as gracefully as I could.
Tedious though I find such encounters, they do throw into sharp relief the ever pressing question, when is a profession of faith unreal? And for how long do we tolerate the blind leading the blind? [ Matthew 15: 14 ].
KOSHA, OR NOT?
Someone recently said to me that such ‘ChrIstians’ are ‘misled’, so intimating that whatever their misleadings, somehow they are all kosha when found in a ‘church’ setting. I asked this gentleman whether Jehovas’ Witnesses are therefore ‘saved’, but simply misled. He stated that no, JWs cannot be described as Christians because they do not hold to the doctrine of Trinity. An odd proposition, perhaps, since in Scripture the doctrine of Trinity is nowhere clearly taught and if one ‘Christian’ can be ‘misled’ on such an issue by its denial and not be a kosha example of Christendom, then precisely why CAN another be ‘misled’ on hugely serious questions yet still be declared as a kosha ‘Christian’, simply because they maintain a certain view on ‘the Trinity’ (remember, a term found nowhere in Scripture)?
The institutional churches are in a bad place, and the time has surely come to call a spade a spade. Jesus warned of blind guides and the Apostle Paul that some church leaders were making their congregations more fit for hell than themselves [ Matthew 23: 15 ]. Finally, Jesus warned of wise and foolish maidens [ Matthew 25: 1-13, in the context of the end time ] . We are to expect rebellion amongst church people. We are accountable to God with whom we seek to fellowship in the Name of Jesus, and whom we present to the unsaved world at large as supposedly sound expressions of Christian life and praxis.
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Peter Sammons’ 2009 book “Rebel Church” (freely downloadable as a PDF): http://www.christian-publications-int.com/images/PDF/RebelChurch.pdf . Some group discussion material that might help to open up implications arising: http://www.christian-publications-int.com/images/PDF/RebelChurchStudyNotes.pdf . Finally for group leaders: http://www.christian-publications-int.com/images/PDF/RebelChurchLeadersNotes.pdf
Sammons is author of “Last Days and End Times – Making the Connection” which explores the conditions we are to expect as the Lord’s return draws nearer. Link here: http://www.christian-publications-int.com/images/PDF/LastDays.pdf
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Christian Unity? How? = https://christiancomment.org/2021/11/30/the-price-of-unity/ (Robert F Turner).
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