I hear from Christians all over the country and some in other parts of the world. Not surprisingly, the same question or variation of the question keeps coming up: Is there a good Christian fellowship in my area? First, the bad news: Unfortunately the answer to this popular questions is usually no. Why? Well, a good Christian fellowship by definition must consist of likeminded Bible-obeying believers who truly want the Lord Jesus as King and not men as king. This describes true disciples of Christ and they are not usually very easy to find. Actually, believers who really want Christ as King and God's written Word to truly be upheld among them are usually few and far between. So when real disciples of Christ come along and offer true equality and genuine friendship, sound doctrine, caring fellowship, and real love, (and offer to meet in the simple no-cost way that the Bible teaches), most Christians take a big pass. Instead, they continue to remain in churches that mistreat them, abuse them and exploit them. They flock to these churches in droves. Just like Israel in Bible times, most Christians today want an earthly king (a Saul) not Christ as King. So they submit to all the abuses and mistreatments that an earthly king imposes and requires, regardless of God’s strong warnings to avoid these leaders. So what should we do? Now for the good news:
Let me encourage you that it is far better to meet with one or two (or two or three, etc.) whose allegiance is with Christ as Master and who recognize the Bible as our final controlling authority, compared to meeting with dozens, hundreds or even thousands whose allegiance is with men. It is also better to meet alone with the Lord studying His Scriptures if no one else (who truly loves and wants to obey Him) is available to meet with you, and hopefully that would only be for a season. But if not and if for a longer time or even indefinitely, praise God that we still have the Lord! So are we ever really alone? No. Do we ever really “go it alone” as Christians? No, of course not. Jesus said that He would never leave us or forsake us. And God gave us the Holy Spirit, our Comforter who is always with us to lead us into all truth. And because we are the temples of the Holy Spirit, God is always with us no matter how alone that we might feel at times. Thank God for God! Contrary to popular belief, church per se really does begin at home, either with just ourselves individually with the Lord or also with family members if possible. And so if you are like one of the many Christians who have found themselves alone without good Biblical fellowship, you could begin meeting as a tiny local church (like we do). And if you do, you will hopefully discover that even meeting with just a handful of true disciples of Christ instead of going to some control-based "service", is an incredibly rewarding and uplifting thing. Maybe the Lord will add to your numbers over time. It is His church. He is the Lord of the Harvest and it is He alone who is the giver of the increase, and so church growth is His department not ours. Certainly, we are supposed to preach the Gospel. We are supposed to plant and water but only God can give the increase. Too many "churches" today are focused on numbers and growth. They are busy trying to do God's job and so they neglect their own jobs as Christians while creating a monster. As far as our little church here, among other things, we sing worship songs and read the Bible together. We discuss the Scriptures, pray and have communion. No set formal structure. No stage show. No hurriedly getting ready to put on some kind of performance, just simplicity and joy. There are no arrogant roosters strutting around on some stage pontificating a bunch of manmade garbage. We bring the simple teachings from the Bible without all the complex unfounded theories and circular arguments that ridiculous teachers constantly confuse Christians with. Our meetings here have been with other families and individuals but lately just our own family. People come and go. And no matter how much you lovingly encourage and warn them, many are enticed back into the false church system by all the false “opportunities” that it offers. Even so, even being this small, ours is still a real genuine assembly and still offers infinitely more compared to anything the institutional church offers. I say this only to show you that you can have this too, right where you are! We are not special. It is exactly the same and the results will be similar for any Christian or small home church that is determined to honor God by following Christ and the Bible instead of following men. Now knowing true freedom in Christ, and knowing proof positive from the Bible that staying free is what the Lord wants, I wouldn't go back for anything! If you have left an abusive / control-based church, I hope you don’t go back either. But the key is you have to leave the system of control-based leadership itself or you risk falling into to a different church where the names and faces may have changed but it’s the same ungodly merry-go-round all over again. May the Lord bless you in all that He has for you, Paul Howey
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