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Material For
His Building
By Andy Zoppelt
Over zealous and over reaction to the various
problems that we face in the church in America has lead to many being
deceived. Each movement feels they have found the key to restoration
and sadly they are the most unlikely to be open for real change that
would affect their hearts.
Almost everyone is aware that there is something
extremely wrong with the church in America, and everyone knows that we
parallel the symptoms of the church of Laodicea. Our lack of power,
love, personal ministry, responsibility, accountability and unity are
clear signs that we do not represent the bible church in which we
believe.
The Charismatic Movement
There have been many movements in the past that
have tried to bring about a restoration. The Charismatic movement saw
the problem as a lack of power and Holy-Spirit anointing. The Holy
Spirit and power was key to the life of the church. Zechariah 4:6, was
often quoted, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the
LORD of hosts." The impact of Acts 2 and the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit predicted by Joel were also in the forefront for this
significant movement. Churches began calling themselves "Full Gospel,"
a word that obviously suggested and insinuated that those that did not
have the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" were simply not a part of the
move of the Spirit of these last days. This attitude created much
unnecessary conflict, controversy and division. There was infighting
with brother against brother; this was dishonoring to the testimony of
the Lordship of Christ. It became popular to display your gift in
meetings and speak in tongues at every opportunity. It was a kind of
badge or sign that you had arrived and were a part of the movement.
We sat around in our arrogance discussing how the
others had missed the move of God. Many, in their desire to renounce
the "tongues" movement, became over-zealous and spoke out against the
biblical significance of the gifts and tongues. The movement went into
all the denominations and was seen as a unifying force to bring many
from different churches together. Did this movement bring about the
expected consequences? It certainly did not. Everyone was hearing from
God and everyone was doing their own thing. Fights broke out to who
was hearing from God, It would seem that God was schizophrenic by
saying two opposing things at the same time. There was no clear
direction or clear word, every one felt they were right. The movement
was marked by wars outside the camp and inside the camp, pride and
arrogance and the sense of being "right" created division of theology
and direction. Many would not fellowship with those who disagreed with
them. Each church had those who were "hearing" from God. There were
prophets who were in opposition to the leadership, others were casting
out demons, whole churches were speaking in tongues, people
prophesying over one another, men getting directions to start
ministries without a confirming word from others, the list goes on and
on. A movement that was to bring unity and restoration seemed to bring
in more confusion and conflict.
Communal living and the moving to the country
Many began to see the need to live in a communal
setting. In Acts we are told that the early church "had all things
common." They had fellowship and met as a community. Many left their
jobs and sold their homes and moved closer together for a greater
expression of love and fellowship. Most communities fell apart after a
few years. Personal conflicts and division plagued the movement. I
know of only one movement that has been successful in this kind of
living. They have farms and communities all over the world. This
movement is held together by many mature men that have a real
commitment to one another. They have been able to manifest the gifts
and work together in a responsible way. They have accountability mixed
with humility, an ingredient rarely found. They have set up churches
all over the world, they have care groups for those in need. Most of
their leaders work for a living and honor one another's gifting.
On the whole, the other movements involved had many
built-in snares. Men and women living in the same house created many
temptations and problems. The groups turned inward and focused on
survival rather than reaching out to the hurting. Fights led to gossip
in their ranks, and division and separation resulted.
Discipleship movement
The discipleship movement saw the need for
authority. It was believed that once God had authority in the
churches, that He would come down and once again demonstrate His power
through men of order. The authority issue would solve the
everyone-doing-that-which-is right-in-his-own-eyes syndrome.
Independence would become interdependence and chaos would become order
from men of authority. It, too, looked good and promising. Many
involved felt they were on the cutting edge and involved in the
movement that would restore the New Testament church. Places like
Argentina were demonstrating great success. Watchmen Nee's book on
"Spiritual Authority" impacted and influenced many in the movement.
Again there was that tendency to look at those not involved as being
of Babylon or the Harlot or whatever one might choose. There was a
need to restore the five fold ministry of the Apostle, Prophet,
Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher. Churches became aligned under
apostolic ministries and "streams" were developed. It became a matter
of whose stream you were in and who you were under. A kind of pecking
order developed. Abuse abounded in men who did not have the sheep in
mind; many leaders saw themselves as being miniature popes with a kind
of infallibility. Men coveted titles and positions, "Who is going to
be the apostle in the next move?" Men tried to align themselves in a
position of significance for the next coming move of God. Men at first
were reluctant to use the title of apostle as a call on their life,
instead they alluded to the adjective of apostolic ministry or
calling. Though they both mean primarily the same, it eliminated the
presumption on their part and led others to first recognize and later
identify them as full apostles. To be an apostle and rubbing shoulders
with men like Paul and John was exhilarating. The early apostles had
standards and servanthood, and were never seen as fly-by-night
apostles.
The discipleship movement's purpose was to
recapture the responsibility of leadership to disciple the saints.
Mature men and women were to mentor the new converts and saints were
to be involved in the support of each other. No one was left falling
through the cracks. No problem went unnoticed. Hurting saints found a
brother or sister there to care for them. sin within the body was
challenged. we were convinced we were establishing long-term, quality
relationships, the kind of relationships not found even in the best of
families. Though many of these ideas are biblically based, we did not
possess the humble material to produce the quality set forth by the
word of God.
The House Church Movement
Let me say first, that all the movements that I
have illustrated have taken place at overlapping times. Discipleship
and restoration of the five-fold ministry and the need to meet in
homes was part and parcel of the same movement; it was only a matter
of emphasis. The house church movement is more focused on the house
meeting with a wide variety of beliefs dealing with responsibility,
government and ministry. There is no single vision or revelation that
identifies the house group movement. The only two things that seem to
connect them together is the distaste for the institutional church and
the need to meet in homes. The house church movement is plagued with
many problems also. Everyone is an expert and there is the same sense
of being on track for the next move of God. Like all the other
preceding movements, those involved feel a sense of being "right" and
on the edge of what God is trying to do. Unconsciously it has led to
much pointing the finger and judging one another.
If a group of believers numbering at least 100 meet
in a home, they are classified as being a miniature institutional
church. If a group has a leader to oversee the group, they are
fundamentally a one-man show with clergy and laity limitations. If we
use folding chairs instead of couches, we are not really a house
church. if someone teaches on Sunday, to some, it is not really a
house church. To others, if we don't all participate in the sharing in
the meeting, we are not a house church. Our thinking has produced just
enough scriptural understanding to bias us from the real truth. We
hang on to certain verses and interpret others. Ideas and opinions
abound like the rest of the movements before it. All the preceding
movements had strong biblical foundations and principles
We use examples like the China house church
movement and do not know or understand the difference between them and
us..
I met a brother from China who was a leader, though
he denied titles. he spoke of home meetings attended well in the
hundreds. They had joint meetings in the woods and fields where many
thousands of men and women came together to worship for hours; some
brothers would teach for hours. They experienced two things that we do
not experience: God's manifested power (many healings and
deliverances) and God's presence (people swept up for hours in
worship). I know that many will say we experience those things; but,
to be honest, we don't, not on the level they do. Most of them would
meet five times a week. They were closely bonded together because they
did not cram all their spirituality into one or two comfortable
meetings. I am convinced that they are closer to the New Testament
model than we are. Why? They have the right material, humble, broken
and guileless people. They are not caught up in a method or aspect of
the New Testament Church, they love Jesus and one another and God
shows His approval by attending their meetings.
The house church movement is having all the same
symptoms as the movements that preceded it. You ask "why?" it is
because we have the same material…. Self! The heart of the American
Christian has not really been touched and thoroughly changed to
facilitate God's glory. Love is often mentioned, but its humility and
commitment is rarely understood in the light of God's covenant with
His body. We keep looking for that one great teaching, that one final
movement, that one book, that one method and that one answer that will
solve all the problems and usher us into His Glory. "We" will be a
part of that final movement of God.
Note:
My distaste for the institutional church is seen in
the article "The real church." The institutional church has become an
influence that is undermining personal responsibility, fellowship,
body ministry and an authentic salvation experience based on
repentance.
Material
By now you are probably saying to yourself: "who is
this guy? who does he think he is? where does he come from?" I have
been a part of all the preceding movements and can honestly say that
we have not really changed our hearts toward our brothers one iota. We
try to be humble, but we live in a limited revelation. I remember
something that Charles Simpson once said: "Heresy is making a part the
whole." That is what every movement has done.
In every movement the problems have been the same:
superior attitude, a superior sense of being right, excluding others,
a feeling of being on the cutting edge, a failure to truly enjoy
fellowship with other believers who don't agree with us, an
unwillingness to participate in fellowship unless all "our" criteria
is met. Many house church people will not fellowship with other
believers unless they can go to a meeting with 20 people meeting in a
home, on couches, no leader, no teacher and coffee and donuts after
the meeting. I've met people who will not listen to a minister unless
he has the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Others will not fellowship with
someone that doesn't have a covering. Others believe you must use the
King James version bible or you are a "New Ager." How absolutely
ridiculous!
many think they are better and more right and see
themselves as already being a part of God's final restoration…. or
whatever you choose to call it. We strain out the gnat (squabble over
minor issues and words) and swallow the camel (ignore personal
responsibility, love and unity). Many argue that if we are in a
restoration, we should not have any leaders or outside ministries.
Others argue whether women can minister or crying children can be a
part of the meeting. Our being "right" has kept us from joining
together as an army to fight the real enemy…Satan! The house church
movement has limited itself by the same tunnel vision as all the rest
of the movements. Though its concept is right, its heart is
wrong. I believe the Charismatics had truth, the discipleship movement
had truth, the communal believers had truth, the restoration of the
five-fold ministry had truth and the house church movement also has
truth… but all fall victim to the same symptoms. I have heard the
"exact" same language and attitudes in all the movements: arrogance,
judgmental attitude, stereo-typing, bias, categorizing,
we-are-the-remnant attitude, isolationism, divisiveness, gossip,
back-biting, prejudice and on and on.
We are plagued with a Laodicean heart and mindset.
We still have control our lives: our ego's, our ideas, our
independence and pride. Whenever we build, we build with more
sectarianism than with humility. Division, competition and superiority
is woven in our personalities; it is deceiving us from building
together and coming together simply as brothers and sisters. We've
lost the need for serious prayer and unity. We have lost the
simplicity of the gospel and the centrality of the cross and Christ.
We don't know what it means to lay down our lives for one another. We
keep getting the same "type" of people in these movements, with the
same attitudes and with the same plaguing results.
We don't have a movement problem, we have a
"material" problem. we lack the essentials of humility, faith and
love. Disagreement abounds! "Answers" abound! The church is at war
with itself. We are loaded with sin, unbelievers, make-believers,
false believers and deceivers. We are too proud to come together and
pray for God to make us one. We are caught up, each in his own
thinking and way of life; these chains have bound us to a fruitless
expression of God's glory. Talk of our sickness abounds, the demons
laugh rather than tremble, sickness and fears plague us, God has
permitted it all because we are asleep.
"'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need
a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor,
blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the
fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so
you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your
eyes, so you can see." (Rev 3:17-18, NIV)
Did the early believers have some of these
problems?
Which group is right? It is often said, "They don't
flow with our group and doctrine."
Luke 9:49-50, "And John answered and said, 'Master,
we saw one casting out devils in your name; and we forbad him, (Why?)
because he follows not with us'. And Jesus said to him, 'Forbid
him not: for he that is not against us is for us.'"
Who is the greatest? We hear others say, "We are on
the cutting edge, we are the greatest, the remnant!"
Luke 9:46-48. "Then there arose a reasoning
among them, which of them should be greatest. And Jesus,
perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by
him, And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name
receives me: and whosoever shall receive me receives him that sent me:
for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great."
We need a servant's heart. Sad how we look for the
personal benefits, "What benefit is in it for me, will I be
recognized?"
Luke 22:25-27, "And he said to them, The kings of
the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise
authority upon them are called benefactors (the leaders benefit
from the people). But you shall not be so: but he that is
greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief,
as he that serves. For whether is greater, he that sits at meat,
or he that serves? is not he that sits at meat? but I am among you as
he that serves."
Someone has translated verse 27 this way, "Better
the leader be servant than the one who sits at tables. For I have come
among you not as one who sits at tables, but as on who serves. And you
have grown through my service."
The Real New Testament Church
The early church had no method of power. God was so
pleased with their obedience, their worship and unity, that He
responded to them as close friends.
Acts 2:42-44, "Everyone was filled with awe, and
many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles." NIV
They had leaders who were concerned with the sheep
and they who their lives down for the sheep.
1 Peter 5:1-4, "To the elders among you, I appeal
as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who
also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's
flock that is under your care, serving as overseers-not because
you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not
greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those
entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the
Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will
never fade away." NIV
They didn't have a limited house church doctrine.
Acts 5:41-42, "Day after day, in the temple
courts and from house to house, they never
stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that
Jesus is the Christ." NIV
Acts 19:9-12, "But when some were hardened and
disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he (Paul)
departed from them (the hardened and disobedient), and separated the
disciples, reasoning daily in the school (With the
church, disciples) of Tyrannus. And this continued for the space of
two years; so that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word
of the Lord (certainly not from homes), both Jews and Greeks. And
God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: insomuch that unto
the sick were carried away from his body handkerchiefs or aprons, and
the evil spirits went out."
The early church met publicly and in homes. They
had fellowship, unity, love, obedience; they prayed, they met daily,
they had power and they had His presence. They had small groups, large
groups, but all were one. They had direction and leadership. They
encouraged one another, they manifested the gifts in their meeting,
they had teaching, giving , supporting and exhorting.
We have tried to cram all of those Spiritual goods
into a once-a-week or twice-a-week meeting in a house. The sad thing
that we constantly hear from people is "I never heard of your
meetings." not so with the early church, they came out of the walls
and joined together to meet.
The prisons should know us. the nursing homes
should know us. The poor should know us. The hungry should know us.
Our communities should hear our voice and see our helping hands. Jesus
made it clear that His kingdom was not some thing done in a corner. He
stated that we should be as a light shinning throughout the world.
"You are the light of the world. A
city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a
lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it
gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before
men in such a way that they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Matt 5:14-16, NAS)
The church needs the ministry of the evangelist to
preach in our cities. We need the apostles to shake the world and the
church. We need teachers to challenge us to walk in truth. We need
pastors (elders) to lead and oversee the local church in the city. We
need prophets that are hearing from God. God is wanting to express His
life and love through a full demonstration of His glorious church. He
wants to turn the world right side up. The church was never intended
to be a spiritual bless-me club. We need a full awakening in these
last days. "Lord give us the vessels that we have not seen in past
movements."
I have not covered the institutional church, simply
because it fails from salvation to discipleship, from structure to
power; it has all the qualities of a harlot. It has no true biblical
foundations or movement that can account for its existence. It is
falsely beautiful, it is entertaining rather than challenging, it
remains indifferent and unrelational. But for those who desire to go
on in the Lord, it is going to cost them everything. They must be
willing to come together to seriously pray and weep for God to move.
If God does not build the house, those who labor, labor in vain.
You may have to sit on folding chairs, meet with a
hundred people stuffed into homes, gather in large public meeting
places like parks and schools. You might have to give up your leisure
and quit complaining and minister to your brothers and show some
responsibility. You might have to pray that God will give us men to
lead us and challenge the existing church and the world. Give us men
of power and anointing. Unity, love, obedience, humility, fellowship….
give us all of it and in balance! Give us the material to build with!
Conclusion
As a further footnote, there have been many aspects
of the New Testament church that many have attempted to restore in
order to bring in reformation, recovery or whatever you choose to call
it, but there are others aspects of the church that we have not
recovered. The church in America is blindly cursed with a Laodicean
heart, there are many things we will not attempt to recover nor
experience, these areas are as follows: meeting daily, having all
things common, having great power, being of one heart, and last but
not least, they sold their possessions and distributed to those in
need. The Laodicean church idolizes independence and personal
possessions. Many say the giving up of ones possessions was not
normative, I give you the scriptures of why I disagree.
Jesus commanded it as a response of His giving us
the kingdom.
Luke 12:32-33, " Do not fear, little flock, for it
is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell
what you have and give alms." NKJV
To the rich young ruler, Jesus replied:
Matt 19:21, "Jesus said to him, 'If you want to be
perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor..'" NKJV
It was one of the first expression of the church.
Acts 2:43-45, "Now all who believed were together,
and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and
goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need." NKJV
Acts 4:32-35, "Now the multitude of those who
believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that
any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in
common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor
was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of
lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that
were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet; and they distributed
to each as anyone had need." NKJV
To the churches in Macedonia.
2 Cor 8:1-6, "That in a great trial of affliction
the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the
riches of their liberality (in their giving). For I bear witness that
according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they
were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would
receive the gift (money)and the fellowship of the ministering to the
saints (poor in Jerusalem). And not only as we had hoped, but they
first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God."
It is a natural response of the Holy Spirit's
residence in an individual.
1 John 3:17-18, "But whoever has this world's
goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him,
how does the love of God abide in him?" NKJV
I am not suggesting that we do any of the above, I
am only suggesting that we all have a long way to go. Let us not be
high minded in the aspect of restoration that we find ourselves, the
final recovery will come from God to men of brokenness and humility.
It will contain all the fullness of the expression of His church in
great power, bearing witness to Jesus' resurrection.
Let us not be so quick to judge, we all have a long
way to go. God has not put His approval of His power and presence on
any movement at this point. Let us stop fighting and start laboring in
the field where God has called us. We have not seen the final move
yet. I pray that we will not get so settled in the move we are in and
miss the final one yet to come. It has been a known fact, those that
have participated in the previous move have always persecuted those in
the present move.
Are you of the spiritual materiel that God can
build with? Does your life demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, a holy
life, a life laid down for Christ sake and for His church?
"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout
the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those
whose heart is loyal to Him." 2 Chron 16:9
Amen
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