Hi all,
"Abnormal Christianity! All around me, everything I see, is abnormal Christianity."
I
longed for the amazing experiences with the Lord people had through the
30 years covered in the book of Acts, but didn't see any of that in my
'aquarium' of the faith. To me it was clear Acts is more than history,
it details 30 years of normal Christianity.
Yet
all around me all I saw was the goofy or the dry as toast boring. No
where did I see 'real' people, mature in character and life, balanced in
their walk, knowing how to walk in the Spirit - Christians as depicted
in Acts and mentioned in Paul's letters.
The arguments
The mind tries to find ways to justify why Christianity today doesn't resemble that seen in Acts:
That was only for the first century to get the story of Jesus started
- But I thought; Aren't we in need of as dramatic a gospel now as then,
with so many more millions upon millions of people on the earth? And if
God is Judge of all, isn't He willing to provide evidence of the truth
of Jesus now as He did then?
Now people have the written Word, so we don't need signs and wonders. But
the Lord had to see down through time to our day, yet He still said,
'Those who believe in my name will lay hands on the sick, cast out
demons...." (Note, that is not, 'Those who believe, in my name will lay
hands...' but rather 'Those who believe in my name will lay hands on...'
This understanding is consistent with Acts 3:16 where Peter said it was
through his faith in the name of Jesus the lame man was healed)
One by one
Arguments
rose in my mind, and one by one the Word had an answer. And then I read
Acts 1:1, which ended all arguments, all efforts at justifying the
abnormality around me, case closed, period, paragraph, over and out: "In my earlier book Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach."
A
flood of revelation raced through me. Luke had written the gospel of
Luke to a Roman named Theophilus, as seen in Luke 1:1-4, "Dear
Theophilus...I have therefore decided...to set the life of Jesus down
for you myself in proper order..." (Note: Luke is the only author of a
gospel to state he is writing in chronological order the life of Jesus,
and Acts continues his chronological order of events.)
The
gospel of Luke is the first part of a 2 part work walking the reader
through the life of Jesus in chronological order, Acts is part 2 of that
volume. Luke's gospel ends with Jesus ascending to heaven, not to be
seen physically until His return (Though He has been seen by many
through the centuries in the Spirit).
Yet he opens Acts saying this: "I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach." The gospel of Luke was just what Jesus began to do and teach, meaning Acts is the continuation of all He BEGAN.
Through the centuries the abnormal became normal, sadly
"Abnormal
Christianity. All around me, everything I see, is abnormal
Christianity. Acts is normal. Acts is the continuation of what Jesus
began to do and teach. There is an unbroken string from the gospel
ministry of Jesus, to the spiritual ministry of Jesus in Acts, to my
life today - and the disciples continued all the signs and wonders Jesus
began to do, and taught what He taught - Jesus is still continuing to
do what He began to do and teach even to my day. I am part of an
unbroken string through 2,000 years of all that Jesus began to do and
teach."
That
was what I said to myself when I realized Acts was the continuation of
what was begun...and nothing around me resembled that continuation of
what Jesus began to do and teach. Acts is normal Christianity. I longed
for that! I wanted to be part of the continuation of what Jesus began to
do and teach!
I
couldn't do that in any aquarium because every aquarium of the faith
had deviated from Acts. I had to swim in the open ocean of the Spirit
just as the apostles did, to continue the ministry of the Lord as they
did. I was finally willing to let my reasoning's, my emotions, my Bible
education, all I thought was 'right' in my understanding of the Word,
actually submit to the Word in context as it was intended.
If
I was to be a part of what He began, I needed to rearrange my thinking,
realizing the apostles were just walking out what Jesus began, so I
needed to do what they did so I could know Him like they did, and see
the signs and wonders like they did. And possibly turn my world upside
down in Christ like they did.
How they did 'church'
So
when the argument arose trying to explain away why they met in homes
for the first 300 years after Pentecost as being due to persecution, it
melted away. Meeting in homes is a continuation of all that Jesus began
to do and teach.
Many
if not most of His miracles and bringing people to Him were done in
homes - From water into wine, to 2 blind men healed as he ate, to
healing meetings at the door of Peter's mother in law's house, to dinner
in the home of Simon the Leper, to calling height-challenged Zacchaeus
down from the tree to have dinner in his home - the gospel story was
shared in and around homes. But it is deeper than that, the first house
church was Adam, Eve, and the Lord in the garden, for where 2 or more
are gathered, He is in their midst, and throughout the Old Testament God
makes it clear the home is the centerpiece of learning of Him.
Then
I looked around the world and saw house churches popping up in every
nation whether Christians were persecuted or not, so that argument fell
by the way side quickly. God is moving in the relationships found in
family and homes.
Written to whom?
Then
I saw to whom the original letters were written, as detailed in Acts
and the end of some of Paul's letters: Priscilla & Aquila in Rome
and then Ephesus, Justus in Corinth, Jason in Thessalonica, Lydia in
Philippi, Philemon in Colossae, and a woman name Nymphas in Laodecia -
all mentioned as hosting church meetings in their homes. Our New
Testament consists of letters initially sent to churches who met in
these people's homes. (Acts 16:15, 40; 17:5; 18:7; 20:20; Rom 16: 3-5; I
Cor 16:8, 19; Col 4:15; Philemon v1-2)
Out of context
Suddenly
I had the kind of horrible revelation one only receives when they
realize the key foundation their whole life was built upon was all
wrong, all their assumptions wrong, and all they had believed about
someone was skewed in the wrong direction. All my life I had applied the
New Testament to the auditorium setting when in fact the whole of the
New Testament was written by apostles doing house church, to people
doing house church, and applied in their lives in home based meetings.
The
place for the celebrated '5-fold' is in the home. The place for the
gifts of the Spirit is in the home. The place for the Lord's Supper is
in the home - all I held near and dear to my heart I had been lifting
out of context and applied to an auditorium setting - completely
different than intended! All efforts of mental gymnastics to justify why
I did church in the auditorium, to prove why I could do church
differently than the continuation of the ministry of Jesus as seen in
Acts, ended. Instead of trying to justify myself, I repented.
I
was totally dejected, horrified and loathing myself, completely
repenting, apologizing to the Lord over and over for twisting what He
had begun to do and teach into a form of my own design. Suddenly I saw
it - all those aquariums of the faith were truly man-made, while the
family and home was God-made; He built the garden of Eden and the first
family, He did not make the auditoriums we've had the last 1,700 years.
Meeting in homes was God's design,
He
made the home and ministered in homes, that's why it is a continuation
of all Jesus began to do and teach! The horror of 25 years of my life
teaching my Lord's words out of context hit me hard - and I also did
disservice to Paul and Peter and John, James and Jude as I even asked
the Lord to apologize to them - I was so horrified at myself!
I
have had my own words lifted out of context and used by others in a way
not intended by me, often to attack me. One of the enemy's greatest
tools is lifting quotes or reading into another's words to stir up
strife - even testimony against the Lord at His trial was witnesses who
lifted out of context and twisted His words to be used against Him. I
had done a very similar thing by teaching the Word in the auditorium
context! He is SO merciful to have received me, anointed His Word as I
taught, even though the application of said Word was intended to be in
the close relationships seen in home-based churches.
I
realize God is big enough to fill any structure man gives Him so I find
no fault in others worshipping in the auditorium, but I can only speak
through the grace given to me, and for me, 25 years of carefully
constructed faith had to be rearranged. I would only be satisfied being
part of the continuation of Jesus' ministry as He started and the
apostles continued it - I had to be part of that open ocean of the
faith.
Next week; picking up and reassembling the pieces.
Blessings,
John Fenn
