"Believers at Large"
From a Reader
From a Reader
"Hi, Buff. At the end of January, we left our church to become 'believers at large,' like yourself. You can only imagine the firestorm this caused in our lives. February has been a miserable month because of the social and psychological pressures we endured. But God led us to a group of believers here in our area who meet in homes. He is so good! Be encouraged. You have helped me more than you will ever know."—Russell.
This good brother and his wife will now experience a level of freedom they may not have experienced before. Yes, they'll probably be branded certain names by partisan believers for abandoning "Churchianity." They will be "fugitives on the run," so to speak. But I would remind this good brother and his wife there is no change without pain. Just ask Jesus and John the forerunner of Jesus—as well as James, the Lord's brother, who was thrust through with a sword.
I like to think of John, the harbinger of Jesus, as being an iconoclast—a rebel—and a "believer at large." He did his own thing, as God's Spirit led him. His was "a "voice in the wilderness" of humanity. He lost his head in the long-run, but he never once relented or veered from his message of reform. May God grant us John's courage and resolution.
I don't think I'm off target by placing Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, and other partisan segregation proponents in the same class Jesus placed the Pharisees and Sadducees of His day, for our modern-day factional patriarchs, too, reject believers who are not of their theological color.
I have never taught, or even implied, that all Christians should be believers at large. I have applied that expression to myself because I strive to function independently of all denominations, sects, cults, and religious parties—insofar as being under their partisan leadership and control. For decades my target has been a freethinker, an independent researcher, and a non-conformist inasmuch as adhering to man's partisan doctrines and hankerings.
Let it be understood, however, that rejecting religious parties does not translate into rejecting our brothers and sisters who are captives to the partisan "powers that be," for we all were once captives. It denotes that we have "coughed up" the indigestible I call "churchianity." Jesus died for us—and for our brothers and sisters. He did not die for the sectarian "system" or institutional church. The sectarian parties of His day, the "church" of the Pharisees and the "church" of the Sadducees, and a few other religious parties, nailed Him to a Roman tree. The dire situation would probably not change if He were alive in the flesh today.
So, yes, reject the divisive regimen but accept its victims. For after all, we, too, were victims and pawns at one time. Let's try to work among our churchly captive brothers for reform, when feasible—not as divisive reformers, but as change agents, emissaries, and unifiers. We may wind up being loners on occasions, but Jesus told His disciples who tried to restrict a loner, a "believer at large," from casting out demons, "Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able to speak evil of me. For the one who is not against us is for us" [Mark 9:38-41].
This good brother and his wife will now experience a level of freedom they may not have experienced before. Yes, they'll probably be branded certain names by partisan believers for abandoning "Churchianity." They will be "fugitives on the run," so to speak. But I would remind this good brother and his wife there is no change without pain. Just ask Jesus and John the forerunner of Jesus—as well as James, the Lord's brother, who was thrust through with a sword.
I like to think of John, the harbinger of Jesus, as being an iconoclast—a rebel—and a "believer at large." He did his own thing, as God's Spirit led him. His was "a "voice in the wilderness" of humanity. He lost his head in the long-run, but he never once relented or veered from his message of reform. May God grant us John's courage and resolution.
I don't think I'm off target by placing Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, and other partisan segregation proponents in the same class Jesus placed the Pharisees and Sadducees of His day, for our modern-day factional patriarchs, too, reject believers who are not of their theological color.
I have never taught, or even implied, that all Christians should be believers at large. I have applied that expression to myself because I strive to function independently of all denominations, sects, cults, and religious parties—insofar as being under their partisan leadership and control. For decades my target has been a freethinker, an independent researcher, and a non-conformist inasmuch as adhering to man's partisan doctrines and hankerings.
Let it be understood, however, that rejecting religious parties does not translate into rejecting our brothers and sisters who are captives to the partisan "powers that be," for we all were once captives. It denotes that we have "coughed up" the indigestible I call "churchianity." Jesus died for us—and for our brothers and sisters. He did not die for the sectarian "system" or institutional church. The sectarian parties of His day, the "church" of the Pharisees and the "church" of the Sadducees, and a few other religious parties, nailed Him to a Roman tree. The dire situation would probably not change if He were alive in the flesh today.
So, yes, reject the divisive regimen but accept its victims. For after all, we, too, were victims and pawns at one time. Let's try to work among our churchly captive brothers for reform, when feasible—not as divisive reformers, but as change agents, emissaries, and unifiers. We may wind up being loners on occasions, but Jesus told His disciples who tried to restrict a loner, a "believer at large," from casting out demons, "Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able to speak evil of me. For the one who is not against us is for us" [Mark 9:38-41].
