Quote:
Originally Posted by Igzy
I'm not saying the believers will do it.
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Long before I ever met with the Local Churches, I had the same idea of NT fellowship placed on my heart. I thought how wonderful it would be to live out my faith just as the early church did. We would meet in homes; only us believers and Jesus standing in our midst like in John 20:19. There'd be no 501c3 building and no authoritarian clergy directing our every move. We would be free to worship as the spirit led.
It's what attracted me to the Local Churches.
The idea of living that NT life sounded great...until I realized something.
NT oneness didn't come easy. It was at a time Christians were being slaughtered for their faith. It was a violent time, no kumbaya for our early brothers and sisters. They were decorating Nero's lawn during the day and at night illuminating it. The element of survival was an essential part of what formed the early churches yet here and now there's relative peace. It made me wonder whether I really wanted that same church-life because along with that oneness I also would have to accept the threat of death looming over me. I realized I just couldn't have my cake and eat it too. When that persecution eventually comes, according to scripture, and there's the possibility we are finally meeting in tight knit groups within people's homes because of necessity, I don't think the thought of "how wonderful it is to meet like this" will enter our minds.
Scripture tells us the earth will be in such a chaotic state before Christ returns that nothing like it will have been since the beginning of creation. Christ Himself questioned whether he'd even find faith on the earth when he returns.
All that to say, I no longer have any expectations on how fellowship should outwardly appear. I completely leave this is God's hands. If He wants me to be alone with just Him, like John on Patmos or Paul in Arabia, then so be it. If he wants me to form a relationship with one other brother than so be it. If he wants me to go into a Baptist congregation and fellowship with a group of believers than so be it. I pray that God uses me however His needs require, not for my satisfaction but for His.
I let go of this NT OCOC ideal as something to work toward in this life. I don't see it as something that's shown to us in scripture for the future condition and structure of the church
in this age. Yet I can't let go of this idea completely, it's still stays with me as hope in my heart but I realize now that it's for something to come only after Christ returns.
I'm afraid that if you guys retain any expectations of what "The Normal Christian Life" should look like, then you may fall right back into another movement.
The NAR, for one, is just like the LC's but it's much more prevalent in Christendom. Yet, just like the LC's, it has no name and no official membership. It's like a ghost.The NAR doesn't call themselves the NAR. They are just groups of "regular" Christians living out the NT church life. These are people linked together by the same spirit and same mind working toward the same goal. You'll find them in the Baptist churches, you'll find them in the Lutheran churches, you'll even find them in the independent home churches.
I personally believe it's part of the biblical ecumenical end-times great falling away. The great falling away doesn't necessarily mean Christians will loose their faith altogether and stop calling themselves Christians, it means they'll fall away from the Jesus of scripture and buy into another Jesus and another gospel.
Test yourself. Test your beliefs and ideals in prayer and stay with scripture. The last thing we need is other men's concepts planted in our heads. If you do consider other ideas, test them thoroughly no matter how good they sound. Work on your personal and individual faith and relationship with God. This is what will protect you. All else will flow from that.