An Open Letter to Stay-at-Home Christians

Note: The following fictional open letter is addressed to the growing demographic of self-professing Christians who prefer to worship at home than publicly in a fellowship of other Christian believers at church.

Dear Eugene,

I want to thank you for the kind email that you wrote me recently after we met by God's providence at the Holy Grounds cafe last Thursday. I believe you are right that it was "a divine appointment" that we ran into one another, as it afforded us an opportunity to renew a conversation that we begun months ago.

Although you have chosen to no longer worship with us at First Avenue Reformed Church, I was greatly encouraged to hear that your confidence in the grace of our Lord still remains strong. You described yourself as experiencing a new joy and freedom that you had not known in a long time. For this, I am grateful.

I have to admit that part of me was deeply jealous when you described the relief that you have felt since you walked away from the frictions of the Deacon board! Our work in serving the hurting persons of our congregation is no doubt messy. Sometimes hurting people can be the cruelest of all! Since you left, those tensions have not been fully resolved, and I admit that some of the other men you mentioned are as difficult to get along with as ever. We are such an imperfect lot! In this sense, the church will always be "full of hypocrites" as you alleged.

But are not these very tensions also part of our sanctification? It is true that you were wronged by our brother Carl. I have had to apologize for our many failures as a board and as a church much more often than I would like. It is my experience, however, that those same conflicts are really the necessary and silent hand of our Master Carpenter applying His rasp and sandpaper to our lives in order to refine us.

This prompts me to ask an important question: if you continue to worship alone in your home to avoid these kinds of conflict, would you not also be missing out on the joys of their resolution? In other words, how do you intend to practice forgiveness if you seek to avoid all those whom you may actually have to one day forgive? Is not our own Christian walk made more perfect by those whose walk is not?

Eugene, I too covet those times of personal prayer and devotional worship that you described taking place in the "prayer closet." Jesus commanded as much. You are right to cite Matthew 6:6 in cultivating a "personal relationship" with Jesus. But I don't think we must choose between "personal" and "corporate" as though they were mutually exclusive.

True, those times alone with Christ in the secret place are invaluable. But I have to confess to you that I am doubtful that our Lord meant those should be our only times of worship! Are we not commanded to worship alongside others in Scripture (Hebrews 10:25)? How then shall you fulfill the dozens of "one another" texts in Paul's epistles if not in the context of a local church like those to whom Paul originally wrote? Is not the first word of the Lord's Prayer the plural possessive, "Our"?

You mentioned that the Greek word "church" does not mean a building, nor does worship require any certain number of people in order to be authentic. You even quoted Matthew 18:19 when the Lord exhorted us that "where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them." But come now Eugene, surely you don't think that your reluctance to submit to church membership or the body of elders is justified by this text, do you? In context, my brother, this passage is in regard to church discipline; a "severe grace" of God that I am afraid is quite difficult to impose upon oneself!

While we are speaking of the means of grace, how do you intend to practice the Lord's Supper while alone, if at all? Or baptism? Unless you have jettisoned these practices too as "formal," "religious," and "institutional!" Are these not the very signs and seals of God's grace that Christ has given--even commanded--us to perform in his name? Are they not impossible when alone?

Yes, I am sure that the online sermons of Piper and Driscoll that you have grown so fond of are a means of grace as well, so to speak. You were correct when you said they are a blessing to millions. But that's just the problem right there. No matter how wonderful these gifted men of God are (and we thank God for their ministries) they will never know you, nor can you ever be known to them. As gifted as they are, they won't be able to correct you when you go astray or exercise discipline in your life if your doctrine should go amiss.

Perhaps that's what's so alluring.

Your brother in Christ,

George


Matthew Everhard is the Senior Pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville, Florida. Please consider following me on Twitter @matt_everhard

Wisdom on Steroids: Conversations with J. I. Packer (Video)

This is a rare treat.  Seasoned writer, theologian and professor, J.I. Packer answers questions covering the topics of sanctification, the mortification of sin, preaching and even gives advice to writers.  Sit for a while and glean what you can.

Wisdom on Steroids: Conversations with J. I. Packer

How Does Exercise Relate to Sanctification?

Interesting discussion with John Piper and Bob Glenn on how exercise/sleep delves into our personal sanctification... Be blessed.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/how-does-physical-exercise-relate-to-sanctification

Drew Taylor
RTS Orlando 3rd Year MDiv Student

Striking Similarities or Mere Coincidences: Do You Resemble the Master?

Lincoln and Kennedy

One of the pervading urban legends in American culture is the list of some forty plus similarities between John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln. Conspiracy theorists love this kind of stuff! The list is so striking that some have wondered if there isn’t some mystical meaning behind the number of uncanny similarities between the two dead presidents. For instance...

• Both have seven letters in their last names.  Spooky right? Don't worry, it gets better.
• Both were elected to the House  of Representatives in 46', one hundred years apart of course. Both were elected to the presidency in 60'.  
•  Both had VP's and successors named Johnson, born in 08’.
• Both presidents were shot in the head, from behind, sitting with their wives, in the presence of another couple, on a Friday.
• Lincoln supposedly had a secretary named Kennedy who warned him not to go to the theater; Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln who warned him not to go to Dallas.
•  Lincoln was shot in Ford’s Theater; Kennedy was shot in a Lincoln-Ford automobile.
• John Wilkes Booth ran from a theater to a warehouse; Lee Harvey Oswald ran from a warehouse to a theater.
• Both of their assassins were killed before they went to trial.

While we must acknowledge that these coincidences are startling, there should be no coincidence whatever in our resemblance to Jesus Christ. This should be the intentional goal of our sanctification.

The more closely and intimately we walk with our Lord Jesus Christ in discipleship and sanctification, the more we will actually begin to emulate and resemble Him. In short, we must become like our master.

Let me be clear. I am not saying that if you are an obedient Christian, you too will grow out your hair and beard, wear a linen ephod, and end up with an appointment with a martyr’s stake. I don’t expect that the persecution and death of our Lord Jesus will be recapitulated in your life. But I am saying that the more you begin to resemble Jesus in action and affection, the more the world will view you as it viewed our Savior.

This is expressly taught by our Lord Jesus Himself repeatedly:

·  Just as I have loved you, so you must love one another (John 13:34 ESV).

·  Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do (John 14:12 ESV).

·  If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you (John 15:18f ESV).

In fact, the very word “disciple” is the Greek word mathetes (from whence we get the word mathematics) meaning a learner, i.e. one who learns—not just taking on knowledge—but also taking on the character of the master.

Romans 8:29 summarizes this truth thusly, “For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (emphasis added).

Four Questions

Let me conclude by asking you some questions that you might apply directly to yourself.

1. To your knowledge, is your resemblance to the Master, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, growing, stagnant, or fading? Do you see in yourself more and more resemblance to His character and conduct? His actions and inclinations? Or are you just another poor caricature of culture?

2. If you answered yes to the first question, do other people recognize this in you in growing measure? That’s really important. The possibility of self-deception is lurking dangerously. It may not be that you are actually being transformed more and more into the image of Christ, but simply that you are reading more and more of yourself into the Jesus of the Gospels.  Oh how subtle that pernicious error is! The opinion of others is critical in this regard.

3. If you answered yes to that question, proceed to the third. Do you find yourself sharing the affections (deep emotions) that Jesus held?  If we are going to walk with Jesus one step further, His affections must become ours. We must love what He loves, hate what He hates, have pity on what He pities, be angered by what angers Him etc. To be a Christian is to feel acutely! Does your heart not weep for the lost? Does your heart not soar for the glory of God! Does your heart not rejoice at the mention of His name? It is impossible to be a Christian and to be remain indifferent to the lost condition of the world.

4. Finally, if you’ve answered yes to all three questions so far, proceed to the last: Is this resemblance to Jesus causing you more and more tension and conflict with our lie-enamored culture? Do you find yourself more and more unsettled in your view of the world, or do you find yourself quite contented and numb? If it is the latter, return to Q#1 and re-evaluate.