How to Start (or Join) a Christian Group (Part 2)

"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."  Matthew 18:20 NIV

"If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  Romans 10:9 NIV

A Christian Group is a church in a specific context for a specific purpose.  By church I mean "two or three gathered in Jesus' name and Jesus with them."  Again, if two or three believers are together in Jesus' name, He is there with them, and they are a church, or the church, wherever they are.  So we have to know what it means to gather "in Jesus' name."

TO GATHER IN JESUS' NAME MEANS TO BE UNDER HIS AUTHORITY.

The name of Jesus is above every name as far as authority goes. Which person has more authority: An officer who says, "This is the police, put your hands up," or a genuine and true prophet who says, "This is a message from the Lord?"  Actually, both have authority from God, because "there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist have been appointed by God," according to the apostle Paul.  Yet the name of the officer (or the government) is less in authority than the name of the Lord.  Both the officer and the prophet aren't speaking in their own names.  That's the point.  The authority and power behind the name they use is the key to the authority they have. 

In the same way, when two or three are gathered in Jesus' name, they aren't gathering in their own names, individually or collectively.  They aren't gathering in Calvin's name or Armenian's name.  They aren't gathering in Luther's name or the Pope's name.  They gather in the name of the Lord, under His authority, under the authority of His Spirit.  They gather under His authority and for His glory.

TO GATHER IN JESUS' NAME MEANS TO SEEK HIS GLORY.

This means He is the focus and center of attention.  He gets all of the credit for the meeting and the contents of the meeting.  Not Calvin.  Not Armenian.  Not Charlotte Mason.  (Each of these names, and any other name I mention other than Jesus', represent founders of a particular ideology that some Christian groups adhere to.) 

All of this means that when there is a dispute in the group, Jesus has the final word, and His honor is above all.  If what Charlotte Mason says doesn't match what Jesus says, then Charlotte Mason is disregarded, not Jesus.  The group wouldn't submit to and honor Charlotte Mason above Jesus; a Christian group of homeschooling mothers honor Jesus supremely and exclusively, submitting to and obeying Him no matter the cost. 

Yet this is the same for any and every gathering of two or more believers in Jesus's name, which leads us to how we start or join a Christian group.

CLICK HERE FOR PART 3.

How to Start (or Join) A Christian Group (Part 1)

"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."  Matthew 18:20 NIV

I've noticed issues in Christian groups where believers are in conflict with each other.  Fundamental and essential conflicts.  Issues that deal with the essence of who Jesus is and why Jesus came.  This shouldn't be the case.  If we agree on anything, it should be Jesus.  But we don't.  We start or join Christian groups with little to no regard for who Jesus is in various situations.  I feel compelled by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus to address this.  I pray that everyone who reads it will be encouraged and convicted as I am encouraged and convicted.

First, what exactly is a "Christian Group?"  Or more to the point, what is the difference between a Christian Group and a church?  I don't see any difference from the Lord's perspective, other than one is called a Christian Group, and one is called a church, usually by a specific denominational creed.  For example, what's the difference between Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and Alethia Baptist Church in Macon, Georgia?  (I was a member of both, by the way.)  Of course, IVCF was centered and focused on "campus ministry," but so was Campus Crusade for Christ.  Alethia was focused on a particular neighborhood or area in Macon, though its members came from other areas in Macon.  Alethia focused on Bible Study Methods and its minister was a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary.  IVCF had various leaders from various church backgrounds, but their focus, as distinguished from Campus Crusade for Christ, was on small groups and accountability, whereas CCFC focused on outreach. 

So the focus of christian groups distinguish them, whether we deal with churches, campus ministries, or christian homeschooling groups.  But consider this:  though each group has a different purpose or focus, if each is a Christian group, shouldn't they all be gathered in Jesus' name?  Shouldn't Jesus actually be there with them by His Spirit? 

CLICK HERE FOR PART 2.

How to Start (or Join) a Christian Group (Part 3)

"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."  Matthew 18:20 NIV

"If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  Romans 10:9 NIV

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:20-21

Both churches and Christian groups consist of two or three gathered in Jesus' name with Him in their midst.  They are gathered under his authority and for his glory, in obedience to Jesus, for the honor of Jesus.  This is by His Spirit in each of them and with all of them.

Because this is true, the two or three shouldn't start a christian group or church unless it is under Jesus' authority for His glory.  In other words, He is actually the one who starts the group or church.  It's his group.   It's his church.  Any so called "by laws" should only be an exposition of the gospel of Jesus Christ, in which Jesus is Lord and Savior.  Each member honors and obeys the Lord, and when any member dishonors or disobeys the Lord, that member is lovingly, gently, yet firmly confronted, first in private, then with two witnesses, finally before the group, according to Jesus' instructions.  There should be only one fundamental problem that ever comes up in the group:  Jesus is somehow being dishonored or disobeyed.  He is Lord.  And because He is also our Savior, from sin and from sinning, we can be reconciled to Him and each other whenever there is a problem, whatever the problem is.  We can be forgiven and the problem forgotten as if it never happened, thanks to Jesus.

Yet in America, and amongst American Christians, it's usually not this simple.  We war and fight over our individual and collective opinions.  We fight about whether we are true to Calvin, Armenian, or Charlotte Mason.  We want to be "Charlotte Mason Purist," allowing no deviation from Charlotte Mason, as if she died for our sins or rose from the dead. 

Our allegiance is to Christ alone, and where our leaders or founders deviate from Christ, we should deviate from them.  After all, Jesus is Lord.  He started whatever group we're in, right? 

But how do we know He started the group?

By His Spirit, as it is written, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

Let's say the Spirit leads you, the one reading my words right now, to start a group.  How would you know He was leading you, and not you just coming up with a group all willy-nilly, wanting followers?  Because the Spirit is not you, and you are not the Spirit.  It really is that simple.  No one in scripture had to question whether the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was leading someone because God Himself made it abundantly clear.  In fact, that is consistent with God, from Cain to John in the Book of Revelation.  God Himself honored Abel's sacrifice and dishonored Cain's.  This was clear to Cain himself.  God took Enoch so that Enoch didn't see death.  Who else could've done that?  God came to Noah, and He alone could give Noah instructions to build an ark to save his family.  Who else could cause a 100 year old man and a 90 year old woman to have a child?  We can go on and on.  From, Isaac, to Jacob, to Joseph, to Moses, to Joshua, to the judges, to the prophets, to the kings of Israel, to John the Baptist, to the Apostles and early disciples,  God always made his callings known.  The same is true today, because the Lord does not change.  "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

If Jesus is leading you by His Spirit to start a group or a church, to lead two or three who will gather in Jesus' name, believe me, you will know it with absolute certainly, and so will the two or three.  Can you say that about any Christian group you have started or joined?  Why are you part of the church or christian group that you are a member of?  Can you say with certainty that God called the leader of your group as surely as He called Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt?

"Well, we all can't have burning bush callings," some may say.  No we can't.  But we all can have the witness of the Holy Spirit, as it is written, "The Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we are the children of God."  It is also written, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God."  We can clearly see the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit in our lives, and in the lives of those we follow.  So even though we may not have a burning bush calling, we have the same Spirit that came upon Moses, Joshua, and the elders of Israel.  Paul said that if we don't have the Spirit, we don't belong to Jesus.  This is especially true of those we follow in churches or Christian groups; it is true of you and me if we presume to lead anyone in the Lord.
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How do we start or join a Christian Group?  By following the Spirit of the Lord Jesus.