The Church That Christ Is Building

Mar 03, 2008
The Church That Christ Is Building
by Darin Hufford

((Although this is written by Darin Hufford, I agree with it whole heartedly and our thoughts on this are so cohesive, I feel that I could have written it myself. See also, "Know Ye Not"))

I am coming to the conclusion that the Church that Christ is building is something quite different than what we have been taught.

I can recall studying the "5 fold ministry" while in Bible collage. At the time we were taught that those five ingredients are what make up the Church. Where Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers are functioning together; there is Church.

Rather than understand that particular verse to mean that these things will exist in the Body of Christ world wide, we have foolishly interpreted it to mean they must exist "underneath one roof". I've even seen Churches advertise that they have the "5 fold ministry" in an effort to draw a larger congregation. There are articles and books written on whether or not these five things are working in today's Churches. When we build a new Church great time and attention is put into making sure that all the necessary ingredients are present when the doors open. The theory is that if we have an Apostle, a Prophet, an Evangelist, a Pastor and a teacher all within our congregation, we will have everything we need to "do Church". It's very much like opening your own McDonalds or Jack in the Box. Once everyone is in place, it's time for business. You need an owner, a manager, an assistant manager, a fleet of workers and you're good to go.

About two years ago I started taking a close look at my life and the lives of people around me. Everyone I know has their own personal circle of friends they hang out with. It may consist of family members, people from work, school, internet or their neighborhood. Every person I know has their "Inner Circle". It usually consists of between 5 to 10 people. They have other friends as well, but those people wouldn't be considered "Inner Circle" friends.

To be an "Inner Circle" friend, there just has to be something that causes a mutual connection between the two of you. There is no recipe for it, and one can never predict when it's going to happen. You can't force it, plan it, cultivate it or even command it to take place; it literally blooms totally on its own. I have found that only certain people can "jell" together on a level of deepness that is not necessarily shared with others. It's almost as though they were made specifically with the other person in mind. In a realm only known to God Himself, these people fit together like pieces of a puzzle. In fact, I believe that they were brought together by the Holy Spirit. Only He sees the inner structure of each individual soul and then finds another soul to connect snug and tight. It's unexplainable and cannot be manufactured or re-created by human hands in a million years.

I have an "Inner Circle" of about 10 people. These are folks that I'm super close with. Our connection didn't happen in an effort to fulfill some Christian obligation to meet together and perform relationship once a week. We all connect because we fit. We knew it the moment we first met. I have many other friends that I absolutely adore and love spending time with. I'd even die for them. They mean the world to me; however they are not in my "Inner Circle".

My four year old daughter brought out a "Hello Kitty" 100 piece jigsaw puzzle the other day and asked me to help her put it together. The box said that it was for ages 6 and up so I knew it wasn't going to come together without my help. As we were laying out the pieces and turning them all picture side up, my daughter started screaming with excitement. She had found two pieces that fit perfectly. The problem was that though they fit, they didn't go. The picture didn't come together. As I took a closer look at all the puzzle pieces I was surprised to find that many of them were the exact same shape. This is confusing for a four year old girl. All she is thinking about is getting the pieces to fit. She is two young to understand that there is a bigger picture being formed when all the pieces are in their proper place.

((This is the key for me.))

When man kind sets out to "build a Church" we are very much like my 4 year old daughter. We think that "fitting pieces together" is what it's all about. It's ironic that man would even set out to build Church when Christ Himself said, "I will build my Church". Only He has the blueprints and the final picture. The most we can do to build a Church is snap two pieces together that fit, but have nothing to do with each other when it come to the big picture. That is exactly what I see happening in the Institutional churches across America. They try and try with all their might to dictate and orchestrate relationship on their terms, and they do it all in the Name of Jesus. It's no wonder the Body of Christ today resembles a Mr. Potato Head that was put together by a deaf, dumb, and blind 4 year old. There's an arm sticking out of the eye socket, the lips are where the ears go and the eyes are on top of the head. It's a mess.

If a "men's accountability group" is meeting every Tuesday night at 7:00, YOU NEED TO BE THERE!!!!!! We are told that every man needs to come and connect with all the other men because they need that accountability. The problem is that the pieces don't go together just because they say so. A room full of men does not equal pieces that fit. Even if they are all Christian men who know the Lord well! You can manipulate and obligate these men to "go together" all you want, but it won't work. We have been taught if we are Christians, we should all fit together with that "Inner Circle" type of intimacy.

WRONG!!!

Jerry and Todd may both love the Lord and be brothers in His Name, but neither of them were made to be put together. YES they are a part of the same picture, but they were never intended to connect with an "Inner Circle" connection.

The sad thing is that Jerry is told over and over by his group leader or his Pastor that he needs to connect with Todd out of Christian love. So Jerry tries with all his heart to make that connection. He secretly beats himself up and feels condemned because it's just not happening. He starts to feel rebellious, and eventually wonders if he has the Love of God in him at all. Each week he reluctantly shows up to the men's meeting and makes small talk while glancing at his watch and wishing he was somewhere else. All the while, his leader keeps complaining to the group because he doesn't see the men connecting and talking as deeply as he thinks they should. (This is the story of almost every men's meeting in America) ((...and women's also))

I honestly think we try to "build the Church" because when push comes to shove, we really don't believe there is a Jesus Christ at all. We can't see Him with our eyes and we can't hear Him with our ears, so it makes it pretty difficult to just sit back and let Him build the Church. We jump in and do it because we don't believe in Him. Think about it. I am also convinced that this is why we start "Discipleship Groups" in our Churches. We honestly don't believe there is a Jesus. We feel that it's our job to disciple young Christians instead of just turning them over to Christ. I thought He wanted us to make "Disciples of Christ"? Why then are we intent on making people our disciples? Where in the Bible does it say that WE are supposed to disciple people? We do this because we don't believe there IS a Jesus.

If I disciple Jim and Jim disciples Tony and Tony disciples Greg and Greg disciples Brian; who disciples me? Who disciples the guy who disciples me?? Eventually won't it lead to Christ? Can't we just go directly to Him or do we really need another mediator? (More on this subject at another time)

So where is the Church that Christ is building???

((I LOVE this...wait for it....))

It's your "Inner Circle" of friends. He is the one who brought you together. Not only do you "fit" with these people but you "go together" with them. You fit together in the big picture!!! Your close friends ARE the Church that Christ built. If you look within your "Inner Circle" you will find diverse personalities. One has the personality of an Apostle, one is a Prophet, one is an Evangelist, one is a Pastor and one is a Teacher. Everyone I know has the 5 fold ministry built into their "Inner Circle" of friends!

The problem is that we leave that inner circle on Sunday morning and "go to Church". We spend hours trying to pour our hearts into fitting pieces together that have nothing to do with the original blueprints. We focus our time and attention on building the synthetic church while we neglect the actual Church that He as already built into our lives.

I hear people say to me that they need to "go to Church" because they need to find Christian people to connect with. My advice to them is that they spend their time deepening the connections they already have in their life. I believe that everything we need exists within our "Inner Circle" of friends. All we need to do is press in even deeper to those people that God has built into our lives. Those are the relationships that came from Heaven. Those are the relationships we need to spend our time and focus on. Those relationships ARE the Church that Christ built!

(( WOO-HOO!! Does anybody else get this? Amazing !! ))

The Truth About Fellowship

Apr 20, 2009

The Truth About Fellowship

I was speaking with an old friend last week and the question finally came up about five minutes into our reunion. He asked, "Where are you going to Church these days?"

Trying to be as vague as possible, I responded simply, "We're not going anywhere at the time." The inevitable moment of silence came over the phone followed by an awkward and predictable, "What are you doing for fellowship?"

He wasn't being judgmental or religious. This man was sincerely concerned. The tone of his voice told me he was even a bit fearful for me, and he told me so before we parted ways. His concerns were born out of all that he and I had been told our entire lives. I could dry up spiritually or be open to attacks from the enemy. I could grow wrong and become susceptible to heresy. There are a thousand things that could become of me if I were not in fellowship with other Christians and any or all of them could decide where I ultimately spend eternity.


It's difficult for me to become angry in situations like this, because this person was clearly looking out for me and loving me to the best of his ability. This guy wasn't looking for a spiritual debate. He wasn't trying to put me in bondage or scare me, and he certainly wasn't acting on behalf of the institution as a mole or a recruitment officer. He cared for me. He was concerned.

I shared some of his fears when I first made the decision to walk away from the structure of Church. I'll admit that I was a bit skittish and apprehensive as to what would become of me in "the wild." Would I quit hearing God's voice? Would Satan gain special admission to my home or open access to attack me now that I wasn't under a covering? Would I dry up and lose interest in God? Would I become pagan?

I think most Free Believers who make the decision to leave their structured fellowship grapple with these same feelings. It's hard not to. We've all been warned of the dangers lurking. We've all heard the stories of the families who left "the fellowship" and ended up poverty-stricken or spiritually "off." Who in their right mind wants to risk that?

This one subject is discussed more than any other among Free Believers. People make the decision to enter the wild and they lose all their friends in about a week-and-a-half. They usually leave with a plan in the back of their minds. They concoct a picture in their mind of sitting with friends and eating dinner at their home. They picture something organic, something real, something simpler than the rigid form of fellowship they had grown tired of. Once they get out, however, they quickly find that those friends they had hoped to invite for dinner no longer exist.

This is the point where fear sets in. If not fear, it's usually depression. They had no idea that they are about to enter a world of loneliness that they've never planned for. A world that will at first seem to validate everything they've been taught about leaving church. A world where everything they've ever known or thought they knew will be put on trial. In the midst of this loneliness, they experience a nagging feeling that all they've been warned about is beginning to come true. The one base (fellowship) they tried to cover has fallen through. Every part of them knows that they NEED fellowship in order to survive, and their present lack of fellowship begins to take its choking effect on their lives. "If something doesn't change soon," they think, "we'll have to come up for air and go back."

I find that when many Free Believers are describing their new life to others, they are extra-careful to ensure that everyone knows THEY STILL HAVE FELLOWSHIP. That seems to be the first and most important thing for any Christian to survive. It's like oxygen. Without it, you will surely die. This has become a statement of fact throughout the Christian world. It's not even challenged any more because we've all submitted to this teaching. Anyone who says differently is headed for certain spiritual death.

Guess what.

I say different.

I know this may be hard for people to believe, but you can actually survive quite comfortably for long periods of time without fellowship. Moses was in the desert for 40 years before returning to his people and having "fellowship." John was exiled on an island ten miles long and six miles wide for years, and he didn't miss a beat in his Christian walk. John the Baptist lived allalone in the wilderness. The Apostle Paul spent most of his time secluded in a prison cell. The Bible is full of characters who spent years without fellowship and they not only survived, they emerged better and stronger because of it. I feel that the Church lost the truth about fellowship about a thousand years ago through our desire to manipulate folks and keep them coming back faithfully. It's time we recover it.

I am quickly arriving at the conclusion that when Free Believers begin to feel as though we are dying without fellowship in the wild; it's purely psychosomatic. We've been taught for so long that we couldn't make it without fellowship, that the first few weeks and months alone, we begin to feel that we're not making it. It's been burned into our brains. We psychologically conform to what's been drilled into our heads over and over.

About ten miles from our home, there is a power company. They have a large cluster of really tall power lines that sit together along side of the road. For the longest time, builders couldn't sell homes close to those power lines because word has gotten out that they could cause brain tumors in people who spent too much time in the vicinity. To this very day, when my wife, Angie, and I drive by those power lines; she gets a headache. We laugh about it every time. I believe that the empty and desperate feeling many new Free Believers get in the wild is exactly the same. It's the power of suggestion at work!

I know many sincere Free Believers who are eagerly seeking fellowship somewhere, some way, somehow, because they feel the effects they've been told about slowly creeping into their lives. Some folks have gotten themselves to a point where they are in an all-out panic. They actually feel the tumor growing in their head.

Many times, it's not even that people desire exuberant amounts of fellowship. Some people are just naturally private, but because of all the teachings they've endured through the years, they feel they can't live without it. The entire subject has become an exasperating carrot dangling in front of our faces, but always just out of reach. No matter how much fellowship we force ourselves into, it's never enough. There can always be more, and the truth is, everyone needs a different amount. Some people need bunches of friends and others only need one. When we make the private person have bunches, we disrupt their personal life flow and tweak their heart.

I'll be perfectly honest with you. I live in a home with five kids, a wife and a dog. My sister-in-law and her family of four kids, a husband and a dog, come over to our house for a few hours every day. The last thing on my mind throughout my week is, "Gee, I really wish I had some more fellowship." Chasing five kids around, bathing them, getting them dressed and loading them in the car so we can drive to a building and sit quietly for 40 minutes listening to a guy give a monologue about God, is NOT fellowship. That's self-abuse.

If you're living in the wild and freaking out because you don't have anyone; don't worry. Time alone is a good thing. You're not going to implode. Don't stress about not being in fellowship. You can survive for years without it. I'm not trying to get anyone to forsake fellowship; I'm just pointing out that the Christian slogans we've lived our lives by for so many years are not based on truth. We say things like, "Christians need fellowship or they will die spiritually," or "Fellowship is the most important thing for a Christian," and they have no Biblical foundation. They are all exaggerations that came from a simple verse that says "don't forsake it." That doesn't mean you'll die if you don't have it. It doesn't mean that it's the most important thing in the world and it certainly doesn't mean that you'll lose your salvation without it.

When making the decision to leave the structured system of Church, my advice is: Do NOT attempt to ensure you'll have fellowship on the outside, due to fear of imminent spiritual death. I would suggest that you PLAN on being alone. Pace yourself. Don't freak out when it happens because it will. Embrace it. Accept it for as long as it takes.

You're okay. Don't worry. You're fine.

((The post is borrowed from Darin Hufford's Blog at The Free Believers Network . com))