Dear brethren,
Thanks so much for asking us here at Walk Worthy how any western Christian assembly could reach full agreement…in everything.
Now, we do not need full agreement on a multitude of things in our freedom in Christ like the days to meet or food and drink (Col. 2.16), clothing color, etc. But the doctrines of Christ’s kingdom like Matthew 5-7 all are expected to be agreed upon and obeyed.
Of course, this bizarre doctrine of full agreement sounds like a fairy tale to most all who have been indoctrinated in the western church.
We always ask the skeptics where in the New Covenant record is the concept of “agree to disagree.” Thus far not one saint has proclaimed where that might be located in His holy Word!
Now then, here is what is stated in our Lord’s Bible. First, our King’s last prayer for us. Then our brother Paul.
John 17:22-23 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me…”
Ephesians 4:1-6 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Every instance in the Word where people cause divisions, schisms, and divisiveness warns that hell and the eventual lake of fire is their destiny. No exceptions. Being irreconcilable is a heinous sin to our Father, the Ancient of Days.
Saints, the Trinity is never ever divided. Are they not our guide for all life?
Let us remember that..
Inquiry is not necessarily discussion.
Discussion is not necessarily misunderstanding.
Misunderstanding is not necessarily disagreement.
Disagreement is not necessarily argument.
Argument is not necessarily divisive division.
But…divisive division is eternal death (Jude 1.19; Gal. 5.20).
Let us keep our honorable communication limited to the realm of Inquiry, Misunderstanding, and Disagreement only!
Remember there are those who just will never work toward or accept unity. Paul speaks plainly to their sin that we must let them go.
1 Corinthians 11:17-19 But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved (vs. disapproved) may become evident among you.
The Biblical Model for Church
There are really only two basic models for “church,” or the assembly of the body of Christ. One is unbiblical and one in the biblical New Covenant example. The institutional model has a head “pastor” and his-her elder board, a Sunday morning meeting that has a predictable stated order, a stage, pulpit or lectern, worship leader and singers, and sermon, etc. The other is a simple home church, or home assembly, where God assembles the saints, elders are a voice, not the voice, and the Holy Spirit leads the gathering so all can participate and are edified. Only the home assembly is seen in the New Testament. No pastor with a title, sermon, worship team, etc. Nothing of the sort. A pastor is a gift, not an office.
The modern “pastor” is a teacher (not a shepherd) and is like the western head buffalo in America. As American’s moved west, buffalo hunters would look for the head buffalo from the hills for as he moved, the herd moved as well. They would use their long rifles to drop the head buffalo, and then walk down at point blank range to kill the rest of the herd with pistols. The herd was lost and frozen in fear without their head buffalo.
Full agreement is impossible with the institutional system. It’s rare in the home assembly, but possible, and is the normal Christian life. For those interested, here are some valuable home church pointers.
Practical examples of full agreement
So, let us move right toward an example of how all can be in full agreement in everything. It’s impossible to reach full agreement in a head-buffalo “Pastor” or similar type institutional church in the west since the very form of church government is in the hands of those who control everything in the churches.
That meeting style is neither described nor prescribed in the New Testament. Again, it’s impossible in that unbiblical venue.
As an aside, we meet many people who claim they have a “home church.” But in actuality it’s nothing more than a institutional home group that must march totally in lock step with all the doctrines of the mother church and the head buffalo. In irony, you must agree to agree here or be asked to “find another place to worship!”
Even the average Biblical house church, which indeed is God’s assembly design, blows up in 6-12 months in the west for nobody seems to get along long term. Their lives are filled with “choice,” so why not choose to leave when the first major disagreement surfaces. Stonewalling and being irreconcilable is a huge and heinous sin. Even so, simple home gatherings are God’s way.
Only three types of house churches
Really and truly, only three basic types of home assemblies exist. The unbiblical institutional church mirrors the same types. Each type operates along a different doctrinal philosophy based on their perception of the identity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There may be different doctrine hobby horses they choose and hammer over and over. Most are loose, and some are legalistic. Such as? Things like patriotism, hyper-feminism, pre-trib rapture, once-saved-always-saved, homeschool, stifling patriarchy, KJV, hyper-grace, mammon, Sabbath keeping, etc. Often they are actually “led” by one person like an institutional head-buffalo “pastor” with all deferring to him.
Type One – Most Anything Goes: touchy-feely & loosey goosey; hyper-feminized; fun; baby manger Jesus; other than maybe some extreme below-the-belt sins, everything is just hunky dory and fine with God and each other.
Type Two – Follow Our Rules: highly legalistic rule keeping of their own rules; intense scrutiny for conformity; the always stern & sober Father God; other than an occasional break in the action, it’s almost impossible to catch your breath.
Type Three – Humble Confident Seekers: plural leadership; consensus decision-making; teaching centers on the holiness of God and how gracious love flows from one another to serve obedient saints.
Type One is everywhere, Type Two is all too prevalent, and Type Three is as rare as hen’s teeth…but on rare occasion does exist.
An example of full agreement…over time
So, we’ll proceed in a real way with an example in a simple house church assembly. The characters below are fictional and any similarity to real people is strictly a coincidence.
Let’s look at Couple 1 named Jordan and Patty Hogan and Couple 2 named Daniel and Sarah Godwin.
Jordan and Patty, long time believers, are in their 60’s and leaders in a local house church and helped plant this work six months ago.
Daniel and Sarah are in their 50’s, long time believers, and leaders in an institutional church. This unbiblical church of 1,000 “members” is replete with stifling top leadership, “modern” music, and a wholesale lack of teaching on the whole counsel of God (Acts 20.26-27). They helped this church plant years earlier as well. But Daniel, and to some extent Sarah, is fed up with all the shallowness, pettiness, and lack of accountability. True discipleship doesn’t exist in any meaningful way.
These two couples have known each other for some time through a para-church group and minister together in several ways.
Jordan has been through at least eight house churches that have blown up over multiple disagreements-arguments-divisions over the last 25 years. He was involved in planting about six of them. All leaders and followers in these past assemblies refused, many vehemently, to humbly search together for the Lord’s mind to preserve the unity of the faith in the bond of peace when a disagreement arises (Ephesians 5.1-6). Tragically, to a person, they all bolted back to the institutional church model where they and their children could hide out amongst other “likeminded people.” No one seemed the wiser at their new “church”…or even cared. How sad and unlike Christ.
The chief culprits in all these factious divisions boiled down to an identity crisis over the real God and His commands, and people again practicing stonewalling and irreconcilability.
Patty, Jordan’s wife, is new to house churches and still a bit hesitant to it all, but is open to the Lord’s ways and leadings. She grew up in various Southern Baptist congregations. Jordan and Patty were married five years ago. Each were previously married to spouses that practiced emotional abandonment and abuse with no intention of repentance.
Daniel has been involved in house churches for years, but was scorned by others for his stand. He was even subtly bullied in great disrespect by his wife to attend institutional churches for decades. He knew the Lord’s proper design but it was not until he met Jordan that he made the final break after years and years. Sarah is brand new to house church and is verbally expressive that she misses the “fellowship” and “worship” of the unbiblical institutional model.
Willing and best interests with Acts 15 open communication
Fortunately, all four of these saints at least by oral confession are willing to do whatever God demands by His grace, and also have another’s best interests at heart. On a scale of 1-10, Jordan and Daniel are a 10, with Patty at 8 or so, and Sarah at a 5 or less. They appear to be zealous for the “one anothers.”
In so doing, they have crossed the threshold leading to the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3.14)! So few are willing…even fewer consider another’s interest more important than their own (Phil. 2.4) in this age of humanistic narcissism.
Now then, open, honorable, and rigorous Acts 15 communication is crucial to full agreement. Again, it’s the key to diligently preserving the unity in the bond of peace (Eph. 4.3). Jordan introduced this method to Daniel. At first, and for some time thereafter, Daniel was open to this radically new idea, but still skeptical. Both these men acknowledged both their true and deepest feelings and thoughts as they proceeded with Jesus.
Over time, Daniel saw the need and reality for full agreement. For years in the western church system all he heard was “let’s agree to disagree” and that demonic doctrine (1 Tim. 4.1) seemed perfectly natural. He knew the curse of God, the woe, was upon those who call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5.20). Importantly, Jordan didn’t hassle or push Daniel too fast but was patient, understanding, and yet firm in his resolve to bring all the truth to bear.
Jordan remembers all too well the time of unsettledness, the cognitive dissonance if you will, that proceeded from the bowels of the institutional church.
Both needed the gracious love of the Holy Spirit in His fullest measure as both knew the Lord’s adversary would seek to destroy their deep friendship, let alone the steady progress they were making.
Agreeing to agree vs. agree to disagree
Both Jordan and Daniel worked with each other to become discipled in this open and rigorous communication. In essence, they needed to agree to agree that agreeing to agree was even possible! They had to believe in faith and hope since neither brother had ever seen this practiced as the normal Christian life. They persevered as the Lord led them with many one-on-one meetings and over the phone even before meeting along with their wives. Prayer and fasting were essential ingredients.
Inquiry was the main strategy and not advocating. Phrases used by the men included:
- “What does preserving the unity of the faith in the bond of peace look like to you?”
- “What were the key sinful actions of other house church members that led to the previous blow ups?”
- “Help me to see your point. I don’t agree with you now but need to completely hear how you arrived at such a conclusion.”
- “How did you work out over time your current opinion using the Word of God and His principles?”
- “Here’s what I hear you saying to me. I want to play it back to you to see if I fully understand your position.”
They have every expectation that their wives and any new arriving members of the house assembly that God sends will understand the full agreement doctrine and strive toward that goal for our Lord!
Together they reached full agreement on many difficult and vital doctrines using these skills. These included major thrusts from the wonderful proclamation of Jesus Christ in Matthew 5-7, the Teaching By The Sea early in His public ministry. These included loving your enemy, laying up treasures in heaven by forsaking wealth (unrighteous mammon), and striving to enter the narrow gate to be approved.
Matthew 5-7 agreement examples with the wives
So, both men began meeting weekly with their wives to begin taking the Lord’s Supper as a full meal (1 Cor. 11.20, Jude 1.12), alternating houses, and letting the Holy Spirit lead the meeting. Obviously, there’s no church bulletin and this new style may lead to quiet times waiting for the Spirit to move upon willing hearts.
Both men openly proclaimed to their wives the joy of their past pursuit of agreeing on everything and how the Lord worked with them so closely and intimately. Both women are reluctant about this new idea, with Sarah being the most uncomfortable. She misses the big show sermon, the nice church ladies, and polished music at the institutional church. Plus she can’t conceive at this point people all agreeing on anything of substance. It seems ludicrous, and the other church ladies she consults agree…to disagree!
But they submit to their husbands at least in this way and wait to see the next steps. Maybe it’s true, they both muse. Both women confide to each other about the deeper love and devotion their husbands seem to have for each other…and for them too!
Daniel begins bringing each week short but concise teachings of communication using the New Idea Comes to Group handout as a guide when they don’t all agree at first. Jordan is hopeful and encouraged letting all the saints know that God is pleased with their patient progress.
Daniel starts with the Beatitudes, and makes the statement that the crowning verses of that passage, the actual rewards, show we must be persecuted and pray for those who insult us in order to inherit the kingdom. In other words, eternal life with God is conditional upon this persecution!
Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you…”
The women are skeptical since they have been taught the opposite all their Christian lives in the institutional church. Sarah actually bristles that her husband would claim such a thing! But the other three saints, including Patty, remind her of their covenant to preserve the unity.
Patty points to #2 in the New Idea Chart (reject the first impression) as the wrong way to proceed and exhorts Sarah to inquire humbly. Sarah calms down and agrees to keep an open mind and heart while honoring the group in love. She feels the temporary loving acceptance of her open minded skepticism. She feels her heart opening up to listen and consider even more closely.
Jordan interjects an alternative reading to help the group see the sobriety of this conditional command from Christ.
Matthew 5:10-12 Cursed are those who have not been persecuted for the sake of righteousness but instead live carnal worldly lives, for the kingdom of heaven is not their home. Cursed are you when people have no reason to insult you and persecute you, or falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Weep and be in fear, for your eternal punishment is great; for they persecuted the prophets who were before you…
After a couple of weeks and much prayer by the group, Sarah says she now understands and will commit this new idea to prayer. Patty is open too even if still a bit uncomfortable with the New Idea. But she’s used to the alternative reading given by Jordan since he does so often when they read and study God’s word together at home.
All four are in real unity here and stay together as things proceed. The husbands continue to pray and love their wives as Christ does His church. They exhort this new idea and serve their wives as well. They hope that as they move toward more difficult passages will become easier to accept.
Eventually, they all tackle the prickly doctrines of 1) loving your enemy and not resisting evil, 2) refusing to lay up treasures on earth by selling your possessions and giving to the poor while living on daily bread, 3) the apostasy of the believer who loses their salvation, 4) speaking with new tongues is for all believers, 5) wives submitting to husbands in everything, 6) politics is demonic compromise and has nothing to do with the Kingdom, and many others.
Again, let’s remember some will go out from you no matter what
Jordan is keen to point out that our brother the apostle Paul both knew and experienced the reality of irreconcilable church goers. These factions must become evident and leave since they are disapproved by God Himself. Often the factious irreconcilable stonewaller disapproved church people badger the approved unity seekers driving them away. Ironically, the disapproved usually gloat and brag they are approved and those approved who left are actually the disapproved! What a scheme of the devil (2 Cor. 2.11, Eph. 6.11).
1 Corinthians 11:18-19 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.
These disapproved folks have itching feet to move on to teachers who will tickle their ears with the heresies of evil and abandoned doctrines.
2 Timothy 4:1-4 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
We all must remember, Jordan points out, that there’s never enough evidence for someone who will not look at the evidence.
The unity task becomes even joyful
Jordan, Patty, Daniel, and Sarah proceed to love and serve each other outside of the formal meeting times in their homes. The once a week “Sunday go to meeting” is unsatisfying and not enough. They talk daily and meet often. Once they determine to be unified in all things, the marvelous grace of God is poured out upon them. Surprisingly, the task of understanding each other and working through the different doctrines becomes easier, indeed almost joyful! The best blessings of the Lord come to rest upon the most obedient and those who persevere through every trial as an overcomer.
Everyone in their various social groups of Christians, and those who knows them, are taken back at the progress the four are making. They really are one in Christ. This is not just a pious platitude, but true victory. It’s the normal Christian life for real Christians. No one is more pleased than the Ancient of Days, and His Son! The Holy Spirit is hard at work and in triumph.
Again, we state the last prayer of Jesus Christ then becomes real to those of humble heart. The seeking pagans, the world, are then drawn to the unified believers who are perfectly mature in their unity as the King declared.
John 17:22-23 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me…”
Both God and the devil send new people to the little fellowship
What makes us think that the devil doesn’t send disruptive people to blow up God’s work? Certainly he does. But greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world!
God also sends the hungry and openly skeptical. But no one is actually prepared to agree to agree. However, it’s an intriguing truth to those who really know God and have not grieved and then quenched the Spirit.
Any similarity in these examples with persons alive or deceased is strictly coincidental.
Over time, God graciously sends 1) a hyper-patriot kill-your-enemy home schooling couple with four younger children, including a teenage boy. He sends 2) a young entrepreneurial Pentecostal prosperity couple who never want children. He sends 3) a group of three lonely single women, two of which are Christian feminists and drove their Christian husbands away. He sends 4) a married second in command mega-church administrative “Pastor” who is troubled by the shenanigans of the “Senior Pastor” and leaders in his “church” but he comes alone in stealth like Nicodemus at night.
Over time, the devil and his demons strategically sends 5) an older buttoned down couple with a widowed grandmother who love to make up fallacious rules for everything. He sends 6) an ex-alcoholic single man who tells everyone he meets that drinking any alcohol will send one to hell. He sends 7) a working class laborer with a drinking problem who works with Daniel and his saved wife who has a quiet and gentle spirit along with their two children.
These seven types show up at the home church meetings over several months and are immediately welcomed, but with caution until their intentions and heart are made known. Since Jordan and Daniel would be considered elders, or bishops, as the Scripture proclaims, they take the lead in introducing open communication and their New Idea chart to “agree on everything.” They rightly state that if the group can’t get this full unity right, then this group will blow up like all other western assemblies.
As you can well imagine, the results are mixed at best and the fireworks begin almost at once!
Here’s what happens:
Type 1 – The hyper-patriot couple are incensed at Jordan’s teaching that Simon the Zealot (the Israeli hyper-patriot who wanted to “make Israel great again” by killing Romans) and Matthew the hated tax collector where most likely reconciled by Jesus and no longer enemies. This is not at all what his former church “Pastor” taught.
The fact of Jesus declaring at Gethsemane the night of His arrest to put the sword away was too much. When He said that those who live by the sword will die by the sword this fact pushed him and his wife, along with their 15 year old flag-waving gun toting son, over the edge. They all leave in a stormy rage after no more than four meetings.
Type 2 – The young entrepreneurial Pentecostal couple are divided over Daniel’s excellent and exhaustive teaching over mammon from the Word, and simple living with daily bread. The husband reads during the week with conviction Jordan’s handout called One Saint’s Fight Against Mammon about the business owner actually obeying Jesus, and the severe consequences he faces.
The wife is terrified about what her husband might do in response, so she stops attending. The husband stays…for a while. But pretty quickly the obvious occurs, and the excuses for his absence begin to flow. If Momma’s not happy, nobody’s happy.
Type 3 – The three lonely single women enjoy the fellowship immensely, and the full meal love feast which is the Lord’s Supper (Jude 1.12). Quickly though, the two divorced Christian feminists become livid at Daniel’s teaching about the heinous sin of feminism in the modern church with husbands submitting and obeying their wives.
The very next week they are suspiciously absent…and remain so. The other single woman stays and begins meeting with Patty and Sarah since she is obviously a real seeker of truth.
Type 4 – The mega-church administrative “Pastor” is fascinated by the home church model and it’s apparent power and simplicity. He feels an unusual peace and relief when he attends. He also button holes both Jordan and Daniel over time and peppers them with questions. He’s incredulous that this doctrine may actually work amongst the prickly Americans.
He begins meeting secretly for lunch weekly with Daniel, and begins to pour his heart out to this new trustworthy brother. Finally he admits his wife too is a Christian feminist…and he has no idea of how to handle her and all her “friends” at his institutional church. He confides he would lose his church job, and maybe even his wife, if he made the plunge.
But he begins to feel the Holy Spirit’s conviction of the truth and knows a momentous decision is coming soon. After a while, Daniel can no longer reach him by phone.
Type 5 – The older buttoned down couple with the grandmother immediately begin sniping and stonewalling about everything: the occasional silence of the meetings, the lack of polished music, the talking and inquisitive questions of the children in the meetings, even the quality of the home cooked food!
Jordan takes the husband aside after the second meeting they attend and instructs him this is unacceptable behavior. Of course, the husband bristles, pulls his wife aside and speaks with her in angry hushed tones. They grab the impatient grandmother and head out the door in ten minutes never to be seen again.
Type 6 – The ex-alcoholic single man visits the home church group from a legalistic fundamental church that prohibits any alcoholic drinking. At his first meeting he sees a wife making a delicious dish with cooking wine and begins his rebuke of her and others in the kitchen. The wife courageously and wisely states that any alcohol burns off in the cooking process. Furthermore, she tells him she will make him the same dish without the wine if her original recipe causes him to stumble. He’s stunned into silence, eventually eating the special meal.
However, on his second visit he’s watched carefully by both Jordan and Daniel. The man begins to pontificate about all the things this home church needs to do to be like his unbiblical institutional church. Jordan takes him aside and tells him this is disruptive and unacceptable without proper inquiry vs. just advocating his personal opinion only. In addition, it’s outside the open Biblical communication to preserve the unity of the faith that he was given on his first visit. A written copy of open communication is offered, but the man vehemently refuses.
The old man turns feisty and attacks Jordan with an elevated voice so all can hear. Jordan tells him emphatically to step outside, which he does. The old man is quietly but forcefully rebuked by Jordan and asked to reconsider one last time, which he refuses.
As the man continues his tirade, Jordan raises his hand to interrupt him and states he must leave and is unwelcome unless he repents to all. Moreover, Jordan leaves the door open to meet with him if the man wants to be discipled in biblical communication. The old man sneers, turn abruptly, heads to his car, and speeds off. Of course, he too is never heard from again.
Type 7 – After meeting and working with Daniel for about five months, the drinking laborer surrenders to the carpenter of Nazareth, repenting in tears at one of the home church meetings. His wife has been working hard with Patty regarding submission to her husband in everything, and he has been won without a word. The wife is overjoyed and their two children are flabbergasted to see their dad as a new creation in Christ!
Immediately, Jordan and Daniel take the man to the small lake behind Jordan’s home followed by the whole house church entourage. The atmosphere is both festive and serious. The two men soberly testify to the whole group of Christ’s command to sin no more and endure to the end. They then baptize the man by immersion, and upon coming out of the water, the power of the Lord is evident on this new saint!
The lesson from these examples: most will refuse Christ’s ways, but some will listen and actually follow our Lord and Savior (Acts 17.32).
In summary, these three points bear repeating in planting a simple home church: a) pray diligently that God will send the right leaders and people at the right time, b) focus on biblical open communication from the get-go in order to get all on board in the beginning, and c) deal with any temptation and sin immediately as it may arise.
All other church plants who refuse to follow this basic guideline will most likely follow the western pattern of blowing up within six to twelve months.
Let us know your fruit in this most holy endeavor. We can help with any questions, problem, and prayer.
Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.
Your friend and brother in fighting the good fight,
Marc
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Saints, we’re one day closer to Home, and Him! Love Him wholeheartedly!
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Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.
Marc White, Director, Walk Worthy Ministries, www.WalkWorthy.org
