What would your response be to a person that says:
- I like you, come over anytime, but please don’t bring your wife?
- I love you, but I refuse to spend time with you if your wife is present?
- I can’t stand being around your wife, let’s go spend time together without her?
The hair on the back of my neck stands up just to read such statements. Most of us would find such statements reprehensible. Those would be fighting words if said to us, wouldn’t they?
Are para-church groups that claim to be lovers of Jesus Christ, but do not connect persons to the church (the Bride) spiritual adulterers? How can you say you love the groom (Jesus) and disregard the bride (the Church)? Again, the hair on the back of my neck stands up when I think of it in those terms.
When we support para-church groups or persons that aren’t connecting converts to a local fellowship of believers, it is like supporting a relationship with the “other” woman instead of the bride. How can we even imagine leading people to enter a love relationship with Jesus and not help them to love spending time with his bride, the church?
Are these para-church groups’ spiritual adulterers? The “other” woman? Vying for the affections of new believers?
Ed Stetzer recently asked: Can You Love Jesus and Ignore His Bride? (Read his comments here). He was addressing recent research about the huge number of young people that drop out of church after high school. When they land on a college campus, they often find groups that want to “love Jesus” together, but they don’t intentionally connect the students to the local church. How can that be?
Are these and other para-church groups’ spiritual adulterers? If they don’t encourage those who love Jesus to love His Bride (the Church), it would seem to be the case.
What do you think?
Bobby Gilstrap, DoM
Huron & Southeastern Baptist Associations
Michigan
2 comments:
Here's another way of looking at that: perhaps some of these para-church groups are the church. Just because they do not have the word "church" in their name does not mean they are not functioning like a church with all the biblical characteristics of a church. When we consider groups like Campus Crusade for Christ, Baptist Student Ministry, and FCA, we can see that they have church-like characteristics - they gather regularly for worship and discipleship, they do missions, there is accountability and evangelism, and they join together for prayer and to minister to their community. So these organizations may be the church with a different name. I'm not sure if I believe this to be true, but it is worth considering.
Also, many of these para-church organizations do encourage people to be part of the local body of Christ. Bible Study Fellowship, for example, requires church membership for participation, as do many Christian schools. Focus on the Family has many resources for churches and Samaritan's Purse partners with churches all over the world while encouraging people to get involved in their local fellowship.
There are so many para-church organizations. Perhaps you could specify which ones or which type you are referring to in order to encourage relevant dialogue.
Thanks!
There are so many types of para-church organizations that it is hard to comment on such a general observation. Some of those organizations are result of the churches failure to minister to various segments of the population. Others reach out to individuals who have no affiliation with any church or denomination and serve as a vital source of sharing the gospel.
As a pastor, associational missionary and chaplain (for a local industry and a pregnancy center) I know from experience that some new believers from certain segments of society are not welcomed into the churches they are "connected" with. This is not just a Baptist problem but is wide spread throughout all the evangelical churches of our area.
In conclusion let me say that the para-church organizations that I am associated with do a very good job of trying to connect new believers with local congregations because the staff and volunteers in those organizations are very involved in their own churches and understand that Christ died for "The Church", not a ministry.
Thank you.
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