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A must read to all Brethren people, especially the new
generation should read this paper written by
J Van Dijk,
The Editor of "Come and See" Bible Study Magazine.
(A Nathanael Publication)
Who Are We?
by J Van Dijk
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| Picture Source: sxc.hu |
More than ever the question must be raised: Who are we?
We call ourselves brethren while refusing any name, for we want to be
non-denominational. But on account of
the ever-present need for explaining who we are, what we are doing, and the
character of our meetings, we have out of what we term “necessity” resorted to
referring to ourselves as “Brethren”—with a capital B. at an early stage of our way of gathering,
when God gave a real revival in Plymouth, England, others often referred to us
as “Plymouth Brethren.”
Deterioration
As years went by, many, even among us, made use
of this name, although by now it encompasses a great variety of groups. Today a few among us even refer to themselves
as: “The Brethren Church.” But any such
references really deny what our early brethren sought to do, for from the
beginning they wanted to be nothing.
As John the Baptist could not or would not identify himself other than
by saying: “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the
path of the Lord,” so we should not identify ourselves other then to say: “We
want to walk as God intended the Church to walk.” Those who initially gathered in the manner we
do wanted to be nothing but Christians.
To Be or Not to Be
The Bible speaks of only one Church with its
local expressions referred to as churches.
Yet in their character and actions these local churches are to be but
the expression of the one Church, the body of Christ, with Christ as it’s only
Head. This consideration alone is
contrast to what is seen today in Christianity, for today there are many
“churches,” i.e., many denominations, a situation that is not of God. Obviously, that which God intended to be a
testimony to His name is now in ruin.
Yet, even today, God sees only one Church, but
in that Church He sees men doing their own thing, and the testimony in this
world is marred. This was realized by
those who, in the early 1800s began simply to meet as Christians. They asked themselves what to do in the midst
of such confusion; could they begin a new “church”? That would merely add one more to the many
already there. Could they strive to
bring about a reasonable amount of agreement among the many “churches”? This would, at best, join together that which
was clearly not of God. What should they
do then? All they could do was act
simply on the principles found in God’s Word for the Church. This would not cause them to be anything;
they would just be Christians who acted according to the principles of God’s
Word. It was not a matter of being but
of doing. Consequently, the adoption of
any name at all would in itself be a denial of what they were setting out to
do.
The Practice
It is obvious that he Christians who began to
gather on that basis had the same flesh, and therefore the same tendencies, as those
around them. The fact that they did not
initiate a screening process—which would have been totally in conflict with
God’s Word—but received all true Christians caused their company to contain the
same variety of frailties, the same tendencies found in Christianity at
large. For, though the first ones to
gather in this way did so out of conviction, many joined them only because they
recognized the atmosphere of love and affection, not because they really
understood why this group gathered in such a distinct manner. These latter tended to introduce human ideas,
disregarding the principles of God’s Word.
This of course was noted by some among them who had come among them out
of conviction. Thus the desire arose to
stem the tide. In their hearts some
began to make distinctions among brethren.
Those doing so banded together
and in the end became a dictating force exercising a central control and
setting up requirements. They forgot,
however, that bringing in control is just as much an activity of the flesh as
disregarding the principles found in God’s Word.
Ever since, among these so-called “Brethren”
there have been those who have tended to control matters by legal requirements,
as well as those who have tended to take a more open stand. Since conflicts between these distinct
attitudes cannot be avoided, many among them have adopted the position that
each assembly is independent of, though not indifferent about, the others. Others correctly have maintained that since
all local assemblies are but the local expression of the one Church under one
Head, assemblies must never be viewed as independent of each other, but rather
an interdependent, since all are dependent on the one Head. The Head will not decide in one way in one
local assembly and in a different way in another. As long as all are submissive to the one
Head—and this is the crucial point as to whether a group of Christians is
really gathered in the name of the Lord Jesus (Luke. 6:46)—they will all speak
the same thing. Conflicting decisions in local assemblies are
indicative of either one or both no longer being subject to Christ.
Confusion
Among those who gather unto the name of the Lord
Jesus alone, teachers often deal with the subject “The Assembly.” The fact that they refer to their
congregations as “assemblies,” and to the sum total of those congregations
which express fellowship with each other as “The Assembly,” has given rise to
confusion. When speaking about the
Assembly as found in God’s Word, as seen in God’s eye, one can only display its
beauty and blessings—its perfections.
Many hearers, however, not sensitive to the distinction, “hear” the
speaker expressing the beauties and blessings of all the congregations that
walk in fellowship with each other. Sad
to say, even some teachers among them have become ensnared by this confusion,
as is evident from some publications. We
should always remember that, when speaking of the beauties of the Assembly, we
are dealing with the Assembly as God sees it, not with the company with whom we
fellowship.
Is there not beauty in the latter? Perhaps, but it is marred by what is of
man. The relationship with what we find
in God’s Word and what is practiced by us is best described by similitude. A children’s coloring book may show a
beautifully colored ball than the child may copy on the empty page beside
it. You know what happens on that
page. If the child’s ball looks better
than a potato, the child is doing well.
So it is with the fellowship to which we belong when we compare it to
the Assembly as found in God’s Word.
Ours is but a poor attempt to bring into practice what God’s Word displays. Let us never forget that! We are nothing; we only seek in a feeble
way to act as God intended His Church to act.
Pretension
As mentioned above, the confounding of what
God’s Word teaches and the practical demonstration of it has not only been
found among learners, but also with some teachers. Though in itself this thinking could be
considered a mere error of thought, it evolved into an evil doctrine that
equates the practical expression with the truth found in God’s Word. It led some to saying: “We are the Assembly;
we are the church.” Soon they began to
despise Christians who were affiliated with groups not walking with them. On the basis of their pretension, they
developed theories why those still attending denominations can never be
received to the breaking of bread.
Forgetting that brethren began to gather unto the name of the Lord Jesus
for the very reason that denominational boundaries hindered true-hearted Christians to
fellowship together, they now began to
refuse those who did not first separate from the denomination they belonged
to. It is true that today many
denominations allow doctrinal or moral evil in their midst, but they began to
consider the denominations themselves to be defiling iniquity rather
than just error. They claimed to have
Scripture for their position, leaving unanswered the question why God gave such
abundant blessing to those who first gathered in this way while no such
theories had been adopted.
We too hold denominationalism to be error, but
God never declared all error to be evil and defiling. Though in the Old Testament mere error was
never declared to be defiling, those who wanted to walk in obedience to God
knew they should not practice error and refrained from doing so. So w
wish to do, without thereby declaring that we have become special.
Another subject of pretension concerns the
question of “the remnant.” We are fully
convinced that at all times God has had a remnant for Himself, and that He has
one today. It is quite another thing,
however, to consider oneself to be that remnant. We
ought to have learned in this respect from Elijah, who in his moment of weakness
spoke of himself as all that was left for God—he considered himself to be “the
remnant” (1 King 19:10,14). God had to put him straight. And God will put straight all who consider
themselves to be today’s remnant. Let it
be known that the true remnant will never consider itself to be anything, it
just wants to obey God and be nothing; it is satisfied with being unknown (2
Cor. 6:9). God blows on all pretension!
Perhaps the question as to who is Philadelphia
ought to be mentioned as well.
Doubtless, when God caused brethren to rediscover the truth regarding
the Assembly, those who sought to practice this truth displayed in many
respects as Philadelphia character.
Scripture shows that Laodicea develops out of Philadelphia; we are the
offspring of those earlier brethren. It
ought to be obvious, then, that we have become Laodicea. Do we not often hear it said that there is
much knowledge among “us” (cf. Rev. 3:17)?
The truth of the matter is that it is largely on our bookshelves, little
in our heads, and even less in our hearts, for if it were in our hearts we
would not hear such pretentious remarks as referred to above. Sadly, such remarks are heard among some
leaders—too often to be ignored, but thankfully not from all.
A practical example as to where such pretensions
can lead is found in the following account.
A young girl, who had a good report from faithful Christians. Regularly
attended meetings, though not yet breaking bread. When the collection came around one day, she
gave some of her money to the Lord. A
brother, noticing this and knowing that she was not yet breaking bread, went to
her, asking: What did you put in? When
she answered, he told her to take it out.
No doubt the brother felt justified doing so, for I was told this was
done on the basis that “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Jehovah”
(Prov. 15:8). Would not the brothers
prayer have sanctified the gift (Prov. 15:8) was the young girl wicked? It seems a better Scripture to apply here is
this “Whosoever shall be a snare to one
of the little ones who believe in Me, it were better for him if a millstone
were hung about his neck, and he cast into the sea (Mark. 9:42). It hardly
needs to be said that through this event this young girl and her family were
effectively hindered from going on in the pattern in which the Lord wanted them
to walk. Pretension leads to sectarian
or even cult-like attitudes such as described in this account.
Results
These things have their result! Many who have a genuine heart for the Lord
sense this attitude and evaluate it for what it is: objectionable, fleshly. In short, they reject it. Several, not knowing were to turn, have
left. There are persistent reports that
upon their departure some have been declared by their brethren to be evil, not
to be associated with, like the immoral man in 1 Corinthians 5 or the false
teacher in 2 John merely for their no longer attending meetings. Wherever this has occurred it is evident that
the spirit of Diotrephes has taken hold of that assembly and that there was
good reason for the separation. Sadly,
however, many who reject such fleshly attitudes do so in a fleshly way.
Countering flesh with flesh, rendering themselves incapable of dealing with the
evil they encounter.
Now, because of our sad condition, many who have
walked with us in the same path not only reject these ungodly attitudes, but
also reject the path as it if found in Scripture. Not surprisingly, they tend to resort to
solutions from years gone by. They resort
to institutionalizing their congregations.
They find comfort in organization, in declaring assemblies to be
independent, in bringing in ideas found in the denominations and which have
there proven to lead to great “blessing” (i.e. numbers). They have seen how those who have said they
wanted to stay as close to Scripture as possible have become legalistic and
sectarian, and consequently they cast aside the entire idea of staying close to
Scripture. Perceiving how such serious
misuse has been made of Scripture, many ask:
who know what Scripture means, anyway?
Also, some now advocate that we follow our hearts, forgetting that the
heart is deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9). Instead of a oneness according Scripture we
find those who advocate ecumenism of the heart—and it seems to work: their
numbers grow! But is it of God? We don’t think so.
What Now?
What is to be done by those who want to stay
close to Scripture but who have recognized their failure? As in all situations in which failure is
recognized, the first thing to do is to bow in confession before the Lord. Rather than coming before the Lord with an
attitude of: “all that the Lord says we will do!” (cf. Exodus 19:8), we need to come
acknowledging our failure, declaring to Him that, Yes we want to do His will,
but we have shown ourselves wholly incapable of doing so consistently. We cannot!
From this foundation of weakness we can rise up in His strength and ones
more walk in the path He has shown us in His Word.
Will we then indiscriminately receive all who
seek to break bread with us? No, this we cannot do. True, one should not be refused to the breaking
of bread merely for belonging to one of the denominations. Yet, we need to take account of the person’s
conscience in the matter. This does not
mean that one saying: “I have a good conscience about this or that,” will be
acceptable. No, it may very well be that
we have to say: “Your lack of conscience
about this or that shows insensitivity to God’s claims, and for that reason we
are not at liberty to receive you.”
However, those who walk carefully with their God and refrain from, and
are not in fellowship with evil, such may well be received, regardless of their
denominational affiliation. The Lord
will teach the honest and upright soul.
Those who know that their denomination allows evil to go undisciplined
will, on the basis of their association in that denomination, first have
to separate from it, but such are not to be refused merely because of their
membership in a denomination, but because of their association with
evil. Though, on the basis of our
understanding of Scripture, we regard the denominational set up as error we
cannot walk in; yet, in itself it is not a defiling iniquity.
Will we continue to allow in our midst
expressions of pretension without dealing with them as we do with other
evils? We surely need to seek the Lord’s
help that we may now how to discipline such excesses. Perhaps our greatest failure has been in that
area, for these things make the precious things of the Lord odious to many, and
this is a worse evil than a faulty path walked in ignorance. The former defiles, the latter does not!
May the Lord help us to keep our bearings
straight, keeping us in the realization that, although the path we seek to walk
before the Lord is precious to Him:
We ourselves are nothing!
“The Lord is near!” (Philippians 4:5).
“Already the axe is applied to the root of the
trees: every tree therefore not
producing good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire” (Matthew 3:10).
“Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor
hot, I am about to spue thee out of My mouth… I rebuke and discipline as many
as I love: be zealous therefore and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door and am knocking; if any one hear My voice and open the door, I
will come in unto him and sup with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:16,
19-20).
Epilogue
A closing word to our readers who do not walk in
fellowship with us.
We apologize for this exercise in
self-examination. We hope that it will
nevertheless be instructive to you. We
wish you to know that there is a path for the Christian walk that is according
to God’s Word, yet those who seek to walk in it will ever again discover that
their own flesh greatly hinders them to walk in what they know is right. We ourselves have nothing to be proud of, and
much to be ashamed of. May this,
however, not keep you from realizing that what we seek to follow is indeed
according to God’s Word. If our failure
has become a stumbling block to you, we humbly ask your forgiveness. May the Lord be merciful to us if by our
practice we have failed to make that which is precious to Him precious to you.
Source:
An
adaptation from "Come and See" Bible Study Magazine.
Nathanael
Publication.
Used
by permission.
