Establishing the Underground Church, Part 5
By Pastor Hal Mayer
Dear friends,
Welcome to Keep the Faith Ministry. We are studying what it means to establish an underground church and how to make personal preparation for the reality when it will be necessary in the near future. We want to make sense of it all and have the right motivation for what we do. The Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy have to be our guide, not human reasoning or traditional views of what will happen, or the advice of church leaders or of fellow believers. Our Father in heaven has given us more than adequate counsel on how to prepare for rough times. So, let’s explore this today in more detail. Let us begin with prayer.
Our Father in heaven, how thankful we are for the provisions You have made for our salvation and for everything that is necessary for survival though the time of trouble. We don’t know who our allies are or who our enemies will be. But we want to love them both like Jesus did. But help us to have confidence in Christ for wisdom to navigate, as well as win some of them to Jesus. As we study today, we pray that Your Holy Spirit will be with us and teach us. Help us to understand the underground church and what makes it strong. Give us light from heaven, we pray, in Jesus name, amen.
Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 10:35, 36. These words of Jesus will have much more significance than they do now.
“For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”
Jesus noted that when the gospel is introduced into a family or household not everyone accepts it and it creates conflict. That’s because most people are used to having networks of relationships built on what they have learned from the world. Those who truly accept the truth of the everlasting gospel and the three angels’ messages follow new patterns that they’ve learned from Christ through the word. They think differently, they act differently, and they are transformed by the word. And since this is a rebuke to those of the world that have not accepted the truth, they feel that it is a rebuke to them too, and they are offended. The transformed family members are not what they once were. They can no longer rely on them to do the same things they used to do. They can’t rely on them for social affirmation for their lifestyle and their sins. Therefore, they become hostile to them. Or at least, they feel estranged.
But yet, the household is the basic unit of the underground church. And you can now preach and teach the truth to all of them because your duty before Christ is to let His word be heard.
So, there will be a lot of social upheaval, including in the family circle, during the coming crisis. You may have to allow the realities of the situation to affect your actions, but not your intentions or your goals. And it will no doubt be very difficult. But you have to prepare your mind for every eventuality. Anything can happen. So, you have to work smart and you have to work carefully. Don’t just blabber everything that’s in your mind. That’s the way people do things today. They say whatever pops into their heads. But in a crisis, in a spiritual crisis, you have to have a spiritual mind that thinks before it speaks and speaks only words that will be useful to the cause of Christ. And when you have a hostile family member, work for that soul, pray for him, and try to help him see the realities of the spiritual situation. But don’t argue with him. Don’t debate with him. Be kind to him, be accommodating as far as possible, and try to keep him as a friend.
Now, how should we go about establishing an underground church? There is a method that has been tried and proven. It’s not isolationist. This method meets the people where they are, ministers to their needs, and then, and only then, do you share the truth with them. Remember to follow Jesus’ example. He is the master at creating the underground church. Jesus’ example is found in Ministry of Healing, page 143.
“Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me.’”
Jesus mingled with people. He went to the places where they were. He built His church around the outcasts, the disenfranchised, the poor, the broken hearted, the prostitutes, and other people who were willing to receive Him.
And that’s what we are to do. We are to reach out and minister to those in need wherever they are, whatever their background, whatever their experience, whatever their sins.
You can engage with people by using the whole family, or at least those who are willing. Give everyone an opportunity to participate and invite these people into your home. Be intentional about what you do. But build community relationships all around you.
For example, you can organize a time when people aren’t too busy to have a plant-based meal together every week, consistently. Choose one or two other families who are church members and gather together and organize a weekly fellowship meal in your home. And as you go about your business from day-to-day in the community, you can invite people that you are impressed to invite to come to the feast. They may be tattooed from head to foot. They may have body piercings in their noses, in their ears and other places. They may have strange colored hair. But these things all tell you, in fact, they scream loudly at you that this person isn’t satisfied and is looking for something meaningful. They’re looking for a genuine person to help them with their confusion. So, invite them. Give them a chance to see what a Christian home is really like. Bring them in to enjoy the fellowship meal. Bring all kinds of people, farmers, salesmen, construction workers. Just invite them, teachers and educators, doctors or health workers, farmers, or fireman. It doesn’t matter, human needs transcend the things that we do for a living. Just invite them. They won’t all come anyway.
Now, some of these people are probably vegan already. They want to know about plant-based food and recipes. This way you can talk to them about something that isn’t threatening at all. You can provide a plant-based meal that is delicious and with which you can engage conversation. This will lead to discussions about their background, their wants, and it is a wonderful launching place to talk about the crying needs of their heart. It doesn’t have to be forced. It may not happen with the first time they are in your home. It may not happen the second time. Keep inviting them back to join the fellowship meal the next week. And thereby you will get to know them and become their friends.
Be interested in them. Don’t isolate yourself or treat them as outside of your inner circle. You can be in a crowd and feel isolated. In fact, many people experience this. Be inclusive at least wherever you can be. And engage your whole household if possible, in reaching out to these people.
Your friends will become your partners. People have the same longings of the heart, the same spiritual emptiness, the same holes in their heart from broken relationships, the same pain. Everyone has pain at some time in their life. Help them deal with the pain. And sharing a meal with them is very intimate. But it opens up the heart. So, you have to be watchful and listen. Don’t talk too much. Let them do much of the talking. Maybe ask a few questions to get things started.
And then when you have finished the meal, you can invite them to a Bible study. Don’t pressure them or coerce them. Say to them, “thank you for joining us tonight, we enjoyed your fellowship. We are going to have a short Bible study. You are welcome to join us. But you are also free to go your way if you want to. Be right up front with them. And be sure to invite them back if they would like to come for another meal. Some will leave because they are not ready for a Bible study. Some will stay. They’re interested in what you have to say. Keep in mind that they have wounds and sores in their hearts.
The Bible study should be on general matters of faith. Topics like Jesus’ love, His life, and His death and resurrection. You are planting seeds, not giving the heart cutting truths. You are giving them a simple gospel study.
When someone raises a question like “what day is the Sabbath?” or “Where do we go when we die?” You tell them “well that’s not part of our study tonight, but I’ll be glad to talk to you about that after the Bible study is over.” That is key. Then when you take it up privately with them answer their questions from the Bible. And other members of the group won’t be given the opportunity to raise objections or cavil about your answers. Don’t pressure, or forcefully press home your points. Just give them something to think about. Help them see the other side of the things that are controversial. Help them understand that Jesus words and life was instruction and an example to us.
When the short general Bible study is over, go around the little circle and ask each one to place a prayer request. Have someone write them down. The reason for this is that when the prayer is answered then the one who made the prayer request can see that his prayer is answered. Nothing is more inspiring than to see prayers answered. And overtime, this will happen. Be sure to end the Bible study early enough so that you have time to talk to any distinctive inquiries.
You can vary the Bible study topics. You can vary the cuisine of the meal each week. Make it comfortable. Make it inviting. If one participant says something that isn’t right or theologically incorrect, don’t rush to correct him. Say, when asked “Sometime we’ll look in the Bible and see what it has to say about this subject.” That way you tell them that this is not your own opinions.
Don’t get into arguments but relax and while you want to manage the process, don’t over manage it. There will be strong minds that have strong opinions, but if you are meek and have Jesus in your heart the Holy Spirit will give you words to say that will put oil on troubled waters.
If you do this, it won’t be long till you have people that are actively searching and studying the scriptures for themselves. Even people who have never opened the Bible will find it is exciting to engage with God.
One word of advice for your church member friends who join the study. They often like to say how much they know and use terms that are totally unfamiliar to your invitees from other denominations or from secular people. Take them aside privately, in advance if possible, and explain to them that many of your participants don’t have background in studying the scriptures and there may be those who have never opened the Bible in their lives. Tell them that this Bible study is not a place to demonstrate their knowledge of the scriptures. It’s not about them. It’s about your guests. Explain that you are building a basis in the simple understanding of the scripture and the gospel message. Ask them to please not use distinctive terms related to the three angels’ messages that are unfamiliar to them. Some church people may ignore your comments and you may have to ask them not to come to the study. They’re dangerous to the success of your work and the underground church that you are building.
You don’t want to plant people in your underground church. You want to plant an underground church where the people are and where they will come when they’re searching for answers. That concept is a little strange to us who have lived in free countries where we try to bring people into the church. But the underground church doesn’t work that way. It is organic, and it is people-oriented not structure-oriented or pulpit-oriented. In other words, the structure or the institutional church isn’t the focus. We don’t have to preserve a structure or an institution as an underground church. In fact, we don’t want to do that. While it’s OK to be part of a public church, the public church will never go underground. Only people will go underground.
So, you don’t plant a church in the underground. You plant the word into people, and they will gravitate to those who also have the word in them in order to worship and fellowship together in the word. And when the word is under pressure by secular society, it becomes more and more important for fellowship in the word to happen.
Every human being exists in networks of human relationships. In each of these “relationship networks” human beings relate to each other according to patterns they have learned. For those who don’t know Christ (or for those who do not know Him well), their relationship networks operate according to patterns they have learned from the world, as well as patterns they have cultivated through sin. And when the word is introduced into these relationship networks, these relationships can be transformed.
It’s not simply the individual who can be transformed; the whole network can be transformed. There is a very interesting story in Acts 16:16-40. Paul established an underground church.
“And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.”
I want you to notice that Paul and Silas suffered by being beaten and thrown into the prison. Suffering is often a part of establishing and continuing an underground church. Let’s continue reading.
“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.”
Notice the supernatural response to suffering and prayers of these men of God. So apparently suffering can lead to divine miracles. God allows suffering so that He can bring His people into prominence before the public. Let us continue reading.
“And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.”
Notice that it says suffering leads to the greatest question ever asked. It also leads to conversions. It also led to another underground church in that city. Reading on.
“And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans. And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city. And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.”
Sometimes God allows trials in order to bring us into connection with those who would be open to the everlasting gospel and the three angels’ messages. So, we shouldn’t complain if we have to suffer. We should rejoice. The Bible doesn’t tell us what happened to the woman who was dispossessed of the devil, though I would like to imagine that she became a believer. Perhaps she did, but it is not clear from scripture. However, apparently the jailer and his whole family, who wasn’t even in the story at the beginning was the obvious target of the converting power of the Holy Ghost. I imagine that the Holy Ghost wanted to convert the magistrates also, but the Bible doesn’t give us any information about what happened to them either. What we do know is that testimony about the truth of Jesus Christ was given to the woman, her masters, the jailer, the other prisoners, and the magistrates. The incident had quite a broad effect. Each of those had an opportunity to accept the grace of God.
Jesus noted that when the gospel is introduced into a network of existing relationships, the result is often conflict. Some people in the network will want to continue to relate to each other according to the patterns they learned from the world and developed through sin. Others in the network want to relate to each other according to the new patterns they have learned from Christ through the word. This set people at variance with one another.
This can impact you as God’s witness in pretty dramatic and even shocking ways. Have you thought about what it would be like to have church members turn against you? Not pretty. Have you ever thought about what it would be like to have members of your own immediate family turn hostile to you? Even more ugly. But this will have an impact on people that are in the network of the household. God has ordained it for a number of important reasons. He doesn’t approve of it but since it is going to happen Jesus uses it to accomplish His will and purposes. He sometimes leads His people into conflict because He ordains the outcome.
Let’s think about “household” for a minute. In Jesus day the word “household” did not just mean the people in the immediate family, but to the whole group of people–extended family, slaves, servants, workers–who depended upon each other every day for survival. What we have been calling a “network of relationships” the Bible calls a “household.” Today this could mean extended family, friends, business partners, workers, customers, social networks, and even acquaintances. It is a spiritual household. Just about anybody that you can think of that you interact with every day or week in a personal way is part of your “household.” You have been given the responsibility to care for the spiritual needs of those family members. That expanded definition of a household is what is meant when we start an underground church.
When Jesus sends out His disciples to plant the underground church, His strategy is to find a household with a peaceful leader. When Paul appointed Christian leaders in a city, he chose those who have led their households well according to the way of Christ, according to the new patterns of relationships that he has learned from the word.
In the public church, the pastor is assigned by the conference to the church or group of churches. They are there to see that the church is under control of the conference and to do the bidding for the conference. This was not originally how it was supposed to be. Pastors are not to hover over the churches and control them and control the pulpit. Their work is to be evangelists and raise up new churches in new territory. And today the whole system has become inverted and corrupted. Now the pastors babysit the churches. And the church members slip in and slip out of the church every Sabbath morning and that’s all they’re supposed to do. We’ve seen lots of examples of this in recent times where the organization leaders get upset if the church decides that it wants to have some special speaker, for instance. The reason for this is because the church is focused on the assets. The conference owns the assets. Therefore, the conference controls, often behind the scenes, what is done inside those assets or buildings. After all, the conference leaders are charged with the responsibility to see that nothing goes wrong with them.
But assigning a pastor to a church or a group of churches to control them or to preach to them is not God’s plan. Listen to this statement found in Medical Ministry, page 318.
“When the ministers understand the great blessing to be derived from laboring for those who know not the truth, they will leave the churches, after impressing upon them the importance of devising plans and methods whereby they can do within their borders the same kind of work that the ministers of the gospel are doing in the regions beyond.”
This suggests that the pastor is not to be assigned to the local church, or at least is not to hover over the churches. The elders are to manage the church and the details of running it. Indeed, that’s what God’s messenger informs us concerning the church pastor. The following is a statement from Evangelism, page 382.
“Our ministers should plan wisely, as faithful stewards. They should feel that it is not their duty to hover over the churches already raised up, but that they should be doing aggressive evangelistic work, preaching the Word and doing house-to-house work in places that have not yet heard the truth…. They will find that nothing is so encouraging as doing evangelistic work in new fields.”
This is very pointed counsel for the church today. But the church is disobedient to this council and the churches are very weak because of it. Here is a statement from Ministry to the Cities, page 144.
“The time that has been used in preaching to our churches has not strengthened them, but has made them weak and helpless, to be fed with milk and not with meat. God has been calling upon His ministers to leave the ninety and nine and hunt for the lost sheep. Your [Elder and Mrs. Stephen N. Haskell’s] experience is to be a lesson for all who are hovering over the churches—consumers and not producers. We tell you to put your trust in God. Let Him guide you. The Lord Jesus is answering your prayers.”
To strengthen the church, pastors need to go out and do evangelism in unreached places and raise up churches there. The members are to strengthen themselves to work for the success of the church. Listen to this statement from Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 6, page 30.
“Instead of keeping the ministers at work for the churches that already know the truth, let the members of the churches say to these laborers: “Go work for souls that are perishing in darkness. We ourselves will carry forward the services of the church. We will keep up the meetings, and, by abiding in Christ, will maintain spiritual life. We will work for souls that are about us, and we will send our prayers and our gifts to sustain the laborers in more needy and destitute fields.”
So, the elders and members are to tell the pastors that they will take care of the church, and send them out to raise up new churches. Really, this is the model of the underground church. This is not practiced typically in the public church that is organized around the pulpit or the pastor. The pastors tend to feel that the pulpit is their territory. But it shouldn’t be. The churches will become weak and lifeless if churches follow this model. Here is a statement from Evangelism, page 382 concerning the ministers.
“As a general rule, the conference laborers should go out from the churches into new fields, using their God-given ability to a purpose in seeking and saving the lost… If the ministers would get out of the way, if they would go forth into new fields, the members would be obliged to bear responsibilities, and their capabilities would increase by use.”
And the following statement from Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 7, page 254, 255 tells us how the pastor is to relate to the church board, or any boards for that matter.
“Not a few ministers are neglecting the very work that they have been appointed to do. Why are those who are set apart for the work of the ministry placed on committees and boards? Why are they called upon to attend so many business meetings, many times at great distance from their fields of labor? Why are not business matters placed in the hands of businessmen? The ministers have not been set apart to do this work. The finances of the cause are to be properly managed by men of ability, but ministers are set apart for another line of work. Let the management of financial matters rest on others than those ordained to the ministry.
“Ministers are not to be called hither and thither to attend board meetings for the purpose of deciding common business questions. Many of our ministers have done this work in the past, but it is not the work in which the Lord wishes them to engage. Too many financial burdens have been placed on them. When they try to carry these burdens, they neglect to fulfill the gospel commission. God looks upon this as a dishonor to His name.”
Assigning pastors to hover over the church or a group of churches is clearly not God’s plan. They may be appointed to a certain region, but their responsibilities do not include sitting on boards, planning the local church calendar, or controlling the pulpit.
The underground church, because of its very nature and often because of the hostile circumstances, has to go a step further. Each church must stand on its own strength. Every member has his responsibilities and his ministry or mission. Many of the members can preach the truth of God. So, whether the minister is present or not makes no difference. What makes a difference is that the word is properly preached with the power and not controlled by any outside force other than the Holy Ghost. The members of the church must be good Bereans and must study for themselves to know what is the truth of God.
The ministers in the underground church are not tied to a specific church or group of churches. They may travel from place to place as itinerant pastors. That is how every successful religious movement in history has begun. From the early church, to the Waldenses to the Methodists to the Baptists. The ministers are like the apostles who went from place to place raising up new churches. They are not paid through a conference. They often carry different names in different towns. They are there to build up the church and introduce new converts to the household of faith. The Holy Spirit may lead them to different underground churches each week. And if they are moved and controlled by the Holy Spirit they will be welcome wherever they go. Paul asks a question in 1 Timothy 3:1-5.
“This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?”
The leader of the church must be all of these things to be approved of God. And if he is not blameless, not the husband of one wife, not vigilant, not sober, not of good behavior, not given to hospitality, not apt to teach, etc., how can he be a good leader for the church? The underground church, of course, can be much bigger than a household, using our definition. The household of faith is called this because it is a household. And if it’s several households together it’s often called a “household of households.”
Public churches are built from the “pulpit down.” People come to a special building that is built around a pulpit. The senior pastor directs the church from that pulpit. That is the office over which he is the officer. The pulpit is the center of church life. It is where the gospel is preached, and other things happen.
But that’s not the way it is in the underground church. The underground church is built from the “household up.” Each household is a center of church life where the gospel is purely preached. The job of the elders is to make sure of that. But every member does his work assigned to him by God to build up the church. There is no sitting in the pews every week and not doing anything else during the week.
The public church is easy to shut down. The pastor can be put in jail, or the pulpit can be closed. A padlock can be put on the church door. But the underground church is much harder to stop. Even when the itinerant pastor is in jail, each household continues to operate. Each household leader ensures that in his household the everlasting gospel is still preached faithfully. And the relationships reflect the way of Christ.
Most public churches make the worship service on Sabbath the center of the life of the church. If some members do not attend worship on Sabbath, then the other church members think there is something that isn’t right about them. They think they’re falling away. But in the underground church this isn’t the norm. In times of persecution, for instance, it is simply impossible for people of different households to join together for a Sabbath worship service. And it isn’t possible that people from far and near can meet any other day of the week for that matter. So, for the underground church Christian life is not focused around gathering together for Sabbath worship. Instead the underground church focuses on transforming each household by placing Christ at the center of household life. It is also focused on soul winning. The underground church meets weekly on the Sabbath to provide the faithful preaching of the Word and provide fellowship for the believers. But this is not the focus of the underground church. That is the focus of the public church, which disobeys Christ.
But not joining together for Sabbath worship does not make underground Christians weak or uncommitted. It may be impossible at times. But underground Christians do not stop going to church because they are disappointed with, or hurt at church. Instead, they are typically stronger Christians than in the public church because each underground church household must learn how to “be the whole church” to its household network. Each household must learn how to preach and teach the Word itself because conditions in society and the government make it necessary. Underground church members cannot simply go to a church building frequently to be fed by the pastor. They have to learn to cook for themselves.
Worship in the underground church is usually very simple and informal and can last from a few minutes to several hours, depending upon the circumstances. A typical overview of underground household worship, which can be even daily, involves many factors.
The household leader may lead the worship, or leadership may move from person to person, including children. In this way, everyone learns to lead the household in worship.
The household sings together from memory. It practices new songs that it wants to memorize as well. Often there are only voices, no instruments. Everyone learns to sing, and to become comfortable even singing alone.
The worship leader shares a portion of the scripture, often from memory. The other members of the household are then taught to memorize that scripture. They may study the same scripture for many days or weeks, until the whole household has memorized it.
The worship leader shares what the Lord has given him from the text or an exhortation about another scripture. The household discusses how to apply the scripture to their life together.
There could be congregational recitation of the 4th commandment, or all of the commandments.
During prayer time, corporate prayers ascend to heaven by members of the underground church. But also, individual extemporaneous prayers add richness. Prayer time is not necessarily a short period of time, because the more serious the persecution, the more serious and intentional the prayers of the underground church become. There is more to pray about, as well as more to pray for.
Conflicts in the underground church are not allowed. And if they do arise, they are resolved in the way of Christ in Matthew 18. And the peace of Christ is shared either through handshake, kiss, or embrace. They might also have the parties wash each other’s feet and take communion.
Christ transforms the relationships of the underground church as well as the relationships between the household of the church and the world. In this way the underground church is more like the early church. The general public did not say about the early church, “look how often they gather together in their building for worship.” but instead, the general public said simply, “look how they love one another.”
Do you want to be a member of the underground church? It requires a complete change of thinking concerning what a church is. And this is not easy for those of us who have lived in free countries for a long time. And we will be surprised if we do not prepare our minds for what is coming and how to deal with it. The underground church is designed to help God’s people with navigating these unique and difficult circumstances.
Let us pray. Dear Father in heaven, thank you for what we’ve learned today. We want to be ready for the persecution that is coming upon your people. And we want to be ready for the underground church. Please make us pure, make us holy, and make us strong. We love you and we want to be with you for eternity. So please send Your Holy Spirit to give us special insight and an understanding regarding the things that we have discussed today. In Jesus name, amen.