Establishing the Underground Church, Part 6
By Pastor Hal Mayer
Dear friends,
Welcome to Keep the Faith Ministry again. This month, we will again look at the underground church and reflect on its characteristics, as they are quite different from the public church. The underground church will be a necessity in the near future. It’s even important to establish it right now, which you can do by inviting people to your home. These little groups will eventually become the underground church. So, as we begin let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, in your great and infinite wisdom You lead Your people through difficult times and unusual circumstances. We are expecting them to break upon us quite soon. While we don’t know when for certain, we know that we can and should prepare for it now. So please bless us today as we study Your word and try to understand our role in the underground church. As we open the scriptures, please send Your Holy Spirit to our side and help us to comprehend what the underground church is all about. In Jesus name, amen.
Turn with me in your Bibles to John 16:33. The words of Jesus gave us much courage for whatever we face in the future.
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
If Jesus has overcome the world, you can too. He will do the fighting for you, but you will have tribulation. Don’t worry about that. Be of good cheer, for you are in good company. And when tribulation comes upon us, we should do the next natural thing to be able to make our ministry effective. Let us continue now with the principles of the underground church. We’re on principle #7.
For public churches, there are many advantages to being as large, as centralized, and as professionalized as possible. The largest churches can hire the more talented preachers and worship leaders. They can operate their own bookstores, cafes, and media networks. They can recruit even more members and become even larger through marketing, advertising, and massive volunteer efforts. They can provide assistance to small, struggling churches. Finally, they can influence politics and the general public on behalf of the Christian message. During peaceful times there are some very useful things the public church can and should do. When it was started, the remnant public church was advised by Inspiration to incorporate and establish systems and produce a method to organize evangelism around the world. It was something like when Israel was in Babylon. They were told to build houses, plant gardens, and do what is necessary to become established. They were going to be there a while. They might as well make it as easy and simple as possible. Let’s read it from Prophets and Kings, page 441.
“With what tender compassion did God inform His captive people of His plans for Israel! He knew that should they be persuaded by false prophets to look for a speedy deliverance, their position in Babylon would be made very difficult. Any demonstration or insurrection on their part would awaken the vigilance and severity of the Chaldean authorities and would lead to a further restriction of their liberties. Suffering and disaster would result. He desired them to submit quietly to their fate and make their servitude as pleasant as possible; and His counsel to them was: “Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; … and seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”
Jeremiah also told them to marry wives and raise families. He was telling them that they would be there for the time period specified in the 70-year prophecy. Similarly, though they weren’t in captivity, the public church was given instruction to establish itself with principles and tools that made life easy as a public church. Incorporate, obtain tax exempt status, establish bank accounts, work for the salvation of souls and the good of humanity, do public evangelism, and put a sign out front of the church building, etc. And this was good and necessary. But it also linked the public church with the government and with the established systems that were available to the public. But a different system is necessary in times of persecution.
But since the public church is a corporation, its organizational life is therefore bound up in the world’s systems, its internal structure and human resource needs are complex. Consequently, often the public church is best led by a professional, a godly professional, one that will not compromise the word of God, but will be faithful to the word. That is what God wants for the public church.
When a church member senses his call to become more serious about his faith or to take more leadership responsibility in the Christian community, they are often encouraged to go to the seminary. They are formally trained for the ministry and are given the opportunity to become officially credentialed. The credentialing opens up the prospect of employment in the public church. This has a dark backside as false teachings and politics have diluted and perverted the message, but this is the way the public church works today. In the early days there was a strong emphasis on truth which doesn’t exist today with most teachers and administrators of the seminaries.
Anyway, this strategy has powered the growth of the church for the past decades. It has certainly yielded success according to many measurements. In spite of its weaknesses and apostacies, it was originally a strategy that worked well when money, people, and public interest were plentiful, and the government is generally supportive or at least neutral.
But what happens when persecution arrives? Circumstances are changed dramatically. A new set of issues are swirling that must be addressed. Unusual circumstances call for unusual remedies, unusual action, an unusual behavior. In this series we are talking about a time when it will be impossible to be faithful and operate a public church. Until then it may be fine to continue calling for the pure preaching of the word and purity of behavior by holding church leaders accountable. To prepare for the time of persecution is very important. If our minds are not worked and developed on the subject, we will be caught flat footed and not ready for the crisis. We will be like the deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, confused and paralyzed and unable to move. When unusual circumstances like persecution arise, professional clergy will just get in the way.
A strategy that works well under one set of social conditions and circumstances may not work nearly as well under a different set of social conditions. In fact, they may be downright dangerous. A different set of social conditions is clearly dawning. Church membership and attendance are in chronic decline especially among the young. This raises questions about finance over the medium and long term, if not sooner. Further, our culture is in the midst of a decisive shift against the church. In the context of decreasing strength and growing hostility, how will the church’s strategy of size, centralization, and professionalism fair? I suspect not very well.
Training to lead the church as a large, centralized, professionalized public corporation is rarely beneficial for the underground church. A different kind of training is needed and this kind of training favors amateurs.
Today, amateur is not a popular word. It is never used as a compliment. It describes someone who is not a professional, either because they are not good enough, not experienced enough, not serious enough, or not eligible to be paid for the work in their area of specialization. But that is an unfortunate definition. Amateur comes from the Latin word amare, which means “to love.” An amateur is one who does something simply for the love of it, with no thought of professional gain. That’s admirable, and, as it turns out, is necessary and effective when it comes to underground church leadership. In fact, it’s biblical. John 7:5 tells us of someone that was an amateur.
“And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?”
These words were spoken of Jesus Himself. Jesus was the greatest amateur preacher, teacher and medical missionary there ever was. John was trained as a fisherman along with his brother James. So was Peter and Andrew and perhaps Phillip. In any case, all the disciples were amateurs when it comes to organizing and leading churches. Jesus was interested in amateurs that would be responsive to His teachings. In fact, most of the major figures in church history for the first several centuries of the church’s existence were amateurs leading very small underground churches. They were not professionals leading large, centralized, incorporated congregations. And they could hardly be described as not serious or well trained. They managed to turn the world upside down.
The amateur-led church is hardly a New Testament relic. It’s the model that John Wesley pressed into service, first in England then in North America, when the Wesleyan revival produced the kind of converts in the kind of places that don’t fit into public churches. Wesley appointed amateur local pastors, circuit riders, music leaders, and other leaders to do the kinds of things that today have been centralized into one figure: the pastor.
Amateur pastors and church leaders are continuing to turn the world upside down today. Just look at a map where the church is growing and ask yourself; Who’s in charge there, the amateurs or the professionals? Look at where the church is shrinking and ask yourself the same question. It’s not like the church is stuck in neutral until paid professionals and buildings show up. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
What professionalism gains in efficiency, it loses, dramatically, preaching the truth and in promoting Christian maturity. If a pastor preaches in your large, centralized, professionalized church every Sabbath, it’s unlikely that the average church member will learn to preach, no matter how many sermons that member listens to. I want to say here, there are some very dedicated and consecrated pastors in the public church. If, however, the pastor stops by a household once every six weeks or six months, as in the case of Methodist circuit riders, or perhaps never, and the rest of the time the household needs to function as a whole church on its own, it’s amazing how well household leaders learn to preach, do funerals, conduct weddings, and just about every other function of the church. They give counsel, develop an understanding of the truth, and disciple ordinary Christians to grow into the fullness in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, whether they are ever formerly trained or not.
The underground church has had to learn ways of worship that do not depend on professional pastors. Household leaders became the natural overseers of the church that met in homes. If pastors visit, they supplement, not replace, the pastoral oversight of the household of faith.
And where do the leaders for the underground church come from if not from the seminary? In the early church, leadership wasn’t something you chose to go into, like a profession. It was something you grew into, as you grew into the fullness the truth in Christ and were recognized by people about you, that you could help them grow in some way. It’s what enabled Paul to say in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be you followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”
Using amateur leaders is more than a tactical model with strategic benefits, like keeping costs low or surviving public hostility. Using amateur leaders ensures that the underground church places the highest priority on each member growing into the fullness in Christ in the context of their everyday ordinary life. By making sure that all household leadership are amateurs, the household leaders serve as a model for each member of the congregation to imitate, as a household leader imitates Christ around him daily, in the course of daily life. Paul was not a tent maker because his churches were too small to support him full time. He chose to be a tentmaker because he considered it vitally important to be understood correctly by the Greek mind, that he wasn’t preaching the gospel just for money so he wouldn’t have to work. We read this in 1 Corinthians 9:6, “Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?
Paul could have not worked in his practical trade because he was a gospel minister and could have received the tithe and offerings. But he did not, as he was seeking to lead his people to understand some important principles. But Paul also wished to stand in an amateur relationship with the churches, rather than a professional one. This actually gave him enormous credibility, so much so that he became iconic to the underground church in those days. Paul was not in it for himself. He was in it for Christ. 1 Corinthians 9:9-12 tell of his understanding.
“For it is written in the law of Moses, You shall not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treads out the corn. Does God take care for oxen? Or said he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that plows should plow in hope; and that he that threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.”
The Corinthians were very much into material things and money. Paul did not want them to think of him as a mercenary using the gospel for his personal benefit. Paul did not collect money from the Corinthians for himself, though he could have, in order to demonstrate his love for Christ instead of money. Nevertheless he makes it clear what his position is concerning the tithe.
1 Corinthians 9:13-14, “Do you not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so has the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.”
Paul is talking about the tithe. It is to support the ministers or the ministry of the word. He is saying that those that preach the gospel should live of the gospel. The amateur minister can be paid from the tithe just as the professional minister. However, in the underground church the amateur cannot expect to make his living off of the tithe he receives. It will probably be barely enough to offset some of his expenses if that. He will also have to work, grow a garden, or find some other means of earning a living for his family. He will do this work because he loves the work, not because he wants to make a living of it.
But often this can’t be done during persecution. So, the gospel minister has other forms of income, like garden produce for example, or maybe he makes something he can trade for food, or clothing. If he can do medical missionary work, he can give the blessing of healing to those who are sick and they can reward him with a box of carrots, beets, or apples. The church members of the underground church should certainly return a faithful tithe. It may not be cash, but it may be in kind. But remember, it needs to support the work of evangelism, the work of establishing and strengthening churches everywhere. It’s a work of sacrifice.
So, if you are thinking of becoming a pastor, leave aside the goal of becoming a pastor over a public church. Become a pastor of the underground church. Don’t just be politically correct. Stand out, be different, be truthful.
There’s no need in a hostile world to create a church larger than the ones in the Bible. Even Romans was written to a cluster of several small households of faith, or churches. Keep the number of households you oversee small enough that it is a reasonable goal for you to visit each one regularly and track the progress of each household member in growing to the fullness in Christ. Ask yourself, is the seminary training that I am contemplating the type of training that will be suitable for an underground church? Will it help me to equip the members to preach the word of God purely to those church members?
Principle #8
Don’t recruit; instead, caution households about following Christ.
Don’t set up silly human preconditions and barriers to following Christ. But do not try to recruit people to follow Christ either. And do not promise blessings. Promise only truth that will set them free. Keep focused on the words of Jesus in John 8:32.
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Also present before them the cross that will cost them everything. Keep in mind the words of Jesus in Matthew 16:24.
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
Put before them the principal of knowing God as the basis of eternal life, for Jesus himself said the following in John 17:3.
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
Jesus urged potential disciples to count the costs to family, to wealth, and to personal safety, before committing themselves and their households to follow Him. Jesus said in Luke 14:25-33.
“And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus explained clearly to His potential disciples that following Him was not one more responsibility that could simply be added to other responsibilities, even seemingly reasonable ones. For instance, Jesus stated clearly in Matthew 8:18-22 that to follow Him would be seen as neglecting important responsibilities.
“Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side. And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.”
And whenever Jesus mentioned a few benefits to following Him He also mentioned the high cost of that commitment in the same sentence. He talked to everyone who was interested in following Him, but He did not seek to persuade or convince anyone who hesitated, and He let many walk away. Mark 10:17-27 is an example.
“And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”
In the early church, before individuals were invited to worship with a particular congregation, congregation leaders would visit them and talk about their lives and why they wanted to be followers of Christ. The goal was to make sure the church consisted only of people who were there to grow because they wanted to grow into the fullness of Christ. This is also the way of the underground church. So, if you’re interested in visiting an underground church for worship, the first step would be for a leader to drop by your house to meet you and your family and learn about your lives and your interest in Christ. This gives the Holy Spirit plenty of time to impress you concerning the genuineness of their interest.
In the underground church there’s no need to grow large in order to cover the cost of the building or meet the conference objectives so they will assign a pastor. So instead of begging people to come, we can treat participation as a precious privilege. We can personally visit with those who want to follow Christ before they show up at church.
Hippolytus, one of the early church writers, sheds light on how the young, underground, persecuted church dealt with guests in the generations shortly after the apostles. He wrote the following.
“Let those who will be brought newly to the faith to hear the word be brought first to the teachers before the people arrive. And let them give some reason why they have given their assent to the faith. And let those who have brought them bear witness as to whether they are able to hear the word. And let them be asked about their life: what sort it is?”
In this way people aspiring to be worshiping with the underground church can be vetted to make sure, as far as possible, that they are genuine and ready to suffer for Christ. If you consider the church precious and Christ as all in all, you will want to protect the church from impostors and spies. You can’t expect to weed them out completely but do as much as you can to minimize tragedy.
Principle #9
Train members to be generalists, not specialists.
Division of labor is such a fact of life in many public churches today that it’s hard for us to even imagine what it would look like to be a church where each member is intentionally trained to do each ministry task. But that is the vision of the New Testament, and that is also a requirement for life in the underground church. It is also the essence of the Great Commission: Jesus does not command us to help people find and fulfill their individual callings in life. Instead, he commands us to teach disciples to obey everything that He has commanded.
Unlike many churches, the gospels do not portray Jesus administering a spiritual gifts test to His disciples and dividing up their labor according to their gifts and interests. Instead, Jesus trains His disciples by living with them and having each of them do each of the same things He does like healing, preaching the gospel, sharing bread, opening their homes, and even taking up their crosses. He has each one discipled to each ministry task because each task, especially the ones that we are not good at doing and the ones we don’t enjoy, teaches us to rely more fully on God’s strength, not our own. We also learned that we can do each task of ministry to others only after we first let God do the task of ministry to us. For example, Jesus washed His disciples feet then he sent them to wash the feet of His disciples everywhere. And this has come down to our time for we wash each other’s feet in a humble service in order to follow in Jesus footsteps. Let’s read about it in John 13:4-14.
“Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.”
As the apostle Paul teaches us, we can only do ministry as “imitators of God.” Thus, it is in doing ministry to others that we learn to become fully aware of God’s prior and ongoing ministry to us.
Christians today sometimes cite Paul’s analogy of the body (in 1 Corinthians 12) as justification for focusing their service on one or two areas of spiritual gifting while leaving other ministry tasks to others who are “more qualified and gifted” in those areas. They think of themselves as an eye and a foot, or a worship leader but not a proclaimer of the gospel, for example. And they assume that maybe if they “focus on their calling,” Christ will somehow mystically stitch all of the disjointed parts together into a functioning body.
That is how it usually works in a public church. But when persecution comes and the necessity of the underground church arises, it doesn’t work that way. There may be a traditional worship leader or there may not. The members of the underground church have to take up roles that they didn’t do traditionally or historically and fulfill the tasks of the underground church to the satisfaction of the Holy Spirit. Church members need to be generalists and able to do anything that they’re called upon to do.
But contemporary biology demonstrates that even a single eye cell contains the DNA capable of reproducing not only the eye but also the foot and even the whole body. This means that though we might have a particular ministry specialization in which we are serving at a point in time, we are still called to be ministry “generalists” who can carry out each of the tasks required for the church to operate. We may be an eye, but Christ expects us to be a foot whenever a foot is required. Ministry “specialists” who insist that they can only do one kind of ministry are like cancer cells: they are not healthy cells because they can only reproduce themselves, not the overall body. Churches filled with specialists end up experiencing exactly what Paul warns about in 1 Corinthians 12:21-24.
“And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked…”
A lack of overall body health and coordination, as each part of the body focuses only on its needs in order to function actually leads to pride, selfishness, territorialism, and consequently offenses and divisions.
Pastors are responsible for equipping all church members to be generalists, not specialists. Unfortunately, pastors end up becoming specialists themselves, focused on doing the most important and difficult tasks of the church. Church buildings become their primary place of ministry, where these important specialized tasks are performed.
There are two principles, as we noted before, that are marks of the authentic church: the pure preaching of the truth in the word of God and the hearing of the word of God. There are other functions of the church like baptism, communion, the performance of weddings and funerals, et cetera. These are usually left for the pastor to do in the public church. But in the time of persecution this doesn’t work. In the underground church these tasks must be performed by others. First, if one of the elders is there, he should do these tasks. Second, if one of the elders is not present or available, then they should be done by a deacon, or suitable brother of whatever rank. If no suitable man is able to do these tasks, then they should be done by a mature and godly “mother in Israel.”
There is an interesting case in the New Testament. Acts 8:26-40.
“And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.”
Philip was only a deacon. But as you can see he was a very consecrated man which qualified him for the work that the Holy Spirit needed him to do. He was so open-minded to the Holy Spirit that the Spirit was able to speak directly to him and give him instructions.
And when Phillip was asked by the eunuch to baptize him, Philip didn’t say “What prevents me from baptizing you is that I am only a Deacon; we should wait until we can get to the church building and you can be baptized by someone who is fully ordained to the pastoral ministry.” This wasn’t possible. This man was on his way back to Ethiopia and would take the message of the gospel with him. This was an unusual circumstance and called for unusual behavior.
There is another task that Phillip did as a deacon which is normally restricted to pastors or elders. The spirit took him to another place, and he preached the truth of the word, in all the cities between where he was and Caesarea. Church members in the underground church should be ready to do whatever task they are called to do for the Lord. And when persecution is the dominant pressure on the church, this is the only way you can work.
Much council is given in scripture about preaching, the Lord’s supper, and baptism. Restricting these most important tasks to pastors and to church buildings is an effort in the public church to ensure that they are done well and properly, and, for that matter, to weed out imposters. At the same time, it is often perverted and used to control the pulpit and preserve the role of those who are actually employed as professional pastors.
This may be good in circumstances when there is a peaceful government. But when persecution arises, and the underground church becomes absolutely necessary, such restrictions would have the effect of depriving its members completely of men who can preach and do other functions necessary to the work of the church. Layman should be given opportunities to preach while pastors are out doing evangelism. This will develop their talent so that when there is a necessity for the underground church, and pastors are thrown in jail, or apostatize, there will be someone who has enough skill to present the word to the members of the church. Many in the underground church must operate for long periods of time, perhaps their whole lives, without pastors and church buildings. They need to be able and qualified to do the pastoral functions.
This may sound radical in the context of today’s public church, but even for Christians who have regular access to pastors and church buildings, we are not on solid scriptural ground when we restrict them from learning how to obey everything that Christ commanded. This includes learning to preach and conduct other aspects of ministry like communion to those whom the Lord has placed under their care; that is, those in their households of faith. It is wholly right and wise for a church to say, “no one should preach or do other ministerial functions that a professional pastor would do except those who are vetted.” And it is wholly right and wise to restrict Christians from preaching or baptizing, etc., to those outside of their household when they have not first learned to do those things among the members of their own household. So, develop a plan for comprehensive discipleship for everyone that the Lord entrusts to you. You will be held accountable to Him.
Principle #10
Remember who you are. Worship time is the church’s only hope for remembering who it is. It does so by remembering precisely and specifically who its God is. That is why in the underground church, the scriptures, and the spirit of prophecy, are indispensable.
Christianity is never about creativity, but it is always about faithfulness. It is about receiving from Christ all the truth He has been pleased to reveal to us. In this way, the underground church is essentially the same as the church in the wilderness. The church in the wilderness was faithful to the light that it had been given. It was persecuted by Satan. He created a set of false doctrines and a church that espoused them. This is a very large public church today. And it became a persecuting church. Let’s look at it from Revelation 12:3-6.
“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.”
The existence of such a false system of worship, and its corresponding persecution, require that the underground church know what it believes and proclaims it. It is not a wishy-washy set of feelings and ideas that are subject to human interpretation. It believes the solid truths from the word of God, and they are non-negotiable. The underground church is about embodying and proclaiming the truth that without alteration or accommodation or omission in context of our own time. It is about proclaiming the message of full truth, intact and unchanged in the existing culture. It is also about preparing and helping the people be ready to suffer for Jesus sake and even be martyred for the full message of the everlasting Gospel and the three angels’ messages. Those words are not reality to us today. But in the near future, society and even many public churches, which are ecumenical, will become so hostile to the three angels messages, that those who are faithfully loyal to them will experience persecution and even martyrdom.
Christians in the free world are familiar with the wording of the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s prayer, Psalm 23, the three angels’ messages etc., and even may recite them in worship services. But their lives haven’t suffered because of it. And their worship life certainly isn’t centered on these things. But for the underground church, these are very important in order to remember what the underground church is. They are servants of Christ and are proclaiming His message in its fullness. That includes all of it from scripture, unadulterated. It includes the Ten Commandments, but also everything else in scripture. And the historical information gives the underground church a clear picture of what it’s like to be faithful to God.
Light is advancing. What was believed in the time of Luther, the Methodists, or early advent believers was truth for that time. But now truth has gone on and has matured in the light of the scriptures and the end times. And therefore, the underground church in the last days has the fullest expression of the light of God’s word and the completeness of His message ever before expressed by any individual or group of individuals or the church of any age.
The underground church emphasizes faithfulness to scripture, especially present truth. And there is a cross to bear. For example, the Sabbath is a doctrine not espoused by many in history. But the church in the wilderness always had representatives who were faithful to the seventh day Sabbath of the Lord. The underground church is called to be faithful to the seventh day Sabbath today just as they were in previous centuries. And this is a cross to bare, as it has always been.
Another example is the doctrine of the state of the dead. And while it is not entirely faded from memory, the underground church is called by Christ to revive and understanding of what the Bible teaches regarding life after death, the grave, and the resurrection of the just.
A third example is the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. The underground church is called to reveal how current events fulfill Bible prophecy just as they did in the days of the apostles. The apostles often pointed to prophecies of scripture about the Messiah being fulfilled in Christ. They felt a sense of prophetic fulfillment in their own work and ministry. And the fulfilled prophecies of Christ gave the underground church in the apostle’s day a sense of destiny and justified their existence. The rejection of those prophecies and their fulfillment by the Jews, set the disciples apart.
Contrary to what many people believe in the free world, the everlasting gospel is not a general statement of what it means to be a Christian. It is not a presentation of Christian testimonies. The everlasting gospel is the specific content of the scriptures as it reveals Christ and the character of God. It also includes the distinctive doctrines of Christ revealed by the scriptures.
Underground Christians subject everything to the scriptures. They memorize the key points of their faith found in the scriptures and protect them in their daily life. The underground church also prays earnestly, and persistently. Prayer is the link that binds them to heaven. In prayer is their breath. Without prayer they become lifeless and ineffective.
The underground church is the link between the Christian who lives in this wicked world in this very serious end times and the eternal Kingdom of Christ. Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, We are very interested in the underground church because it was and is so faithful. We are not as faithful as we should be in the free world. But please help us to become surrendered to Christ in every way, and in every area of our lives. And when it’s needed, and the underground church is vital for true Christian survival, may we be ready for it. We thank You, praise You, and ask You to guide us as we think about how we want to relate to the underground church. In Jesus name, amen.