Thankfully, God has NOT been so rigid and callous. He has been patient and enlightening, which is so merciful of Him to do. Surprisingly, God has also given us more questions with more doubt and despair. On the surface, this would seem to undermine God's will for our lives, but it is actually quite liberating. We ask the hard questions, feel the discomfort, and we awake to a new day of mercy and grace. The gifts of God are not exhausted but empowered by our weakness.
My wife and I know our Bibles very well, having been well-trained to memorize it and use it to debunk liberal viewpoints on philosophy, religion, socialism, and politics. What we are green at is Christian community. Without the wide array of Christian communities in Wilmington coming around us with patient love and care, we would be very bad place. The wealth of personalized Bible knowledge was not enough to help us. But Christ claimed that He would never leave us or forsake us. We realize Christ's faithfulness through the love and support of a handful of Christian communities in the Carolinas. The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate (CMA) have shown us a great many things about God and ourselves in such a way that gave us spiritual safety.
At the risk of "franchising" a good church, there are several common characteristics that these churches share, and they are miraculously affecting change in the American Church, slowing the wide-spread disenchantment and making new disciples in surprising places. To my former-Fundamentalist friends, I think you will find these thoughts helpful in finding a healthy church and avoiding the dangerous ones.
They talk about the Holy Spirit....a lot
The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate are more nervous about impeding the Holy Spirit's work in the lives of Believers than they are about "guiding" the Holy Spirit's work. They argue that the book of Acts is descriptive, not prescriptive. Thus, they want to see God do unexpected things and not fit Him into a system. They do not de-value the inspired Word of God, but they worship God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit...not a book with white pages and black letters. The Word of God informs all men about how to know God. It is not meant to restrict the power of God into a rigid school of biblical perspective that permits institutional systems to unveil the mind of God for the masses.
Your story is important
Before I can know what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life, I need to know who you are and where you come from. Details are important. You might be lying about some things, you might be 100% truthful. Regardless, you say what you say about yourself and life for a reason. With each new day, there is more about your life that transpired, so there is always more to learn. I need to listen. I need to pay attention to your emotions, your hobbies, your dislikes, and so on.
The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate place a great deal of emphasis on individual stories rather than the church's expectations. As pastor of The Anchor likes to say, "Life is not made up of atoms: it is made up of stories." Lest this sounds as though church is all about you and me, there is a surprisingly high participation rate in non-programmed ministry: initiative to start Bible studies in the local community gathering points; evangelization; spontaneous prayer meetings; adopting foreigners brought in from the local refugee ministry; and so on. There appears to be a direct correlation between receiving the gift of being heard and desiring to give of yourself to others in need. Armed with intimate knowledge about their members, The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate are quite efficient in seeing spiritual gifts used to their fullest extent.
Confusion is part of the journey
In most churches, spiritual confusion is uncomfortable for disciple-makers. The American Church demands that you are "on board with the mission." Therefore, your spiritual confusion must be resolved as soon as is humanly possible. If your confusion is not resolved quickly, it must be because you are not submissive.
The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate dig out your spiritual confusion as part of hearing your story. Your spiritual insecurities are part of God's journey for you. This helps them pray for you. This helps them know God better, because they get to see the Holy Spirit cut through the crap of a fallen world and redeem one more soul from destruction. This helps them love you with understanding in such a way that adds to the grace of God in your life rather than frustrating the grace of God in your life.
Membership is too obvious to be forced upon regular church attenders
Of The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate, some of them offer official membership, and some of them do not. To them, membership is merely a formality for living Gospel together. Where membership exists, it defines relational accountability. Where membership does not exist, the group is already obedient and does not need the state to sanction their obedience to God and one another as a 501-3C Not-for-profit.
For most American churches, regardless of what the leadership might say, membership is for the numbers. They look to numbers in order to judge their effectiveness as a church. Litmus test: attend a church for ten straight Sundays, do coffee with the pastor, get involved with other members, and refuse to sign any philosophy of ministry documentation. An involved church attender messes with numbers if he/she is not a member. Most churches are also suspect of what you think until you join and sign their philosophy of ministry documents. Such a litmus test will show whether the church is more interested in institutionalization rather than Gospel-centered community.
Decentralization, Decentralization, Decentralization!
Since the Holy Spirit is real, and the Great Commission literally commands Believers to scatter,The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate consider Sunday gatherings the powow before real church starts (Monday thru Saturday). Church happens between smaller groups of church members showing grace and mercy to one another. Church happens when a Believer behaves as the Samaritan who found a man robbed and beaten on the side of the road and nursed him back to health at the Samaritan's expense. Church happens outside of the church walls where Believers are talking less and acting in love toward God and their neighbors more.
The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate have little issue creating minor (or sometimes major) discomfort for the "members" in order to pull the sticks out of their you-know-wheres and motivate them to scatter. In contrast, most American churches spend thousands of dollars each week to service the preferences of their membership.
The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate place heavy emphasis on small groups, not to be a cool Acts 29 or Gospel Coalition church, but because small groups operate like little churches. These little churches grow up to be mature churches that create little churches of their own. Regardless of the labels (community groups, missional communities, satellite campuses), small groups are their key to decentralization, not necessarily a key to numerical growth.
Passion for a geographical area and everything within
If you visit pastors' offices at Summit Church, you will see an entire wall displaying a local map and red circle outlining a 5-mile radius from the church location. Everything within that circle is the church's realm of responsibility: neighborhoods, schools, businesses, other churches, etc... Their resources are poured into loving that 5-mile radius to death (figuratively, of course). Summit occasionally dedicates a Sunday "service" to putting together and then delivering gift baskets to any employees working at a business in that 5-mile radius. They do other "crazy" things like this regularly, and Summit pastors have to begrudgingly handle phone calls from other local pastors who want to know the ROI on such activities.
The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate expend grace recklessly and don't ask the community for anything in return. They don't avoid certain groups in their realm of responsibility. They don't try to squeeze a white-collar culture into their area of responsibility. They just love on everyone within.
Team players
The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate consider other local churches assets and hope that those churches reciprocate. Unfortunately, they end up loving on other churches without always receiving the same courtesy. To them, buildings, numbers, and money are unnecessary. We don't need any of those things to make relationships and see the Holy Spirit work in the lives of others. Unfortunately for most American churches, sharing resources and building relationships with other churches threatens their resources and whatever power they think that they have in the community.
There will come a day when the American Church looks different, and we take these characteristics to an unhealthy extreme. But that day is far away. Today, the American Church cares about the health of the institution and relationships come second. Christ began his earthly ministry under similar circumstances. The religious system of Christ's day was overwhelmed with institutional pressures, political-entanglement, and hoarded resources. Christ was far from kind to the religious system and sought out the weak and made disciples of them. I am thankful for the example of churches like The Anchor, Redeemer Fellowship, and Summit Church of the Upstate who break the mold and obey Christ with simplicity and lean resources.
