“God Instructed Us to Fellowship”

The one churcher looks down on the unchurched who stays home and studies the Bible like crazy (and also works hard follow its teachings). She says she’s all for studying the Bible, but “God instructed us to fellowship” (Hebrews 10:25 being implied here)—by which she means that if the stay-at-home guy were really committed to Jesus, he’d be going to a church.)

The ironies abound, however:

• Her fellowship at church is superficial and worldly, and nothing of the sort that Jesus and his apostles and prophets had in mind—yet she assumes that it satisfies whatever commands there are.
• His fellowship (with a few like-minded friends) is deeper and more authentic than she herself would put up with if she were exposed to it.
• She’s alluding to a passage about “meeting together” (Hebrews 10:25), and assumes it must be about “fellowship”, while she continues the former and neglects the latter. In other words, the “meeting together” is all she has—empty and unfruitful as it is—while Mr. Stay-At-Home has meaningful and fruitful fellowship without going to her church.
• When Hebrews 10:25 was written, there was no church like hers in view. The author would never have commanded people to go to a church like hers, with its many inventions and departure from the scriptures.

The fact of the matter—however one would like to explain it—is that there is no church today like the ekklesias of the first century. And the differences are so numerous as to defy a rehearsal in this short post.

But she will stand on what she has, and assume it a valid position, even though she lacks so very much of what the First-Century Christians had—all while she points an accusing finger at Mr. Stay-At-Home, whose personal relationships and Bible study out-class hers by a mile.

And this is what people like her do. It’s what they are taught. It’s just another of the mindless defensive tactics—thought-stopper manipulations—they learn at “church”. And she thinks she’s really nailed it.

If she were suddenly transported back in time to a meeting of one of the healthy First-Century congregations, she would be aghast that their idea of Christianity and hers were so utterly different. I’m pretty sure she would leave in surprised disgust, and blame it all on them! And I wouldn’t be surprised if she were to try to snatch some scripture or other out of context in order to twist it into a defense of her routines.