Where are YOU where UNITY is concerned?

I have been accused of seeing the House Church Movement as being a
mere “alternative” - a Church option, if you will. I wanted to address
this subject for I’m concerned that there are others within the Housea
Church, Simple Church, Organic Church ranks who may be entertaining
this same Sectarian Spirit as well.The Body of Christ is just that; a body fitly joined together. Like the
twelve tribes of Israel, we don’t do everything the same. From house to
house, family to family, despite all our similarities, we will never do
everything exactly alike. With all our habits, ethnic tendencies, regional
differences, something will ALWAYS be different from Christian to
Christian. I fellowship with various house church groups and have read
books written by others telling how they “do church” and no two of them
have been exactly the same yet. I have surmised that they are each
various expressions of God and should be embraced as such. So, I eat
the meat and spit out the bones as I go.

When Peter had the vision of the sheet filled with all kinds of animals
and was told by God that nothing He made was to be called “unclean,”
the next thing we read is that he is speaking to Cornelius, a Roman
Centurion and a Gentile worshipper of God who always prayed and
helped the poor. God gave Cornelius a vision and instructions to send
his men to find Peter; that’s right…God gave a vision and spoke to a
Gentile! Oh, my! When Peter comes to Cornelius, he says, “I now
realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts
men from every nation who fear him and do what is right,” (Acts 10:35).
He assures him that, though Jewish law previously prohibited him from
even entering his household, he had learned that nothing made by God -
apparently even Cornelius - was to be considered “unclean.” He winds
up baptizing Cornelius and his household AFTER they were Spirit-filled
and spoke in tongues and suddenly they are all considered Christian
brothers and sisters. POOF!

I have observed the quite common Christian tendency to ostracize and
hold at arm’s length anyone who is not like us spiritually. Though we
may cheer for the same hometown football team, on Sunday morning,
it’s “Us vs.Them” all over again, racially and denominationally, each
group gathering in their own special building, expecting the world to
flock to their doors.

God forbid that we within the ranks of Simple Church should embrace
such elitist notions! God forbid that we should ever lift up a standard
against our brethren within the Institutional Church! Fact is, the
majority of those participating in the swelling Simple Church ranks
ALSO attend an Institutional Church. “They” are actually “US”!

Fact is, folks seem more closely knit together down at the local bar. I
recall an eMail I received from a self-professing British witch who was
criticizing our faith and told me that, when her Christian mother was
hospitalized, no one from her church came to visit her. On the other hand,
those in her witches coven and the blokes down at the pub loaded her room
with cards and flowers.

Where the institutioanl Church is concerned, guess what? It’s OK to cross-
pollinate! Regardless of how unscriptural we believe it may be to build
ornate buildings or sit in rows or refer to any aspect of 5-fold ministry as
titles rather than job descriptions, though man looks at the outside, God -
just as in the case of Cornelius - is obviously looking at the heart
(1 Sam 16:7). If we love one another and our relationship with God is
attractive to anyone else, they will begin to want what we have found. Like
a peach ready to be plucked from a branch, when it’s time for harvest, they
will leap into your bushel. In the mean time, don’t pull, don’t tug, don’t strain.
Celebrate that which you have in common; namely, Jesus! If anything, help
them in strengthening their relationship with God, regardless of what building
they go to - an elaborate cathedral, a wood frame house or a Starbuck’s.

I’m listening to a CD series right now that a friend gave me. The speaker
is part of the Institutional Church and 98% of his message is spot on!
Powerful stuff! The other 2% I do not find applicable to my personal
journey with God. It’s the same reason that a handyman can forego many
printed assembly instructions and move on to that with which he is not
familiar. I’ve listened to that CD twice already.

Bear in mind that YOU are The Church 24/7. Everywhere you go, you
are The Church, even by yourself. If it requires two or more gathered in
His Name, fine…there’s you and there’s the Spirit of Christ, inextricably
joined forever; that’s all the “two” you need. We are to make the world
envious of what we have through that relationship with HIm - NOT the
people with whom we gather, the group with whom we are affiliated,
the place where we meet, the day on which you meet, or the things we

do that we refer to as ‘worship’. Once a person experiences the love and

acceptance generated by God through you, THAT is when things start
happening.

As a powerful Christian woman once taught me, the most important
things anyone can do in order to change their own life are: 1) Study the
Scriptures, 2) Pray incessantly and commune with God, and 3) fellowship
with Christian people whose walk with God you admire. In other words,
start with your OWN Christian growth and God will take care of the rest.
I would add one more thing to that list: Avoid anything that smacks of
divisiveness and embrace that which unites.

There’s POWER in unity!

Every blessing,
Michael Tummillo
A servant of God
www.YourTown4jesus.com