Finding Grace, Losing Church
If you have come into a clear revelation of grace, you know the pure joy and excitement that follows.
Knowing you are righteous as a gift, no matter what, allows you to rest and enjoy the Lord like never before. The joy of your salvation returns, and you know pure freedom!
While the truth sets you free, it also sets you at odds with much of the modern church because the majority are still living under some form of works-based righteousness, don't understand their new identity in Christ, and keep believers under the curse of the law. It can be detrimental to our faith and spiritual development to be part of such communities.
This is why many believers (including myself) discover grace, reluctantly leave the church, experience more freedom, but then feel lonely.
In the days of Martin Luther, when he saw the gospel in its purity, it set him against most of the church at the time. He wanted to work with it, reform it, and remain part of it, but it soon became impossible. The differences were too great.
To follow Luther would have felt exciting and freeing, but it would also create conflict in fellowships and families.
So it is today.
HONOUR THE STRUGGLE
What can we do about it? What is the best way forward?
The first and most important thing to know is that standing for the gospel will not always be easy. There will be challenges because the devil does not want God’s people to get established in Jesus’ finished work. It is too powerful, like a spiritual nuclear bomb.
It seems believers today have two choices:
Be part of the institutional church, enjoy the community, but compromise the gospel and limit their freedom and growth in the Lord.
Step away from the institutional church, have limited community, but enjoy the gospel and expand their freedom and growth in the Lord.
There is a third option of course.
If you are fortunate enough to find a local church that preaches grace, you can have it all! You can enjoy community, live by faith in the gospel, and grow in freedom and fruitfulness.
I believe this is God's ideal, and that’s why it is my prayer for you.
However, I also know the reality for many. You have looked for grace churches but can’t find any that are close enough to attend. You have tried going to other churches but something feels off. You have no peace and even feel spiritually attacked every time you go.
As a result, you are suffering from lacking a strong community.
I understand.
If you are struggling this way, I want to encourage you. I want you to know that you are part of something glorious and are suffering in all the right ways.
This is how the followers of David must have felt when Saul was still on the throne of Israel. It is surely how many in the early church felt as they preached the gospel and were rejected by their fellow Jews.
Even Paul said there was a point when he stood completely alone:
At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. — 2 Timothy 4:16
Paul was often misunderstood, rejected, attacked, questioned, and undermined by some of the very churches he established! He was brought to court, beaten, stoned, imprisoned, and according to tradition, even martyred for the gospel.
Now, make no mistake. You and I are not to be compared to Paul. He had an abundance of revelation that the world hadn't seen yet. That's why the devil attacked him so viciously and relentlessly. If Satan could destroy Paul, he could keep the world from ever reading Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, etc.
Well, it's too late. Paul's gospel has been unleashed!
PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS
Here are some things we all can do:
Be thankful for the fellowship we do have, even if it's only a few people.
Join online grace communities and take advantage of fellowship through technology.
Keep looking for grace-based fellowships in our area.
Be patient, knowing that God is raising up more grace-based pastors and leaders, even now.
Be thankful for the opportunity to be part of something great, even though it's hard.
Whatever steps you choose next, please don't compromise the gospel. If you have seen it, don't pollute your faith by watering it down to appease others. Don't go back to slavery.
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. — Galatians 5:1
Keep building your most holy faith, and you can trust the Lord Himself to provide anything you lack.
Let me explain why.
God ordained parents to love and care for their kids, but David said, ‘When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me’ (Psalm 27:10). In other words, when parents fail to love their children as God intends, He steps in to pick up the slack.
In these days, many pastors and leaders, those who are meant to care for us and provide a safe community for us to enjoy, have let us down by polluting the gospel. Yet like David, we can say, 'When my leaders and pastors forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me.’
So keep enjoying Him. Don't compromise the truths of grace to make your life temporarily easier. While you are eternally secure in Christ, to reject the gospel in daily life is to embrace death, in one form or another.
Stay full of life by feeding on Jesus’ finished work and enjoying any fellowship you do have at present.
I trust the Lord will keep bringing the right people to you, and that He will organically lead you to a grace-based community in time.
Finally, let me add a personal conviction, based on some things I have seen while deep in prayer:
I am convinced that a shaking is happening, and many churches that are not established on grace will come crumbling down in the days ahead, in one form or another. Perhaps God is protecting you from what is to come by removing you from these houses built on sand. It may be that He is setting you apart, placing you on solid ground, so that when the storm hits, your house will stand firm, even while all else shakes. ‘When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation’ (Proverbs 10:25).