Just Imagine – A Day in the Life of an Apostolic Church (part one)

Following is a section of Chapter Eight of my Blueprint for a Revolution: Building Upon ALL of the New Testament. It describes how all or most of the teachings presented within that Blueprint might be lived out within a Christian community on a given day. This is the first of three or four installments from that chapter.

8. JUST IMAGINE – A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN APOSTOLIC CHURCH

The day was beginning, as it normally did, with some of the community gathered around the table to offer the church’s solemn Thanksgiving to God and to feed upon the glorified body and blood of the Savior . This morning they were at the Morrison’s home, where Phil Schaeffer and Tony Rodriguez, two of the pastors of the church, presided at the small assembly. This scene was repeating itself at several other locations, and several more such assemblies would be held in the afternoon and evening, making it possible for housewives, graveyard shift workers and people on all manner of schedules to assemble for the Eucharist on that day. Tony had just finished exhorting the assembled disciples to make sure that their hearts were right toward all people before drawing near to the Lord’s table. This prompted Terry to confess that she had acted harshly toward her roommate back at the community house and would apologize to her as soon as she got back. In the time of praise and ministry that followed, Jonathan spoke out in prophesy, bringing a promise from the Lord that, having seen how faithful Anita had been in serving, interceding for and fasting for her husband, He would open his heart soon and bring Him to trust in Christ. Their communion that morning was especially joyful and expectant, as it often was after the Lord had ministered in uplifting prophecy.

After the assembly, those who could remained for breakfast and fellowship. Then, at ten o’clock, Phil was going to lead a class for inquirers, most of whom were housewives. Mrs. Morrison both gladly and bravely acted as sitter for the half dozen children that came with their mothers.

Tony, however, could not stay and enjoy the fellowship, for he had to meet with two of the deacons, Bill Tanner and Carmen Lopez, at Bill’s appliance repair shop. The night before, the deacons had discussed what they would be able to do to relieve the situation for the Sanchez family, a family that was new to the area, and whom Tony had met and befriended. Mr. Sanchez had been a hard-working farm laborer until he hurt his back in the fields. He had no job or other job skills, his family was large, and no one but he spoke English. After meeting with him, Tony had brought their situation before the deacons, and now he was about to discover what resources they had been able to marshal on behalf of the family. “After much prayer and discussion last night,” Bill said, “we came to believe that Carmen was the Lord’s answer; Spanish is her native language, and she grew up in a similar environment. When we told her about them, she jumped at the opportunity to help. Since she is celibate and has no family responsibilities, she has offered to live with them for as long as they need her. She can lighten some of the work and responsibility load for Mrs. Sanchez, teach the family English, and act in general as the liaison between the congregation and their family. Furthermore, we have enough resources to keep the Sanchez family fed, clothed and housed. At the meeting we were trying to think of what kind of work Mr. Sanchez might be able to do, when someone remembered hearing John Liu mention that he needed help in his jewelry shop. “We contacted John last night and told him the whole story. He said he could train Mr. Sanchez to sort and polish his semiprecious stones.” Tony took Bill and Carmen with him to the Sanchez home; when they heard the solution that these concerned Christians who did not even know them had worked out, both Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez broke out in tears, followed soon after by their three visitors. What a blessing it was to be the instruments of the Lord’s policy that there are to be no poor in their midst. Perhaps the Sanchez family would come to faith in Christ, perhaps not. But how delightful it was to once again be able to incarnate His generous love. When the Lord did open the door to proclaim Christ to them, the gospel which described the love that sent Him out of heavenly glory would be all the more believable to them.

Meanwhile, back at the Morrison home, things had taken an unexpected turn at the inquirers’ class: Phil and Mrs. Morrison had swapped assignments. The discussion had begun with Phil’s teaching about God’s inspiration of the writers of the Scriptures. He had then moved into the area of Scriptural authority in the life of the church, showing how important it was for us not merely to revere the Scriptures in general, but to obey all that is presented to us in them with childlike trust. Things had gone quite smoothly, up until the point when Tony had chosen to illustrate that point with what the apostles taught regarding the submissive and quiet demeanor God requires of female disciples of Jesus. One of the inquirers, Judy Heath, in addition to being a thoroughly modern woman, was also a defense attorney, and quite accustomed to thinking for herself and speaking her mind with boldness. She offered some rather strenuous objections at this point. Phil could sense that, as a man, his testimony carried little weight with her, so the babysitter and the elder changed places!

Harriet Morrison was an articulate and deep-thinking person and had been walking with Christ in a Spirit-anointed, apostolic way for decades now. She proceeded to tell Judy story after story of the individuals and the relationships she knew that had been transformed because of the influence of Christian women who had finally learned to walk in the way of Sarah. By the end of the meeting, most of the women there had been convinced that the Christian discipline for woman was truly created with woman’s well being in mind, rather than the male’s. Two even requested baptism.

Unfortunately, lawyer Judy was not one of them; but her evident agitation gave Harriet hope. Having become deeply concerned for the many socially outcast people she defended in court, Judy had come to respect the brotherhood’s various centers of ministry to the poor and homeless. “If only you could let go of the outmoded and oppressive attitudes toward women that are in that book you worship, Harriet, I’d join you in a minute. I’ve never seen such a combination of happiness and radicalness as I have among you folks; if only …”. “If only we’d abandon the very thing that has made us the people we are?”, Harriet gently completed. “We don’t worship the Book, Judy; but because we have confidence that our Creator has been able to record His revelation there, we have abandoned the freedom to pick and choose what we will accept from it. Our men have handed over their autonomy to Jesus, in a manner appropriate to them, and we women have handed it over in a manner appointed for us. You have to quit seeing only two-dimensionally, Judy: you think that you either have to have “liberated” women or degraded women who are at the mercy of men. That may be true enough out in the jungle of the world, and even in that form of Christianity that has not functionally left the world. But we are a third way that cannot be understood in such simplistic terms. Anyway, it is not really the issue of women’s rights that divides you and me, my dear friend,” Harriet said with convincing gentleness and friendship. “The real issue for you to face is that you cannot have the Kingdom without the King. From infancy you have experienced life and formed your intuitions without Him, in that worldly jungle where the financially, physically and psychologically powerful take advantage of the weak; but, Judy, you really do have a Heavenly Father who has revealed Himself and His kingdom society and He wants you to trust Him and come out of the jungle. When you have come to trust Him and to experience the liberation of spirit that His Son has waiting for you, then you will have crossed over the real barrier that stands between you and me, Judy. I came to trust Him and then came alive in a way you have not yet experienced.” Judy, the firebrand who could hold her own in any court of law, had no reply; she knew there was indeed something special in Harriet that she did not have; but she could not just command herself to trust God, even if she wanted to. Her thoughts were in turmoil. “It’s so confusing! Why can’t I figure it all out in the rational self-controlled way that has served me so well for so long? Could this emptiness I have always felt really be a hunger for God? And what is this new “yes” that I feel coming from so deep within me, deeper than my mind? And where is this new yearning coming from for a completeness that only my Creator could give – if I have one! And where is this terrible sadness coming from, this sad awareness that there is something hard and unclean in me that makes the satisfaction of all of those yearnings apparently impossible …” Judy Heath was indeed firmly in the hands of her Savior.