NO FELLOWSHIP? NO PROBLEM!
NO FELLOWSHIP? NO PROBLEM!
by Chip Brogden
You will never truly appreciate or benefit from fellowship until you have learned how to live without it.
There already is a fellowship of saints. It is a spiritual fellowship, and it is based on Christ having the preeminence – not the fellowship having preeminence. All this yearning for fellowship and being with others is the result of being hung-over from the religious system. You're trying to fill a void that religion used to fill.
The purpose of solitude in the spiritual desert is to get you to see that Jesus is Enough. You're not going to die from lack of fellowship, but if you don't learn that Jesus is Enough then spiritually speaking you're dead already. He's the One you need to be focused on – not starting a fellowship, not finding a home group, not making something happen with other people.
And already I can hear the "yeah buts". "Yeah, but God made us to be social beings. Yeah, but God knows we need encouragement from other believers. Yeah, but the Bible says forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is. Yeah, but we're all supposed to be part of the Body of Christ. Yeah, but there's just something about gathering together with like-minded believers. Yeah, but you just don't understand what it's like." Yeah, but I do understand - I've been through that part of the desert before, and what I'm trying to tell you is God wishes to know if you love Him or if you love fellowship with others. God wishes to know if you are in love with Him or if you are in love with things about Him. God wishes to know if you seek Him or seek a meeting about Him.
There are times and seasons where He calls you to be alone and apart with Him. I’m not saying it will always be like that, but what if it is? What if He calls you to walk alone with Him for the rest of your life? Is Jesus enough for you?
I asked that question of a group of Christians once: is Jesus enough for you? Because most Christians do not believe this. They want Jesus, but they also want fellowship with others. Really, do you know what Christians want? Not fellowship with others. That sounds so spiritual. Really what they want is acceptance from other Christians. You go deep down and that's what they want. They want to feel accepted by other Christians. Well, all I can tell you is that you're setting yourself up for a huge disappointment. Eventually there will come a time when you will have to decide between the truth that God has revealed to you and the acceptance of other Christians. Now it hurts when you are not accepted by other Christians. It hurts when other Christians misunderstand you and speak all manner of evil against you falsely when you have spoken the truth to them in love.
But the bottom line is your spiritual life and walk with God does not depend upon the acceptance of other Christians. You might think it does, and it sure makes things easier, but it is not a condition of following Christ – making sure other Christians understand and accept you. The deeper you go into God the more unacceptable you will be to other Christians. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is Himself, "Despised and rejected, a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief." Jesus would not be, and is not, accepted by most Christians, and do you know that does not change Him and His relationship with His Father? He is Lord whether you accept Him or not, my friend. And if you are His disciple then He accepts you whether the rest of the Christian population accepts you or not.
What I have found is that whenever I ignore the season God has me in, and I try to create fellowship, or seek fellowship, outside of the time and place appointed by My Father, it always ends in disaster. It creates problems, it becomes a disappointment, or it turns into a distraction from what He wants for my life.
And that is never more true than the period of time when you are fresh out of the religious system. You've been under a religious spirit for so many years, and don't think you can just wake up one day, stop going to church, and be set free from that religious mindset. You think you need fellowship, you think you need meetings, you think you need other people in your life, you think you need all these things, and you are in error. That's the religious habit talking. It's just like a drug.
"Oh brother Chip, I'm so lonely, I've been going to church every Sunday for twenty years and now we just sit home on Sunday and we feel so empty inside!" Well praise God, if that's where God has you right now then thank God for it. Stop looking for other people to fill a void that only Christ can fill. You've been covering up that void with a lot of religious junk and He's stripping all that away. He's trying to build something in you, so let Him do it according to the times and seasons that He has appointed. Don't rush through that process. Get comfortable with just you and God. My goodness, you don't even know what it's like to walk with God and just be hidden in Him because your whole life you've been following Him in a crowd, worshipping Him in a crowd, praying to Him in a crowd, learning about Him in a crowd.
Enoch walked with God, and he didn't have anyone else to fellowship with.
Noah walked with God and he didn't anyone but his family.
Abraham walked with God and he didn't have a house church to go to.
Moses spent forty years in the desert and it didn't hurt him a bit, he came out better than he went in.
Jesus walked with God and every single one of His friends and disciples denied Him and fled when He needed them the most.
You give people too much credit for your spiritual well-being and don't give God enough credit. I'd rather be alone with God than have a crowd of people without Him.
Now that doesn't diminish anything the Bible says about the Body of Christ. But you've got to learn how to get connected to the Head before you try to get connected to the Body. Body Life is only as good as the Body's relationship to the Head. The Body has no life in itself apart from the Head. If you read what the Bible says about the Body of Christ, you notice it doesn't say that we are supposed to seek out our place in the Body or try to insert ourselves into place. It says He sets us in the Body of Christ according to His will. His will, not ours. You try to set yourself in place and you'll get it wrong.
The Bible does not say "hold fast to the Body" or "hold fast to the members of the Body", it says "hold fast to the Head." The Bible does not say, "Seek ye first the fellowship of others", but "seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things – including fellowship – will be added to you." You learn to do that and the rest will take care of itself, in the time and manner that God sees fit.
Take your hands off that whole issue of fellowship and cast that concern onto the Lord. Go to Him and say, "Lord, here I am in a desert place, it's dry, and it's lonely, and it looks like there's no fellowship. But You are My Rock, My Fortress, My Hiding Place, You lead me and direct my steps. You be My Fellowship. If you see fit to bring me into relationship and fellowship with others, fine; but if not, then I trust that You are more than Enough to meet my spiritual, emotional, and social needs. I can live without fellowship Lord, but I cannot live without You!"
Now folks, I have been in that place so many times I don't even have to pray about it anymore. I've just learned to trust God in this area, and I know He is sufficient. It's settled in me. It's not even a thing I pray about anymore. I want it to become settled in your heart as well. Let the desert do its work.
by Chip Brogden
You will never truly appreciate or benefit from fellowship until you have learned how to live without it.
There already is a fellowship of saints. It is a spiritual fellowship, and it is based on Christ having the preeminence – not the fellowship having preeminence. All this yearning for fellowship and being with others is the result of being hung-over from the religious system. You're trying to fill a void that religion used to fill.
The purpose of solitude in the spiritual desert is to get you to see that Jesus is Enough. You're not going to die from lack of fellowship, but if you don't learn that Jesus is Enough then spiritually speaking you're dead already. He's the One you need to be focused on – not starting a fellowship, not finding a home group, not making something happen with other people.
And already I can hear the "yeah buts". "Yeah, but God made us to be social beings. Yeah, but God knows we need encouragement from other believers. Yeah, but the Bible says forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is. Yeah, but we're all supposed to be part of the Body of Christ. Yeah, but there's just something about gathering together with like-minded believers. Yeah, but you just don't understand what it's like." Yeah, but I do understand - I've been through that part of the desert before, and what I'm trying to tell you is God wishes to know if you love Him or if you love fellowship with others. God wishes to know if you are in love with Him or if you are in love with things about Him. God wishes to know if you seek Him or seek a meeting about Him.
There are times and seasons where He calls you to be alone and apart with Him. I’m not saying it will always be like that, but what if it is? What if He calls you to walk alone with Him for the rest of your life? Is Jesus enough for you?
I asked that question of a group of Christians once: is Jesus enough for you? Because most Christians do not believe this. They want Jesus, but they also want fellowship with others. Really, do you know what Christians want? Not fellowship with others. That sounds so spiritual. Really what they want is acceptance from other Christians. You go deep down and that's what they want. They want to feel accepted by other Christians. Well, all I can tell you is that you're setting yourself up for a huge disappointment. Eventually there will come a time when you will have to decide between the truth that God has revealed to you and the acceptance of other Christians. Now it hurts when you are not accepted by other Christians. It hurts when other Christians misunderstand you and speak all manner of evil against you falsely when you have spoken the truth to them in love.
But the bottom line is your spiritual life and walk with God does not depend upon the acceptance of other Christians. You might think it does, and it sure makes things easier, but it is not a condition of following Christ – making sure other Christians understand and accept you. The deeper you go into God the more unacceptable you will be to other Christians. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is Himself, "Despised and rejected, a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief." Jesus would not be, and is not, accepted by most Christians, and do you know that does not change Him and His relationship with His Father? He is Lord whether you accept Him or not, my friend. And if you are His disciple then He accepts you whether the rest of the Christian population accepts you or not.
What I have found is that whenever I ignore the season God has me in, and I try to create fellowship, or seek fellowship, outside of the time and place appointed by My Father, it always ends in disaster. It creates problems, it becomes a disappointment, or it turns into a distraction from what He wants for my life.
And that is never more true than the period of time when you are fresh out of the religious system. You've been under a religious spirit for so many years, and don't think you can just wake up one day, stop going to church, and be set free from that religious mindset. You think you need fellowship, you think you need meetings, you think you need other people in your life, you think you need all these things, and you are in error. That's the religious habit talking. It's just like a drug.
"Oh brother Chip, I'm so lonely, I've been going to church every Sunday for twenty years and now we just sit home on Sunday and we feel so empty inside!" Well praise God, if that's where God has you right now then thank God for it. Stop looking for other people to fill a void that only Christ can fill. You've been covering up that void with a lot of religious junk and He's stripping all that away. He's trying to build something in you, so let Him do it according to the times and seasons that He has appointed. Don't rush through that process. Get comfortable with just you and God. My goodness, you don't even know what it's like to walk with God and just be hidden in Him because your whole life you've been following Him in a crowd, worshipping Him in a crowd, praying to Him in a crowd, learning about Him in a crowd.
Enoch walked with God, and he didn't have anyone else to fellowship with.
Noah walked with God and he didn't anyone but his family.
Abraham walked with God and he didn't have a house church to go to.
Moses spent forty years in the desert and it didn't hurt him a bit, he came out better than he went in.
Jesus walked with God and every single one of His friends and disciples denied Him and fled when He needed them the most.
You give people too much credit for your spiritual well-being and don't give God enough credit. I'd rather be alone with God than have a crowd of people without Him.
Now that doesn't diminish anything the Bible says about the Body of Christ. But you've got to learn how to get connected to the Head before you try to get connected to the Body. Body Life is only as good as the Body's relationship to the Head. The Body has no life in itself apart from the Head. If you read what the Bible says about the Body of Christ, you notice it doesn't say that we are supposed to seek out our place in the Body or try to insert ourselves into place. It says He sets us in the Body of Christ according to His will. His will, not ours. You try to set yourself in place and you'll get it wrong.
The Bible does not say "hold fast to the Body" or "hold fast to the members of the Body", it says "hold fast to the Head." The Bible does not say, "Seek ye first the fellowship of others", but "seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things – including fellowship – will be added to you." You learn to do that and the rest will take care of itself, in the time and manner that God sees fit.
Take your hands off that whole issue of fellowship and cast that concern onto the Lord. Go to Him and say, "Lord, here I am in a desert place, it's dry, and it's lonely, and it looks like there's no fellowship. But You are My Rock, My Fortress, My Hiding Place, You lead me and direct my steps. You be My Fellowship. If you see fit to bring me into relationship and fellowship with others, fine; but if not, then I trust that You are more than Enough to meet my spiritual, emotional, and social needs. I can live without fellowship Lord, but I cannot live without You!"
Now folks, I have been in that place so many times I don't even have to pray about it anymore. I've just learned to trust God in this area, and I know He is sufficient. It's settled in me. It's not even a thing I pray about anymore. I want it to become settled in your heart as well. Let the desert do its work.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sean Steckbeck on -
I disagree... because part of God's expression of His Son on the earth today is through His body.
Fellowship is also discipleship, as we learn one-anothers and how to love through the Spirit of God in the fellowship of the saints. -
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Permalink Reply by David Evans on -
I know it will not work for many but I always think about my experience with my earthly family when trying to understand this concept. A parent always wants their children to love each other, support one another and share with one another. I do not know of a parent that thinks of their childrens fellowship as competition. Now our Heavenly Parent is so much better than any of us will ever be as mothers or fathers. I do think I can imagine a situation where a child is in rebellion or at odds with a parent and turns to their siblings for advice, support or encouragment but most of the time the siblings will be encouraging their brother or sister to get things right with the parent unless they are also at odds. To me the dynamics of relationships are such that if we are at odds with anyone in our family it tends to spill over into all relationships. Dena, I think you are correct in the sense that we all go through phases in our growing up in God, and if I am in a phase that I need some special one on one attention from our Heavenly Parent then I should relish and enjoy this phase as I would any phase.
I had a friend years ago that said that he never worried about where he was in his walk with God because he had totally committed his entire life to Him and therefore wherever he was at this moment must be where God wanted him or he would not be where he is. God is big enough and powerful enough and faithful enough to keep me right where I need to be.
Sean Steckbeck said:I disagree... because part of God's expression of His Son on the earth today is through His body.
Fellowship is also discipleship, as we learn one-anothers and how to love through the Spirit of God in the fellowship of the saints. -
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Permalink Reply by Dena Brehm on -
David shared:
I had a friend years ago that said that he never worried about where he was in his walk with God because he had totally committed his entire life to Him and therefore wherever he was at this moment must be where God wanted him or he would not be where he is. God is big enough and powerful enough and faithful enough to keep me right where I need to be.
You have a wise friend, David ... I'm betting that he's exhibiting the fruits of peace and joy, due to how He experiences God.
Beautiful...!
Shalom, Dena -
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Permalink Reply by Dena Brehm on
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Bill, I'm hearing such a place of deep contentedness here ...!
I"m sensing that you experience that you have no need -- because you HAVE all you need!
The rest becomes added-on extra-blessings ... may He continue to bless you -- inside especially, and also in outward manifestations!
Thanks for sharing your heart here.
Shalom, Dena
Mr. Bill said:Hi Dena,
Thanks for sharing this short article.
I found this a while back and deeply appreciated the truths and understanding Chip is sharing. I am convinced this speaks especially to those who never quite understood their years or decades of isolation and have walked alone through their desert. I feel that, maybe, I am just beginning to exit 14 years of desert, and from my point of view, one cannot understand the heart of this unless you have lived it. For more than 15 years, I have agonized and fought with God to understand the power and lessons of the Desert. The secret is: it's His Way... There are precious jewels and heart-to-heart secrets the Father shares only while in the Desert that no IC could or would ever teach which cannot be learned otherwise. In the end, there's a wonderful Freedom in Him, without all the 'props'.
I have argued with the Father over each and every "yeah-but" and verse and tried every conceivable "program" and spiritual "three-step plan" to move God to answer these questions and restore friends and fellowship. But this I have learned: you CANNOT manipulate God. Only He is the Head, and He will have His way. I would much rather suffer the pain of the Desert and gain His Freedom, than the pain, shame, and loss I endured in IC.
but "seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things – including fellowship – will be added to you." You learn to do that and the rest will take care of itself, in the time and manner that God sees fit.
So, do I "require" fellowship? Not really. Do I believe in fellowship? You bet! Do I still pray for it? Not any longer. Do I still have the same-old "gotta-have-it-now" do-it-God IC paradigm? Hopefully not- but I'm still learning to hold onto the Head above all things, so I'm not done yet. Would I ever give up these years to go back into the bondage of IC "business-as-usual"? No way! If He chooses to meet a need via fellowship, great. If not, ehh, its His plan, not mine. He's the Boss.
I love what Chip is sharing and I believe once a heart can rest in this confidence, stripped of all the junk and props, it becomes a KEY to a whole new season.
Thanks Dena, as always..
Bill -
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Permalink Reply by Carolyn on -
Be careful when your own heart does not desire to be with others of faith. Be careful when you find yourself critical of those who manifest the power of the kingdom of God. Be careful when you have a revelation that no one else has seen. It may mean that your Jesus is not the same Jesus that those believers know. Even the world will know who he is because of the way believers love one another. That means fellowship.
Not every revelation comes from the most high. When the Holy Spirit speaks, often he broadcasts, and everyone who has ears to hear will do so. It is always amazing that the whole body of Christ learns much the same things at the same time. That special secret revelation often comes from a very different spriit who may sound lovely, but has no power to see the kingdom manifest at all. -
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Permalink Reply by Carolyn on
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The heart of a true believer yearns for the body of Christ. In that body is the manifestation of the Lord Himself in ways that are not found alone. Since "you" in English is both singular and plural, we should read the New Testament in the Greek interlinear, taking note of when the believer was addressed as plural.
Even when we leave the IC, the heart is torn by the separation from the others who believe in Jesus. We leave because the manifestation of Him is hindered by the structure, not by knowledge of Him. -
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Permalink Reply by David Evans on
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Christopher
I agree. Someitimes the easy road is to just seperate ourselves from others. The "fitting together as stones to be the temple of God" can be too difficult and makes me shave off too much of myself so I would rather just not be fitted together with others. That way I can just be myself the way I want to be and not worry about how God may want me to work together with others.
Christopher Pridham said:Dena,
I have had my times of being alone and they were very beneficial. I just find that few can do it and really grow in the Lord. For those that are called to serve the body - the Lord will require it of them.
One statement Chip makes: The Bible does not say "hold fast to the Body" or "hold fast to the members of the Body", it says "hold fast to the Head." I think it can be a dangerous thing to separate the head and body - the head and body are one, this head and body are Jesus Christ. Its not the head is Jesus Christ and the body is not, its all Jesus.
Chip says: You've been under a religious spirit for so many years, and don't think you can just wake up one day, stop going to church, and be set free from that religious mindset. You think you need fellowship, you think you need meetings, you think you need other people in your life, you think you need all these things, and you are in error. That's the religious habit talking. It's just like a drug.
Lazarus when awakened from the dead needed brothers and sisters to unwrap Him. The brothers and sisters we need most are those that point us to the Lord and fellowship in Spirit. When Saul was blinded on the road to Damascus the Lord sent Ananias to be with Saul. Saul who was coming out of a lot of religion needed fellowship with Ananias and later Barnabas. It would be later in Tarsus, when the church in Jerusalem got rid of Paul, that Paul was alone and without brother and sister fellowship for a time.
Chip says: But you've got to learn how to get connected to the Head before you try to get connected to the Body. It has been my experience that a body connected to the head is the best way for one to learn how to function under our head. I have not found that people who live independent, wilderness lives learn how to function under the headship of Christ. They tend to learn quietness and patience that helps them hear His voice.
What I find so important is EARS to hear the voice of the Lord. EYES to see our Lord. As disciples of Jesus Christ we need to have our eyes and ears developed to the point of being able to recognize His voice above the others and to be able to see Him among others. It was the Sanhedrin who needed Judas to go and kiss Jesus in order for them to know who He was. For those who follow Him no such demonstration should be needed.
Christ is never more visible on this earth than in the loving relationships of brothers and sisters. It is in this interaction that the lost children of God will come to know Jesus Christ.
To say that Jesus is enough is absolutely true. To tell me that fellowship with my brothers and sisters is not fellowship with Jesus is not true. What God has joined together I will not separate.
Matt.25:40 "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
The Church is Jesus Christ - It is not something from Him.
I need the Jesus in my brothers and sisters as much as I need the indwelling voice of the Lord in me. I want all of Jesus, I don't want to miss any part of Him.
If Jesus leads you into the desert go. But if you simply find yourself in a desert ask that He lead you out of it. Seek after fellowship and see if the Lord is not there to open the doors or help you move to a place where you can be built together as a house for Him. Be like Jacob and fight for the blessing of fellowship!!!!! Its worth it.
yourbrochristopher -
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Permalink Reply by Sean Steckbeck on
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I agree with Carolyn and Chris Pridham here!
The guy who wrote this article may find himself encouraging people to reject God's very own body!
I hope someone rebukes this article before it causes others spiritual damage.
Bretheren, test the spirits.
I am in love with the body of Messiah and with the Head!
Its interesting that the institutionalized Catholic church brought about two major movements in the 4th century...
1.) Monks, Hermits, and Monasteries.
2.) Institutional church buildings...
Both brought the end to a missional apostolic church that related to the body and the head.
This article was written in the spirit of #1 and is just as wrong as institutionalization.
This reminds me alot of the IHOP people in Kansas City, some of them even call themselves nuns and prayer monks.
There could be seasons where the Lord brings you to the desert, but its only for a season.
For Jesus it was only 40 days.
Then he returned to be with the people.
Heaven on earth friends... on earth as it is in heaven.... we don't need to be so earthly that we are no heavenly good ( institutionalization of faith, no power of God). We don't need to heavenly that we are no earthly good (IHOP people, the spirit of this article, out of church movement, prophetic ministry without apostolic mission, etc.).
We need heaven on earth! -
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Permalink Reply by michael on -
True enough, brother Sean! Will some Gentiles inherit portions of the Land of Israel (Eze 47:21-23)? Please answer...
Shabbat Shalom from Manila,
--Michael -
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Permalink Reply by Tammie on -
Considering Paul never mentioned any land promises for anyone let alone the gentiles... I think not. So just to feel safe...I know all the answers... cuz I learned my lessons well... I'll stick with my standard protestant upbringing... the New Jerusalem is NOT a piece of real estate on planet earth. But...you didn't ask me.
michael said:True enough, brother Sean! Will some Gentiles inherit portions of the Land of Israel (Eze 47:21-23)? Please answer...
Shabbat Shalom from Manila,
--Michael -
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Permalink Reply by Dena Brehm on
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LOL - you go, Tammie...!
Did Jesus not make it clear to us...? The Kingdom (which is here, now) does not come by observation (we cannot *see" it with our natural eyes)... but it is in our midst ... in us, among us, all around us ... it, along with the very Presence of God, permeates the very air we breathe ... He (& His Kingdom) is what fills us, sustains us, holds us together ... it's spiritually discerned, and utterly missed by those who, like many Jews in the first century, insist on a literal/tangible rendition of fulfillment.
We search the world over, and wait for "something to come", all the time blind to the pearl that lies in our own back-yards (i.e., within our hearts, our spirits -- God-with-us).
What if Jesus didn't come so much to *do* something, as to *demonstrate* that which God had already done...?
What if our traditions of man continue to nullify the Word of God, which He is still revealing, still speaking ... for those who have (spiritual) ears to hear..?
Shalom, Dena -
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Permalink Reply by Bruce G. on -
There are people who will say that I am 'out of fellowship' if I am not at a regular HC meeting with the
same people once a week. Others see who + what my fellowship consists of, and see no problem.
Some people see no fellowship when they do not see us gathering on a schedule, but irregular
or Spirit led times can be just as valid.
In India, many followers of Jesus gather irregularly, and almost improvisationally, and are not seen
as being wrong, primarily since cultural norms are different there. Just a few thoughts... -
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