Out-of-Church Christians: Part 1
About two weeks ago I wrote this entry about the worldwide phenomenon of Christians leaving the institutional churches in droves. Because of that post, one of my readers sent me a link to this online booklet called “The Out-of-Church Christians” written by Andrew Strom, one of the men quoted in the CharismaNOW article I linked to in that post.
Said my reader, “Might want to check out this site and articles. I have been studying for about a year and it does make much sense.” Curious, I sat down to briefly skim the booklet and . . . several hours and a few tears later, I had to rate it as one of the most interesting articles I’ve ever read.
The following post (and subsequent posts) delves deeply into that article. As you will see, it deals with some themes that some of you may find, shall we say, quite startling, disturbing, unconventional, flaky, or even downright false. Therefore, I urge you to "test the spirits" and "search the scriptures" to see if these things might be so. As always, I bring you the facts, my opinions and ultimately leave it in your hands to make up your minds. (And don't forget that comments are always welcome.)
Who Is Andrew Strom?
Andrew Strom is a revival historian, preacher/teacher, rock musician and self-proclaimed prophet who operates a website called www.revivalschool.com. However, any cursory reading of the articles on his websites quickly shows he’s no fly-by-night quack -- or if he is, he does an award-winning job of faking otherwise. Consider this article on his website that asks the questions, “How many in our churches today are really walking in Salvation? And why do we preach “ask Jesus into your heart” when nothing like it is found in the Bible?” Then, in this article he clearly spells out exactly what God revealed to him as to what comprises a complete new birth experience.
After emphasizing the importance of repentance, Strom says, “Likewise I am convinced that Baptism in the Holy Spirit (accompanied by ‘speaking in tongues’) is essential. It is not just an option.” On baptism, he comes to this rather amusing conclusion, “I believe that if they felt it was important in Acts to speak the name of Jesus Christ over people as they were baptized, then I should do it too. I am not legalistic about the need for this, but personally these days I baptize people 'in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ'. (To make sure all the bases are covered).” How exciting! Strom may not have come to these conclusions by the same route we Apostolics have, but by golly, he certainly got there! (And just so you know, I sent him an e-mail commenting that while a Oneness theology dovetails beautifully with baptism in Jesus' name, Trinitarian theology does not :)
Why is What Andrew Strom Has to Say Important?
Strom’s first "hands-on" experience with the growing exodus of Christians from the institutional church began in March 2003 when he was invited to speak on a radio show about the growing tide he was witnessing of Christians leaving the church yet still holding to a strong relationship with God. At the same time, he also wrote about this phenomenon in an e-mail he sent to those on his ministry’s international e-mail list. At the time, he had no idea of the size or scope of this "movement" (for lack of a better description), but following the radio broadcast and the e-mail, he reported an unexpectedly large “deluge” of e-mails in response.
Due to those e-mails – primary sources, you could call them – Strom was in a unique position to determine exactly who was leaving organized churches and why. Those reasons could have – and it is my opinion that they will have – an enormous impact on the future of the church, which is precisely why I’m writing this entry. The remainder of this entry will be a very detailed synopsis and critique of Andrew’s booklet. In writing this, I hope to convey why I think the information contained in Mr. Strom’s booklet is so important for Apostolic believers to be aware of. I anticipate this will be a rather long entry, so I will probably be breaking it up into parts.
Andrew’s book begins with small sampling of the e-mails he received in response to his radio interview and mass e-mail. They comprise a cursory explanation for the reasons why people have left the church, who is leaving, what they are doing now, and then merely hints at things to come.
[Editor’s Note: The grammar, punctuation and spelling of these quotes were edited for easier reading. Everything else was taken straight from the booklet as-is.]
“We are desperate for Him”
From South Africa: “I love the Lord with all my heart, but Christians and modern day Christianity or ‘churchianity’ gets on my nerves. I too am tired of all the programmes and never once seeing or feeling that God is in control. I desperately want to know God again and to really know His will.”
From the USA: “I read an explanation of why the phenomenon [of out-of-church Christians] is growing. They say that we are lone rangers, backsliders, not team players, have bitter root judgments . . . This can't be further from the truth. When we have been attending church, we find: No God, no power, no gospel, bad agendas, poor leadership, bad teaching, bad programs, no Christ, no healing, no miracles; just a struggle for personal power and control . . .”
From Canada: “[In the many churches I’ve visited] it's as if all I can hear are sobbing people and the rattling of chains all around me, yet everyone is smiling and singing of how God has freed them and filled them with joy.”
From the USA: “In America, in certain cities, the out of church Christians are probably higher in number than the in-church Christians. It is a phenomenal occurrence . . . I feel as a missionary evangelist that there are so many church programs with little or none of the presence of the Lord in the churches and that is the reason people leave them. There is little prayer and what prayer there is is void of passion and power and fire.”
From the USA: “The cry of our hearts is not to live on our memories of incredible intimacy with God in years past, but to discover Him anew and in deeper ways than ever before. We are desperate for Him. In light of that hunger, the emptiness of our church experience, a church we'd attended for 17 years, was more than we could bear.”
It isn’t the “bad” saints who are leaving . . .
From New Zealand: “I would agree with you - the accusations of ‘backslider’ and others are quite inaccurate and unhelpful. From what I have seen they are actually asking the hard questions in order to deepen, continue in and better integrate their faith.”
From Japan: “In the old days, we would give messages about that kind of person [who leaves the church] and say that they were lacking in commitment, and how you have to be planted in the one place, and how everything God wants to do He does through the local church, etc. So people who dropped out of church were always seen as having not much to offer, but there are tons of them out there. I have chatted recently and am surprised that a lot of people who do want fellowship and love God don't go to a church regularly.”
From the USA: “You would be very surprised at the number of very high-level, gifted and mature Christian leaders who are not attending regular church here in Southern California.”
. . . and many are former leaders!
From the USA: “My husband and I have been Christians for 30 years, home group leaders for much of that time; my husband has also been a worship leader for most of that time . . .”
From Scotland: “We were formerly leaders in our local fellowship . . .”
From the USA: “I am still in church leadership and music ministry in a traditional church setting, but many very anointed and prophetically gifted friends of mine have had their fill of ‘playing church’ and have ‘opted out’ of organized religion.”
From the USA: “We know many who have left the church who are committed as prayer warriors, intercessors, missionaries, and worshippers [who are] wanting to share their gifts from God.”
From Canada: “I've been an out of church believer for over seven years. I'm also a non-denominational ordained minister.”
Many have joined home churches or cell groups . . .
From Scotland: “We are a group of four Christians who meet in our respective homes . . . Most were leaders in their fellowships. We were with a group last night of two families with about eight or nine meeting in a home.”
From the USA: “My husband and I hosted a care group about seven years ago with 15 couples. Only three of them still attend church.”
From the USA: “I and my family are some of the, I believe, millions who have left the church system . . . We still, at His direction, do the works of the Church: meeting the needs of others and sharing His truth.”
From Zimbabwe: “There are many of us who have felt ‘called out of the church’ and group together for home cells where there are about 12 folks together. Then once a month we meet up with others, but have a very strong prayer network and are in contact daily with each other, as needs are great here in Zimbabwe.”
From the USA: “I can't tell you how many times I have been treated like I am not going to heaven because I am not attending church. So, the sad part is, where do we take our gifts, our tithes, and our love - but out to the streets?”
From New Zealand: “I work alongside people who have left churches as my job, under the umbrella name of Spirited Exchanges. I facilitate a couple of groups for people to process what has gone on for them in churches and to struggle with the faith and church issues.”
. . . and they wonder if perhaps God has something do with all this.
From the USA: “I feel in my heart that this mass of hungry and Christ-following people is God's own way of setting the stage for a huge reformational change.”
From the UK: “I've always felt that anyone who amputated themselves like this would die and rot, like a severed finger - yet these guys don't, or haven't yet, anyway. The loss to the church is one thing, and the danger to them another - and yet there is this wilderness thing. Look at King David, how he had to spend all those years running in the desert before his anointing could take effect, as it were . . .”
From New Zealand: “I too, wonder if there is a move of God in this - people being called to something deeper, out of the game-playing and conformist faith stage . . .”
From the USA: “As the Lord explained our calling out He said it would be a time of purging and teaching us to stand in Him alone so that we could stand properly when we are brought back with the many.”
One e-mailer summed up the whole thing by observing, “What you are seeing is the tip of the iceberg.” So what on earth is going on?
Questions, comments, concerns? E-mail me! I reserve the right to quote you unless you ask otherwise.
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