A description and plea for my network friends

Original: August 27, 2022 by Blake Hadley

Revised and Updated: April 30, 2023

What is a church? This simple question is a very important one. The church was and is very important to Jesus. When Saul was ravaging the early Christian church, the risen Jesus confronted Saul by saying, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' (Acts 22:7). Jesus so identifies with His church that He said that Saul was persecuting Him. Let's go back to the question, what is a church? Is it a building, a place, or club? I would argue that it is none of these things. The church is a people. The Greek word for church in the New Testament is Ekklesia which means gathering, or assembly, or the ones who are called out. The church then is specifically a gathering of God's people. The reason I say it is a gathering of God's people is that Ephesians 5:25 says, "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." Christ gave Himself for His people which comprise the church. So although it is great and right that we invite and welcome non-believers, the church is only comprised of believers. I realize this is a very basic explanation of a church that could be expounded on, but I want to highlight the fact that the church is a people.

Since we know the church is a people, what then is the goal of this people? Mark Dever states in "What is a Healthy Church?" that the church is to "display the character and likeness and image and glory of the Son and the Father in heaven." There are many New Testament texts that show us that since God does something or is something, then so too should His people do or be something (Matt. 5:9; 5:45; Rom. 5:8; John 13:34-35; John 17:20-23; Matt. 5:48; Matt. 4:19; 28:19; John 20:21). Or we can look to Paul who says that God's intent was now that "through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:10-11). But how is this accomplished in the local church? By the Word. Everything starts with God’s Word. God’s Word changes people. But how does this even begin? I would argue, along with Christians throughout time, that this begins with preaching. Specifically I would like to make the case for expositional preaching. What exactly is expositional preaching? It is simply where a preacher takes a passage of Scripture, explains it, then applies it to the lives of those listening. Often, this includes preaching through books of the Bible verse by verse or sequentially. Expositional preaching is in direct contrast to the Network's style of preaching which is almost always topical. I’m not arguing that topical preaching can’t be expositional, but rather that topical preaching allows pastors to “bend” texts to fit into a sermon series. This obviously can cause a number of issues. If preaching in a church is off, everything else will be off within the church. You may see a Network church do a series on a single book of the Bible, but it is almost never straight through a book. So although the Network pastors would affirm that "all Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17), in practice they are denying this very text. In “What is a Healthy Church?” Dever shows us that if pastors skip through the Bible and only preach on topics and subjects they want, the church will only learn what the pastor knows and the pastor will never be stretched to preach more than he already knows. That should be cause for concern for any within a Network church. As a pastor preaches through a book of the Bible expositionally, he is able to explain passages in context where topical preaching allows a pastor to potentially give their audience inaccurate context. So if a pastor is always skipping through the Bible, it would insinuate that he doesn't affirm that all of God's Word is profitable or necessary. Does he preach only what he deems best? This is another really important question. When a pastor chooses what he will preach and only preaches topically, he is ensuring, as Dever has stated, that a congregation will grow to look like and think like him rather than God. In addition to all of this, a body of believers is responsible for ensuring that a pastor is submitting to God's Word. If you go to Matthew 18 or Galatians 1, you will see that congregations have the final earthly responsibility for what happens in a church, not the pastor. How does a church exercise this responsibility? I will try to answer this while touching on church structure.

How should a church be structured? I realize if you ask 10 people this question, you may get 10 different answers. I am not going to claim that I have all the answers here or even try to persuade you in any way. Let us simply go to God's Word. A local church is comprised of members, elders, and deacons. I don't think I will get much pushback here. Elders or pastors or shepherds or overseers (all are equivalent in the NT), are always mentioned in plurality. So who are these elders? Elders are men who meet 1 Tim. 3:1-7 qualifications and who are identified by a given church as their elders. Who are deacons? They are individuals who meet 1 Tim. 3:8-13 qualifications and are identified as deacons by their church. I realize these are overly simplified explanations. Essentially the only difference between elders and deacons is that elders must be able to teach. Network friends, how exactly are pastors (or deacons) supposed to be chosen in the church? Should only other pastors in the church choose? Should an Apostle, like Paul, choose? If so, where then are these Apostles? Should anyone outside your church choose? How do you know? Perhaps your leaders have pointed to Titus 1:5 which says, “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.” So the logic is Paul, an Apostle, just has Titus go out and appoint elders everywhere, right? I think this reading ignores the fact that Paul doesn’t mention the exact process for that. Could it be that elders were put forward and then the congregation actually chose the elders to pastor their churches? Other texts would actually agree with this thinking. Acts 6:3 says, “Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint.” It appears that the group chose these men (presumably to be deacons) and then only after that, were these men appointed to the office. Why then do you, Network church member, have absolutely no say in who your pastors or deacons are?

How does the church be the church? If you look at any letters in the New Testament that were directed to churches, who were the authors writing to? (1 Cor. 1; 2 Cor. 1; Gal 1; 1 Thess. 1; 2 Thess. 1). All of these are addressed to the church, not a pastor or a board. So anything following these addresses is directed to the church or the body of believers who make up a gathering. For example in 1 Cor. 5:2, Paul tells the church to remove a man from the church who was guilty of sexual immorality. If we think about this, how would a church in the Network obey Paul's command? If someone is in unrepentant sin or a pastor disqualifies himself, how does a Network church discipline or remove such a person? The answer is that they cannot. Remember that a church is a people and not a pastor. We see that within the Network, all of the power lies within the pastors and Network leaders. Is this really what God had in mind? Yes, pastors should be leading their people but when they do not allow members to exercise their biblical duties, they are essentially firing their members.

Overall, I believe the Network and its leaders have confused what it means to be a church. All that I have mentioned about the Network and its teachings has led to many being hurt. Worse than that, it has led many to abandon the faith completely. I know that the response to this will probably be "no church is perfect" or "God is still doing things here." While both of these are true, does that justify the actions and teachings of the Network and its churches? Romans 6:1-2 says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” All of the Network pastors are called to be faithful under-shepherds of the Good Shepherd, and yet a number of them mishandle God's Word and thus wound His sheep. Some have a desire to be faithful and simply cannot be within the Network. All of these pastors will have to give an accounting for how they have led God's people, regardless of their intent or sincerity. You can be sincere and yet be sincerely wrong. This is a scary thought. But also to those who are members, do you realize you are responsible for the teaching you sit under and promote (Gal. 1:7)? These aren't issues that are light or that do not matter. After all, the church is Jesus' bride. Dear friends, please don't take this lightly. Please don't think “these stories haven't happened at my church, so it doesn't affect me.” The structure of Network churches allows for spiritual abuse. If the stories of alleged spiritual abuse on the "Leaving the Network" website have not happened at your church yet, they likely will in time. 

So where do we go from here? Is there any hope? For those who have left Network churches, there is hope. Take heart knowing that Christ cares for you and will hold you fast. Seek Him as you search for new church homes. For those who have walked away from the faith because of the pain suffered at Network churches, I'm sorry. Please consider Christ who is the friend of sinners. He cares for the vulnerable and oppressed. Although people will fail you much, Christ never will. For those who are still at Network churches, please consider the cost. You may think again that "no church is perfect," but sin is still sin before a holy God. As you read these stories of alleged spiritual abuse, remember that Jesus cares for the abused and so must you. I pray that you would truly seek Christ in this, not just your leaders. Remember your first love. For pastors who are still leading in the Network, I urge you to turn away from all of this. I know some of you long to be faithful shepherds. The stories posted on the "Leaving the Network" website and Reddit page are not something you should turn a blind eye to. This is not Satan's attack on you or your Network. I believe this is God's grace. What I mean by this is that God is shining light on all the darkness that has come through and by the Network. It is gracious of Him to do so and to give an opportunity for you all to repent and turn to Christ. Remember your first love.

God has a beautiful design for His church. He has placed pastors in His church to lead and teach His people and deacons to serve the church in various ways. He has placed people in His church to grow in holiness, love/serve one another, and display His character to the world. This was God's intent. I understand that we as humans will muddy all of this up because of our sin, but God is faithful.