How We Met David and Sally - II

The night that Alice and Gordon Jenkins invited us to a gathering in their home was the first night we met David and Sally. Ann Nichols (I’ve written about Ann in earlier posts) was there as were a few other local folks, and then there was Frank.

As I mentioned in the previous past, I had been acquainted with Frank for a few years, having been around him in various home-group meetings. Frank was associated with a group based in Oklahoma that I considered beyond the pale of Christianity in both practice and doctrine; however, when I last saw Frank in Baltimore he indicated that he had left the group – I took him at his word.

Finding weirdness in the house-church movement or in other non-traditional forms of Christianity is about as easy as finding carrots in the produce section of a grocery store. Identifying areas of warped development and immature teaching, and areas of over-emphasized doctrine in non-traditional forms of Christianity is also easy. The thing that is forgotten is that the same can be said for Christianity in its traditional forms; the difference is that poor doctrine, even heretical doctrine, and non-Biblical practices are provided respectable garb in traditional settings whereas in non-traditional settings they can seem just plain weird – the substance can be the same. Most over-emphasized doctrine or practice that I’ve witnessed in home settings has at least been in the context of believing Jesus Christ is Lord and God, and that the Bible is God’s Word; one is more likely to find outright heresy in traditional forms of Christianity, such as denial of the Resurrection, denial of the Bible, denial of the divinity of Jesus.

The format of home meetings is often: singing, praying, open sharing, and then someone bringing a message, and then more praying and singing. As I recall that night the singing was sweet, the praying was sincere, and the sharing was relaxed and intimate – done in the context of friendship. Then Frank began speaking and the longer he spoke the more I sensed that the cake had hot sauce in it – the message didn’t taste right. I am a simple person, and I mean that sincerely – I didn’t say I am humble, I’ve got an ego, but I do think I’m simple. I’m simple because I am both stupid and desperate. I’m stupid vis-à-vis smart people I know, people who can scale theological heights and mine theological depths and weave tapestries of theological intricacies – I like listening to those people; I’m desperate because I know I need Jesus. It seems the older I get that the dumber and more desperate I become. So because I’m both simple and desperate there is one thing I look for as the main and dominant ingredient in any cake – the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ – the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ.

Frank’s message degraded Jesus Christ, bringing Him down and bringing us up – making Jesus no more than one of us; Frank was dethroning Jesus. I realized that Frank had not disassociated himself from the Oklahoma group, nor had he been honest with me. Once I was certain of what Frank was saying I spoke up, sharing the Lordship of Jesus Christ – and I spoke up strongly. That was the end of Frank’s talk – in fact it was soon the end of the meeting.

As we left the Jenkins’s home that night Vickie and I wondered if we’d hear from anyone again; after all, it was Frank who had given us Gordon and Alice’s phone number, perhaps they subscribed to Frank’s thinking. What a way to first meet people – interrupting a “speaker” in their home and putting an end to his nonsense.

We need not have worried, the next day David called to say, “We all agreed with what you said.” That was the last time we saw Frank (and now you know why I haven’t used his real name) but it was not the last time we saw David and Sally.