"They don't attend church,
I doubt they're one of us,"
The Pastor would say
With a glance of disgust.
His chin in the air,
And a nod from the rest
Would lead you to believe,
Keeping from them is best.
This picture is common,
I'm fearful to say.
But hear of my story,
That tells another way.
The "Community Church,"
Of the town and around,
Is the gathering for Christians,
Whoever may be found.
I attend for sweet fellowship,
But at how great a cost?
If sin is openly practiced,
Is all of that lost?
If I should disagree
With the sin I behold,
Should the Pastor put his foot down,
Call for repentance untold?
But then if he should,
The cost would be great,
For too many love,
That sin they should hate.
To rebuke like he should,
May well cause a rift,
So, if the sin seems minor,
Just don't get miffed.
But what of the one,
Who is faithful to God?
He is expendable,
For he is not the whole bod'.
This is such a great crime,
Against the one who loves God.
For to keep the "Christian" fellowship
He'd choose the way of the rod.
The "church" would pressure
The one who loves Jesus,
Saying, "You step in line,
If you want to please us."
Is this Christian fellowship,
The edification of Christ's body?
It's contemptible and abominable,
It is good for nobody.
Now of this "Christian" assembly,
What is its basis?
Is it the style, the tradition,
Or the looks on the faces?
What of the Bible,
Does it give us a guide?
Most surely it does
Though most from it hide.
The Bible, it shows us;
The same God we must serve,
Be saved the same way,
Fruits of repentance, observe.
If by this we discern,
The believer who lives near us,
By what right, not assemble
With the accepted of Jesus?
Now what of the Biblical
Rules of "Church Membership"?
Is our church a big club,
Or a place of Christian fellowship?
The Bible it shows;
If I am a Christian,
A member of Christ's body;
I am without question.
If I gather with others
Who live by and by;
A member of that gathering
Then truly am I.
If anything more
To Christ's body is built,
Then a sect, and a heresy
From Christ is the guilt.
The scriptures they say
To those who would do,
After a second admonition,
Bid them adieu.
Christians who choose sin,
We know we're to flee,
But those who hate sin,
Can we choose not to see?
By what right we refuse,
Whom Jesus accepts?
By what right make terms,
Not of Jesus' precepts?
He is the head,
He decides such a thing.
He sets the laws.
God alone is the King.
The sect of the Nazareans,
From Judaism He made,
But to create a new sect
Establishes the heresy He forbade.
So for fellowship do I join
The available sect?
The Bible demands
Separation of His elect.
There are those who would defend,
Sectarianism with such,
The illustration of the child,
Who wants his own way too much.
The child with his blocks
Will only play with them like so.
If you won't cooperate with him,
He'll just take his blocks and go.
This picture is far wrong.
The illustration isn't right.
Another gives the perspective
To view the evil in proper light.
A park with soccer fields
Was used by different teams.
Stay off the newly seeded turf.
The fields marked with beams.
As we showed up to play,
Now what did we see?
On a field marked with beams,
Played a 'respectable' team to me.
If asked to join with them,
Do we compromise our might?
The issue isn't one of choice,
But choosing wrong or right.
The issue still must stand;
If the Master says no,
I will not transgress,
Even when all the others go.
Looking at that last complaint,
I can already hear them say,
"You'll never find a perfect church.
And if you do, you better stay away."
It doesn't address the issue,
We're not sent to a 'perfect church'.
But unrepentant sin and cliques,
Is different to those still in search.
You join 'their' "church",
The Baptists, the Nazareans,
the Methodists and more.
You take 'their' oath of loyalty,
You take 'their' name at the core.
To supplant His name,
To make it second rate.
This is the abomination
Truly that I hate.
Darrell Farkas
December 4, 1994
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