“Sparks” In Our Ministry

There is something about a spur of the moment car trip that always clears my mind. As we travelled from Wisconsin to DC I began to get some perspective. I had come a long way in my thinking. I was no longer tied to Thieme--I didn’t even listen to any of his new bible lessons on tape. I wasn’t ready to throw out thousands of pages of notes that I had taken while studying under him, but neither was I motivated to refer to them.

I had spent the last couple of years reading the Bible for myself, referring to the Greek and Hebrew where appropriate. I was no longer a disciple of anyone other than Jesus. I was benefiting from dozens of teachers, historians, theologians--most of whom were long dead. Of course, that was a problem in itself. Just as I had “tested” Thieme’s teachings during my time in Rhodesia, I really needed to test out these deeper life truths before I could wholeheartedly recommend them to the members of our congregation. Since the authors were deceased, at the very least, the prospect of interacting with some living practitioners in DC was promising.

Arriving in Gaithersburg, Maryland, we met the family that ran the Christian book ministry. I expected to meet some older and wiser Christians practiced in a deeper walk with Jesus. Nope, they were just plain strange! He was one of those people with a funny smile, as if he had some sort of secret that he just couldn’t tell you. He distributed all these books on discipleship and death to self, but didn’t seem to want to discuss any of the ideas in those books. She was focused on health through vitamin supplements and could not stop talking about this or that herbal remedy. What did that have to do with Christianity?

That evening we attended a home bible study with the other members of “The Fellowship” in the DC area. It reminded me very much of my Jesus Freak days. We sat in the living room on chairs or pillows on the floor. We sang some Christian choruses accompanied by a guitar. That was followed by a round-robin discussion of the biblical text. Of course, I was happy to contribute to the discussion, but it was as if I was some sort of enemy as a “pastor” and my comments were just kind of ignored. They didn’t have a pastor or any living teaching authority. As a matter of fact, they didn’t even seem to have any leaders. This really was like my days as a Jesus Freak.

All in all, Pegi and I enjoyed the fellowship, but were more interested to see what would transpire on Sunday morning with the larger group. Supposedly, there would be some “elder” Christians in attendance.

On Sunday, they met in an elementary school in downtown DC. The folding chairs were placed in a circle with no individual having a place of prominence. We sat on the second row of chairs as I had no intention of contributing to the discussion this morning. I just wanted to see how they handled things without a pastor or leader of any kind. At starting time, people suddenly got quiet and then one person called out the title of a hymn. Another just started the singing acappella with the rest chiming in--not necessarily on key! Then someone else called out another hymn followed by an awkward silence before someone else began praying out loud.

Another awkward silence was followed by one of the front row occupants calling out a biblical text and beginning to read. He then began discussing the passage with a voice of authority. After about 15 minutes, he went silent and another front row speaker chimed in. This went on for about an hour before someone called out another hymn and we adjourned.

This was definitely different! There were refreshments afterwards and I made an effort to chat with those who had taken the leadership speaking roles in the service. Once again, they all had that funny secret smile as if I was just totally uninitiated in the ways of Christ. These were not the living examples of a deeper walk with God. They were just self-righteous weirdos who had enshrined their own opinions as theological truth.

Pegi and I were about to make a mad dash for the Wisconsin border when we heard that the family that had founded this “meeting” 25 years earlier were now in Louisville, my home town. He was a college professor and she was the daughter of T. Austin-Sparks, the recently deceased British pastor and author who seemed to have the best grasp on the deeper life truths. On the spur of the moment, we decided a trip to Louisville to meet this couple and visit their “meeting” might hold a better prospect of meeting someone who was actually living-out the “Deeper Life” principles.

The prospect of spending another night in the home of these strange people was freaking Pegi and me out. We announced our intention to leave for Louisville the next morning and to get an early start, we would check into a nearby Red Roof Inn. It was only $36 and worth every penny to get some distance from this very odd people!

On the road again, we once again tried to clear our minds. What had we just experienced? This didn’t seem to be anything like what Sparks had written, nor was the Washington meeting similar to what I had read of Plymouth Brethren meetings. Okay, they operated without a pastor, but where was the “plurality of elders” that gave direction? Rather than having a plurality of leaders, they were “leaderless.” They claimed to be led by the Holy Spirit, but it was clear that a few egos dominated. Was there anyone out there who really was living out the New Testament model of the early church?

Well, even if the Louisville meeting was flawed in the same way as the DC meeting, at least we would have the opportunity to meet some “older” Christians who had participated in the vibrant ministry of Sparks in London. At this point, I didn’t really care about a New Testament local church model as much as I wanted to meet some mature Christians. At 29, I was tired of being the “elder” Christian. I didn’t want a dictator like Thieme--I just wanted a spiritual mentor/advisor to whom I could go for advice and counsel.

Next: The Brothers In Responsibility