Chapter 5

The Narrow Circle

By now a general pattern is beginning to emerge of what an unbalanced Christian group looks like. The various characteristics are all interrelated and blend together to form a whole that is closed, narrow, critical, condescending, and full of spiritual pride.

One of the reasons these groups place such heavy emphasis upon discipline and insist upon a blind kind of obedience is because they are unable to accept responsibility for any wrongdoing. Emotional immaturity is common in such groups, yet the majority of those involved don’t see themselves that way at all. Sadly, they cut themselves off from the very things that would expose their tendencies and enable them to repent of them. They resist any attempts by anyone to bring balance to their views and practices.

In this chapter we’ll discuss the concerted effort on the part of unbalanced groups to keep their members from divergent ideas. One of the ways they accomplish this goal is to restrict the reading materials their people are exposed to. In some cases this is done quite explicitly. The leadership makes a list of “approved” authors and titles and highly suggests that members stick to them for spiritual edification. Some groups even have a preferred version of the Bible and insist that all their members use that particular translation.

Sometimes the desire to restrict exposure to variant ideas is carried out in a much more subtle way. By introducing young believers and new members to certain authors on a regular basis, an appetite is developed for a particular set of doctrines or point of view with regard to Scripture. The members aren’t forbidden to read other material, but the strong suggestion to stick to approved sources is constantly reinforced through example.

To be fair, all Christian groups do this to some extent or another. Any responsible leader or pastor doesn’t like to see members of his flock exposed to spiritual views that contradict the clear teachings of Jesus. The age, maturity, and experience of Christians should be considered before recommending certain teaching materials. The unbalanced Christian group takes this precaution too far, however. They insist on excluding any Christian writer or teacher who does not line up precisely with every point of doctrine and practice held within their group.

By insinuation, outright criticism, or an attitude of condescension, unbalanced Christian groups dismiss the perfectly orthodox writings of Christians outside of their control and influence. They might not forbid their congregation to read their books, but in withholding praise and commendation from them and lavishly bestowing praise on their approved authors, they effectively prevent all but the very brave (or foolhardy) from exploring ideas outside of their sectarian circle. The members of such groups are largely ignorant of the rest of the body of Christ and their views of Christian life. Their select society mentality assures them that they have all they need to serve Christ effectively, so why would they want to explore other views? Why mess with perfection?

Often members of imbalanced groups are taught erroneous ideas about what other Christian groups believe. Sometimes this is done in genuine ignorance of the facts, and sometimes it is done maliciously. The intent is to keep their people away from wrong ideas, and sometimes in their zeal to do that, teachers distort and misrepresent what others believe.

Being told that you “hate the doctrine of grace” is hard to hear when you’re an experienced Bible teacher who has always stood for the truth of the gospel. You know that the accusation is completely false, but how do you convince the person who is proclaiming it? How do you defend yourself against such an outlandish claim? Such unfair accusations come from false views and assumptions taught by the group’s leadership that are in turn embraced by the members.

If people decide at some point to leave their imbalanced group, they will need to investigate these kinds of views for themselves and sort out truth from error. It can take years sometimes to unlearn the false information they’ve been fed. This is tragic, because it falsely separates members of Christ’s body from one another. It is one thing if someone truly is a heretic, believing and teaching something contrary to the doctrine of Christ. It is quite another if he or she just disagrees on some minor point of doctrine. In imbalanced groups, this distinction usually isn’t made, and teachers convince their students that anyone outside of their particular group cannot be trusted.

This attitude is carried over into the area of fellowship as well. Believing that their group is the only “true” manifestation of Christ’s body, they see no value in seeking fellowship with other groups who claim to know Christ. Their only exposure to other Christians is to those who share their views. The result is a careful selection of approved camps, conferences, and youth groups for the children of the group. The adults seldom attend any conferences and seminars outside of their group’s experience either. Compared to the larger body of believers around the world, the group’s circle of contacts is narrow indeed.

Missing Out on New Opportunities

If asked to participate in a citywide outreach that requires many differing groups within Christ’s body to cooperate together, unbalanced groups will almost always decline. The reason given by leadership makes no sense, but it’s given anyway, and most of the members buy it: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what communion has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14). The apostle Paul would be appalled with this interpretation, but that doesn’t stop leaders from using the verse to their advantage. In their minds, contact with anyone unlike themselves opens the door to compromise, and so they discourage it wherever they can. They see separation as the more godly stance than the alternative.

But this isn’t the only reason for their refusal to cooperate with other Christian groups. A less spiritual reason is that they can’t control what takes place at such events. A differing doctrinal idea might be expressed, causing confusion to some of their weaker members. Or some strange new worship practice might come in to their midst, if they were mixing with outsiders. Why take that kind of chance?

Early on in his Christian life, the apostle Peter rigidly conformed to what he felt would most honor God: to keep himself pure from the influences of non-Jewish practices. But the Lord showed him something new that would transform how he fulfilled Jesus’ commission to “feed my sheep” (John 21:17).

While Peter was staying with Simon the tanner in Joppa, he had a very strange vision. He saw heaven open and a sheet with animals descended to him. The animals and birds in the sheet were those that had been designated “unclean” for eating according to Mosaic law. When a voice from heaven told Peter to “Rise, kill and eat” he was quick to respond with the correct answer for a Jew: “Surely not, Lord! I’ve never eaten anything impure or unclean” (Acts 10:13-14).

But the voice told him the same thing three times before the sheet was taken back up into heaven. Peter had been sure before this happened that he understood God’s mind about such things. Yet the voice of the Lord brought new information that trumped what he had been taught: “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” In another version it’s translated this way: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:15, NIV).

God was preparing Peter through this vision for the unthinkable: to receive Gentiles as brothers and sisters in Christ. Up to that point, the church had included only Jewish followers. Gentiles were still considered “dogs” and outside of the covenants of promise. To Peter’s credit, he received this new revelation as from God and was obedient to the Holy Spirit’s instruction concerning Cornelius, a Gentile centurion. Peter went to Cornelius’ home in Caesarea and proclaimed “the good news of peace through Jesus Christ” (v. 36). All the circumcised believers (Jews) who went with Peter were astonished when this Gentile group began to speak in tongues and glorify God.

Later, Peter had to defend his actions to spend time in the company of “uncircumcised men” to the Jewish church leaders. But once they understood God’s revelation concerning what had once been considered unclean, they had to agree that Peter had done the right thing. “When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, ‘So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life’” (Acts 11:18).

Here’s the point of this passage that unbalanced Christian groups miss: What we understand about God’s ways and God’s desires may need to undergo some revision under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. If we cut ourselves off from all further knowledge and revelation concerning His kingdom, we put ourselves in a position of entrenchment. We’re unable to respond in obedience to a new calling from God.

If Peter had clung tenaciously to his Jewish cultural understanding about the church, he would have missed out on the joy of seeing Gentile believers brought into fellowship with Jewish believers.

It’s important to make a point here about new revelation from God. What may appear “new” to us isn’t really new; it’s just that we were unaware of it. This was the case with Peter in Acts 10. God’s intention all along was for the church to include people from both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds to make up one new body in Christ. The idea was hidden from their Jewish understanding, but it had been mentioned all through the Old Testament. This was Paul’s great commission, to fulfill what had been prophesied so many years before: “Through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise of Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:6, NIV).

To claim “new revelation” from God that contradicts what He has written in the Bible and runs counter to the fundamentals of Christian faith cannot be defended and isn’t what I am talking about here. We do have to be careful about receiving new doctrine that has no basis in the written Word. Peter is an example of one who received more of God’s truth because he was not too proud to learn something new, but the truth had been there all along.

Freedom and Responsibility

Unbalanced groups, through their narrow associations and refusal to learn anything from anyone else, carve for themselves a rut that is practically impossible to drive out of. They are caught in a net of their own making, and the only way out is to repent and ask the Father to free them.  As His children, we need the freedom to explore new territory under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. With the clear boundaries of orthodoxy, we can always learn more about God’s nature and how His kingdom operates through us. To think that we have discovered all there is to discover about those things is the height of arrogance and provincialism.

The “law of liberty” mentioned in James 1:25 brings us into a Larger Place (more about this in the next chapter). There, we will experience the exact opposite of what we find in unhealthy Christian groups. There we will not be restricted from exploring and discovering, and we will not be insulated and protected from other Christians who don’t think exactly like we do. In the Larger Place we’ll be able to use the unique gifts and passions we’ve received from God for His glory and for the edification of His body. But there’s a condition: We must be willing to embrace the freedom He has given us in Christ.

The philosopher Eric Fromm wrote a book called Escape from Freedom, which seemed like a contradiction of terms. Everyone wants to be free, don’t they? The amazing thing he found was that people often didn’t want political freedom because they loathed personal responsibility. It was far easier to have someone else make important decisions for them.

This human trait explains why some people are reluctant to leave an unbalanced group. They like having elders and teachers spell out for them what they should believe and how they should act. Instead of exploring the Scriptures for themselves, they let their leaders interpret them and make the applications for their everyday lives. This is not the Lord’s desire for His people! He wants to bring us into a place of freedom, joyful service, and love for every member of His body. It’s called The Larger Place.

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