I am new here. I love God and His Word, and after doing a ton of research about Biblical churches, I have been trying to decide where to fellowship for a while now. I have a bit of a dilemma, and I hope that you can provide some perspective and perhaps tell me if you know of the kind of house fellowship that I am looking for.
I found a house church that I thought that I liked. However, it is not really a house church, but a network of house churches with a pastor. I am not really comfortable with the idea of having a pastor, but it was not entirely clear that the pastor was paid, and since this group was the closest thing that I could find to a real house church in my area, my husband and I have been attending for a while.
Things seemed to go well for a few months until the "pastor" was home sick one Sunday. Another member was giving a lesson that day, since we all take turns giving the lesson. This lesson was all about the story from Malachi that supposedly justifies tithing. He gave a talk trying to convince us that we should be tithing to this pastor, and if we aren't, we have a "lack of faith".
Needless to say, I was upset. My husband and I said nothing, but decided to let a week or so pass and then talk to this man about what he had to say. I am feeling pretty discouraged, though. I do not believe that tithing is Biblical under the new covenant, and I do not think that we have a faith issue because we know what the Bible says about this matter.
We are planning to talk to this man about his Malachi lesson and will be very careful and loving in how we do it. I hardly want to do it, though. I am feeling like this is not a place where I am going to feel comfortable if our beliefs are this far apart. It is a shame, though, because I do love the people at this house church, but we feel that we need a true, Biblical house church, not one following man-made tradition by having a paid pastor. It is a matter of principle: if they are not willing to follow the Bible in all matters, I am not comfortable with remaining part of the church.
Does anyone have any advice? Does anyone know of any true, Biblical house churches in the western suburbs of Detroit? Thanks for listening and providing counsel.
I found a house church that I thought that I liked. However, it is not really a house church, but a network of house churches with a pastor. I am not really comfortable with the idea of having a pastor, but it was not entirely clear that the pastor was paid, and since this group was the closest thing that I could find to a real house church in my area, my husband and I have been attending for a while.
Things seemed to go well for a few months until the "pastor" was home sick one Sunday. Another member was giving a lesson that day, since we all take turns giving the lesson. This lesson was all about the story from Malachi that supposedly justifies tithing. He gave a talk trying to convince us that we should be tithing to this pastor, and if we aren't, we have a "lack of faith".
Needless to say, I was upset. My husband and I said nothing, but decided to let a week or so pass and then talk to this man about what he had to say. I am feeling pretty discouraged, though. I do not believe that tithing is Biblical under the new covenant, and I do not think that we have a faith issue because we know what the Bible says about this matter.
We are planning to talk to this man about his Malachi lesson and will be very careful and loving in how we do it. I hardly want to do it, though. I am feeling like this is not a place where I am going to feel comfortable if our beliefs are this far apart. It is a shame, though, because I do love the people at this house church, but we feel that we need a true, Biblical house church, not one following man-made tradition by having a paid pastor. It is a matter of principle: if they are not willing to follow the Bible in all matters, I am not comfortable with remaining part of the church.
Does anyone have any advice? Does anyone know of any true, Biblical house churches in the western suburbs of Detroit? Thanks for listening and providing counsel.
