A question.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by nahkoe

And I'm going to post at GNC as well..would like perspectives from both places.

Our church meets Sunday afternoon, at 2 pm. This leaves Sunday morning and evening free. Last week, my pastor preached in another church and I went. I liked what I saw there, as far as the church and their outreach etc. ...

Is this really common? WHY? Permission? Oh...you don't even know how that's never going to happen. Part of why I'd like to attend some other churches in the area is to make friends. Sure, I could befriend everyone in my church. In an evening. I already know I have very little in common with the women who are there, this is my church home and I'll wait patiently for it to grow and to then find a best friend sort of relationship, but in the meantime I could use a local friend in the church to hang out with sometimes. But now I need to go ask permission to make friends? I so do not think so. Oh no..not at all.

This is one of those things for which there are a lot of rules but very little understanding.

The church you were visiting was probably concerned that they might be causing trouble by "stealing saints" or that your visit would make it look like they were.

The entrepreneurial style of evangelism practiced by many (if not most) Apostolics in North America dictates that each entrepreneur (pastor) respect the "downline" of his neighbors. Think of it as being an Amway or other multi-level marketing network. It operates the same way. To finance the "vision" that each pastor feels has been given to him by God, saints must be accumulated and their tithes harvested. More saints usually means more money.

And those saints must be protected from the influence of other entrepreneurs who have competing "visions." The less the entrepreneur's downline knows about the network, the quieter his life is likely to be.

Of course, most of this goes against the spirit of the Christian faith, so there is constant tension to try and fulfill the needs of the entrepreneur without coming right out and saying what it is that we're doing. Also, entrepreneurs appreciate fellowship with others of similar vision. And they have to play ball with the larger network in order to keep up appearances. But the whole system is so ingrained with the multi-level marketing paradigm that the needs of the individual pastor to protect his income is of paramount importance.

Fortunately there is a growing number of pastors who view their work as a "service" to the community and to the body of Christ. These folks will say things like, "these are God's people" and they will not tend to be harsh in their discipleship and will always have an open church door for anyone who wants to come.