We Need Real Secret Church - David Platt Was Right the First Time

The Frustration of Watching Churches Stay Closed

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Rob LES use the show code Robles and support the content you love on the fight-laugh-feast network. Hello there. This is a D Robles and you're listening to a D on the fight-laugh-feast Network. This is my not impressed face.

I mean tell me how you tell me we think of it. There's my not impressed face. Oh Man, I am not impressed. I'll tell you that right now. I'll tell you why in a minute. But one thing you might not know about me.

Actually, I was reminded of this this content By one of my patrons last night. We had a patron hangout. We did it on Google meet and it was great. There was like eight of us there and we just chatted for an hour about a variety of different topics.

We laughed a lot. We had a good time. Thank you so much for everyone that supports me on patreon and if you want to join our next Google meet let me know and we'll get it all set up for you but anyway He reminded me of this content and I was just I.

I didn't I don't really know exactly what to do with this. But here's here's what I decided to do. So hopefully you enjoy this but you know to be honest like the last few days I've kind of been a little bit.

You know down in the dumps a little bit you might say you might say I've been grieved saddened. That kind of thing you see that kind of you see that kind of adjective used a lot in Big Eva. But I've been thinking about all these churches that are that are still not meeting.

You know what? I mean? And and the reality is like, you know, look in the beginning, you know, we were all kind of scared. We didn't know what to do. And so I gave a lot of grace and a lot of leeway for churches that decided not to me.

In fact, my church decided not to me and all that kind of thing. But the you know, the more information that comes out more and more, you know Jurisdictions are allowing churches to me which by the way like churches don't need permission from the government to meet like that's not the government's purview.

Right, the church decides whether or not to meet to worship. God actually God decides and he's commanded that in his word so you don't actually need permission from the government to meet for worship, but It's amazing to me that that so many jurisdictions are removing the restrictions on churches that they've put on inappropriately and.

Still churches aren't meeting. I find that amazing and I've heard more than a handful of reports of mega churches. And churches of people that you would know. Saying we're not gonna meet until 2021. If that and we'll see, you know, maybe we'll have a vaccine.

Maybe we won't who knows but we're not gonna meet for the rest of the year. Despite the permission that they've been granted again. You don't need permission from the government to to me. But they've been granted permission by the government to me and they're still not meeting that really has me sort of well.

It has me grieved. It has me. It has me sad and it has me Troubled you might say and you know what? I often do when I'm troubled or grieved or saddened or or whatever choose whatever adjective you want is.

Often review my old notes like, you know I take notes on things that I read and and you know I I keep all the books that I used to own for the most part and I'll I'll write notes in the margins. I'll write notes in the in the you know, though, you know how there's like a few like blank pages at the end every book I'll usually write about you know, what the book was all about in those pages.

I'll review those books because often I find like when I'm troubled or grieved or saddened, you know, it's a it's a topic I've thought about before and so I'll be reminded of ideas or sermons or Bible passages that will help me through those moments of sadness and grief and troubledness.

Anyway, and I did find something that. That that was very very helpful, but then I was unimpressed afterwards. You'll see why in a minute. There's a bit of a twist here. So that's where my unimpressed face comes in because I found something awesome, but then I was instantly unimpressed.

Rahab, Faith, and Defying Unjust Authority

So what I want to do is you might not know this but I've been a podcaster for a lot longer than you know in fact, I found a podcast that I did about this exact topic and Here it is. Give me a moment to click over to the old podcast.

It's a really old podcast anyway, so I found fantastic content about the idea of Defying the government authorities when it tells you to do something that God hasn't commanded or Even just to spread his glory.

Can you imagine that like Defying the civil governing authorities all for the purposes of spreading the glory of God and this is a sermon. It's a it's a really good sermon. It's a really good sermon and I'm gonna read to you a few paragraphs from it because it is so helpful to me.

Knowing about how it is that you we know how and when you defy the civil governing authorities for Christ for God and it's a story about Rahab, do you know Rahab? It comes from Joshua chapter 2. Rahab was a prostitute in Jericho and some Israelite spies came to her and She actually protected them.

She hid the spies in her house and then when the civil governing authority said hey, we heard there's some spies here. She hid them. She kept them from there. She kept them from there from their clutches and she did it to spread the glory of God because she worshipped and honored Yahweh and what's amazing about the story of Rahab is she lies to her countrymen Jericho.

But she does it for the glory of God and the Bible commends her for that lie. The Bible commends her for hiding the Israelite spies. It says it's an example of faith. It's it's faith. Seeing faith through her works right because we all know faith without works is dead and Rahab's faith was demonstrated in her lie to the government, which I find So helpful in times when we're worried about potential persecution and coming in the future.

Definitely way in the distant future. Definitely. We definitely not in the year 2020 definitely not. But it's amazing and this is not the only time the Bible commends lying to the government. In fact, the Hebrew midwives also did something similar.

They refused to partake in the government's plan to kill the Israelite male babies. They they lied. They said well, you know Babies here, you know that kind of thing and the Bible also says that that's an example of faith.

See the faith without works is dead and the Hebrew midwives and Rahab Demonstrated their faith by their works. And so I'm gonna read to you this section of this sermon. This is a great sermon. I highly recommend the entire one.

It's online so you can get it for free. It's fantastic. Here's what here's the line. I wanted to to read about. It's titled. She risked it all for the spread of his glory. Third characteristic as a result of this recipient of grace fearing God talking about Rahab.

She risked it all for the spread of his glory. I want you to think with me about what Rahab was risking there in Joshua 2 if the king of Jericho knew that these men Were still in her home and she was harboring spies if she was found out she would have been executed immediately and likely her family along with her traitor Treason, no question Rahab was putting her life on the line.

Risking it all. This is why James this is why the author of Hebrews in chapter 11 Sets up Rahab the prostitute as a hero of the faith. Why? Because she was willing to risk everything trusting God without hesitation without reservation and without qualification.

The question I want to put before us this morning is where are the women of faith like that in this room? Where are the women of faith who are willing to risk it all everything that is dear to you to put it on the line in trust radical trust of God.

Where are the men of faith in this room who are willing to risk it all in obedience to the Word of God for the Spread of the glory of God who are willing to do that which goes against the culture around them.

I'm gonna repeat that who are willing to do that which goes against the culture around them. That which makes no sense that which risks everything because you believed in God. Are we as a church as the people of God?

Thousands of years after Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son and thousands of years after Rahab risked her life on the line. Are we as a church willing to take risks in obedience to the Word of God?

For the spread of the glory of God. I'm gonna repeat that are we as a church. Willing to take risks in obedience to the Word of God for the spread of the glory of God. This is the story of redemptive history men and women who have passed down the baton to us.

We cannot sit here in comfortable faith listening to the word but not risking our lives to obey it. Just like those who have gone before us. I Want to be totally honest with you. When it comes to this whole experiment thing There is a bit of fear in me, there's this question.

Are we really ready to do something like this as a church? Are we really ready for something like this? I? Hear things and I have I have conversations with some who say we we move so slow as a church.

What are we waiting for? And then I have conversations with some who say we move so fast as the church. Should we even be doing this? I'm gonna stop there because you can see the point of this. The whole idea is that we actually need to be doing something.

Regardless of if the counter if the culture around us says that we shouldn't be doing it. Regardless is if the culture around us says that it hurts our witness regardless of what they say. We need to do what God says.

And so, you know if God says to do X and the culture says X is bad. We still need to be willing to do X risking it all and that even means sometimes Defying the civil governing authorities. That is so helpful.

That is so helpful. But one of the things I found out because I love this sermon, right? One of the things I found out is the guy who preached this sermon also set up an organization to honor Very many people that have to do this every single day of their lives the organization is called secret church and.

And secret churches is such a cool idea, you know because the idea is that you know in like China for example. Like you can't like sometimes you have to have you know. Essentially literally secret churches because the government's very hostile and and your fellow neighbor is very hostile to Christians.

And so you have to meet in secret like you can't meet in a big megachurch building comfortable chairs, you know coffee. Anytime you want it, you know parking lot stuff like that. No, you have to like duck and dodge, you know.

The police officers and meet in secret and small groups and stuff like that in fact I'm gonna say I'm gonna read to you a little bit about what secret church is and it's you know, it's it's it's it's it's a.

It's an honor honorary Honorary kind of thing like we don't have to do that in the United States because you know. We're allowed to meet for church and and I can't even foresee a situation where we wouldn't be, you know.

Allowed to meet for church. I mean that no way not in America. We've got the we got the Bill of Rights here. But so but let me just. You know, it is a symbolic kind of meeting but but let me tell you about it.

So the idea behind secret church, it comes from David Platt spent teeth spending teaching and ministering among underground Asian house churches due to hostility from the government from the surrounding community and even from their own family many of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the World are forced to gather in secret sometimes at the risk of their own lives.

The plight of our persecuted brothers and sisters also explains why prayer for the persecuted church is a major part of every secret church gathering. We remember those who cannot meet openly. Asking God to sustain their faith to change their hearts and the actions of their persecutors and to use their witness for the spread of the gospel.

You see the the witness that he's talking about is doing what God says regardless of what everybody else says. That's the only witness that Christians ought to be concerned with doing what God says. Regardless of what everybody else thinks about it because the truth is if we were if we were obsessed with our witness like to get people to like us then we couldn't always do what God says because because God often says to do things and to say things and to believe things that the That the government doesn't like and that our friends and our neighbors don't actually like and so this is like, you know a meeting where they get together and they have church for hours at a time because that's what they do at the secret church because.

They don't know when they're gonna get a chance to meet again. So they meet for hours at a time into the wee hours of the morning and so this secret church organization does that they'll meet for like the entire evening all the way to like 1 a .m. and You know, it'll be a different kind of worship service than what we're used to here in the United States and again, it's very symbolic.

I get that but I but I appreciate it because It's attempting to show Solidarity with those who it's not symbolic for who they like the government has actually told them. They can't meet or they've made it very difficult to me or their neighbors shame them for meeting and stuff like that.

And so they have to do it in secret so they don't cause a big scene. They don't cause a big ruckus. They don't get thrown in jail. They don't get cited and stuff like that. And so it's a symbolic thing.

But I like it because it's something that is is attempting to show solidarity in it and I have no doubt No doubt at all that if and if somehow God brought persecution upon the church in America that we would be doing this.

Real secret church not the symbolic kind real secret church. No doubt in my mind. And so I commend the organization to you. I commend the sermon series to you about Rahab and the spies really good stuff.

David Platt, Radical Risk, and the Collapse of Secret Church

So by now you probably see what I'm doing here. It's just such a it's so ridiculous the contrast between David Platt of 2009 and David Platt of 2020 and maybe there isn't a contrast maybe as soon as the pressure is put on him.

That's when you fold because the reality is like the secret church stuff is such a farce at this point. It's obviously a farce. I mean this sermon is actually really good. He talks about risking it all.

This is a line from the sermon. He says when you believe God for who he is God in heaven above the earth when you believe this God, then you are willing to risk it all and Elsewhere, he talks about risking your risking your financial situation risking your life risking your health risking.

You know everything risking it all it's all-encompassing. He's talking about a radical trust in God a radical thing. Like where everything's just you know, you're not throwing caution to the wind necessarily.

But but at least willing to do what God says at risk to your own life to your own family's life to your own situation to your own economic standing to all of that stuff and then we turn to 2020 when there's a virus and listen, like I said in the beginning here, you know.

We didn't know what the virus was in the beginning, but now we do know what it is. It's like okay. It's not the flu but the death rates are comparable and you know. They're very unlikely to get it doesn't even spread as fast as the flu and like flu kills almost as many people.

Regularly with a vaccine, but now we don't even have a vaccine and okay. It's a little bit more deadly than the flu. But it's it's essentially along the same lines and and we have just thrown all of that radical stuff has gone out the window.

Secret church is a joke secret church is a joke secret church. Its church is role-playing. We've been talking about role-playing a lot on this channel and on this podcast and it's like, you know. You'll fight yesterday's battles.

You'll fight battles that you have nothing to do with very ferociously and bravely. But your own battles you abandoned abandon your own battles. Yeah, everyone's talking about how race Racist George Whitfield was that was yesterday's battles.

That was last day. That's last century's battles the battles today are Jamar Tisby's are racist that battle you abandon the BD Anya willies are racist that battle you abandon Eric Mason says racist stuff all day Long that battle you abandon the ones you could actually do something about it's like when Lincoln freed the slaves in every territory.

He didn't control. It's like this is LARPing. It's just it's just all nonsense. And it really it's it's it's it's not only as it doesn't impress me. That's why I didn't have that's why I had my not impressed face on earlier, but it actually really makes me angry.

Because these people have made careers selling books conference speaking gigs, you know. You pay to do the secret church thing the live stream simulcast for secret church because you know, that's it's very secret.

All this stuff you pay money for these for this stuff and there and yeah. Yeah, and because these guys are these are the guys man. These are our leaders. They're ferocious. They're Following the Word of God they're ferocious, but then when it comes to the battles that are at hand right now, where are they?

Where are they? They're happy to take your money to tell you about yesterday's battles, and it's it's really annoying. I I don't like it now. Let me just calm down because I don't want to act too triggered.

But just think about what I just read from from Rahab and about sort of the the secret church about how you should risk it all you should risk your neighbors not liking you the government be. Not liking what you do and all this kind of stuff and it's like like think about this.

Like we can't meet for church because this is McLean Bible Church is not. I don't know if they're still not me. But for they didn't meet for a very long time, even though they did march for racial reconciliation.

They did do that, but they didn't meet for worship, even though God commanded them to meet for worship. This is their whole reason for existing is to worship God on the Lord's Day. That's their whole reason for having a church building is to meet there at that church building to worship God on the Lord's Day.

And they said that we can't do it because there's a risk of large and indoor gatherings. The same David Platt that said when you know the God of the universe. You should be willing to risk it all to obey him says this the risk of large indoor gatherings is too great.

It's too great. The same David Platt who said you should be willing to risk your life and your health the way Rahab did says Here's we it's too risky to meet for worship. And this is he even has a response for those who say let's stay open.

So that way those who are willing to risk it who are willing to follow your book radical and risk it all Should still be able to meet. Here's what he says to that. He says some might wonder why not just open the buildings for those who are comfortable with the gathering in person.

Fair question. I mean, that's a very good question. That seems to be the only logical thing to do open up the buildings that you don't have to come. But if you if you're willing to risk this to come worship God on a sunday, then you can come.

Here's his response to this. Our gatherings each week require large and very diverse group of people to work in a number of hands-on roles to make them possible. We do not feel comfortable requiring or expecting staff and volunteer leaders to serve in this way.

If we are not yet sure about the respective best practices for large-scale indoor gatherings. In other words, it's too risky. I know back in 2009 I said when you know god you should be willing to risk it all to obey him and to spread his glory which Every sunday on the lord's day.

That's what we're doing declaring the glory of god every lord's day. Every church around the world gathers at least presumably to declare the glory of the lord. Nothing could be better for our public witness to the world.

Yeah, the government's not going to like it. Yeah, the karens are going to get mad all that stuff. It doesn't matter that witness doesn't matter. Obeying god is what matters right? But but david platt 2009 says we should be willing to risk it all like rahab.

David platt 2020 says it's too risky this virus that kills less than one percent of the people who get it. It's just way too risky. Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable any attempt at reopening right now will necessarily exclude large portions of our church both in number and demographic.

So is so we're not meeting to preserve unity. You see we're not meeting to preserve unity that. Again, what is the point of secret church, right? Like like if they're not willing to meet and I understand that because when i'm sick, I don't go to church.

So let me ask you let me ask you this. Let's let's let's try to let's try to follow this logic. So next flu season when coronavirus we got the vaccine. Everything's good. My kids get sick with the flu and I don't.

I can't come to to worship because they're sick with the flu. Does that mean that we're. If we still meet on sunday, then that's just disrupting the unity of church. So we can't have church unless everyone's there.

Like the logic of this stuff just. It doesn't make any sense. Like this is you can tell they're flying by the seat of their pants, right? Like david platt's really good when he sticks to the text. I I honestly he is.

I love his sermons when he sticks to the text. This sermon on rahab is actually really good. Faith works man faith works and you demonstrate your faith by your works. And rahab did that she risked it all.

Very good point david platt of 20 2009. David platt of 2020 says, you know, if you get the sniffles. That's that's too risky. We can't meet as a church because that would disrupt the unity of the church.

The credibility of our witness is the is the most unbelievable one in my opinion by god's grace. We are spurting god's love across our city and around the world in many ways beyond what we were doing before.

This pandemic members of our church have banded together to provide meals thousands upon thousands of families and at-risk communities. The gospel has been shared with every single one of those families and many have come to faith in christ.

Thousands more have joined us for online worship including many who have also come to faith in christ. So as we read stories of church gatherings resuming in other places and see examples of staff and attenders Inadvertently transmitting this virus across their community.

We then consider the size of our church and the reach across the city. We want to be extremely careful to display the wisdom of christ as we exalt the name of christ in short. We want to be agents of the gospel and we don't want to do anything that might undertake.

That we might undertake to hinder that eternal message. In other words if the karens are going to get pissed at us for having worship service. We shouldn't have it. Because that'll damage our witness right?

And if someone gets sick at our if god sees to it that somebody gets sick at our gathering. Then that's an excuse to not obey the command to gather right? So it's about the witness to the world because we want to please the world right even though david platt in 2009.

You know, he's talking about secret church the frequently asked questions. He's talking about hostility from your community and family. So you have to meet in secret. That's what secret church was all about.

I thought but but I guess You know in 2020 when when when it actually comes to your situation when the government tells you you can't meet well. Then we got to listen right? There's no secret church for us this is just this is like.

When I talk about LARPing live action role play. That's what this is what i'm talking about. This is the most big eva live action role play I have ever Seen there's so much role playing in big eva. They talk big and bad about bad about yesterday's battles.

But today's battles they're nowhere to be found. In fact the people that do fight the battles they get they get scorned from big eva. It's not even that they won't fight the battles of today like people like david platt and joe carter and uh, And gospel coalition and erlc.

It's not even just that they won't fight today's battle. That would be fine. If you're just gonna abandon the battle fine. But they go even further. They talk they write think pieces about those who are fighting the battles.

They're fighting for the wrong team. They're hating their neighbor and that kind of thing. So it's even worse than than LARPing because at least in LARPing it's harmless, right people a bunch of adults get together.

They have styrofoam swords and they fight each other. It's harmless. It's stupid, but it's harmless. But in this situation, they're LARPing. Yes, but then they're also shooting us in the back like they're on our team, right?

They're in our foxhole and then a bunch of us get up and say, okay. We're gonna charge the enemy line and we're charging the enemy line. We're trying to we're trying to take some ground and we're getting shot in the back.

By those people who were too scared to fight today's battles. That's big eva in a nutshell. That's big eva in a nutshell shooting your friends in the back as they fight the battle that you should be fighting.

A Call to Fight Today's Battles and Stop Shooting From the Back

Anyway, I hope you found this podcast helpful. God bless. Don't forget to tune in next week on thursday for ad on the fight laugh feast network. Look, you might be thinking i'm being too harsh on david platt here.

But I I I I challenge you to square the secret church rhetoric and the radical rhetoric and all this stuff and that sermon. About rahab. I challenge you to square that with what's going on today. You can't do it.

You can't do it if you want to try my email is open. Of course. I'll read them. But it's just like look I I don't hate david platt. You know, I don't dislike him. But I want to encourage you to fight today's battles david.

Because you're writing great books about all this stuff that you have no control over but the stuff you have control over. Where are you man? When we need guys like you we need guys like you that's what gets me so angry because it's like you guys are capable.

You are capable and I want to encourage you to use your capabilities that were given to you by god your your pen. That is so effective man. I've been i've been impacted by your writing by your preaching and all of that.

So I know you can be effective. But let's let's put aside all this worldly. I want to have a good public witness. So therefore i'll do anything you say kind of thing. Let's put that aside remember the people in asia, man.

Remember the secret church stuff because we need that now. We need a secret church now. So at the very least like I I would want you to be on our team. I want you to be charging the line with me. You know what I mean?

There's a lot of us. It's not just me. There's a lot of us charging the line. I want you to be there with me because I think you can be very effective and I personally would feel much better. If if giants like you would join the fight I'm gonna go either way.

But i'd like you to join the team. But if you're not gonna join the team. Could you at least tell your buddies to stop sniping us from the back like that would be pretty helpful. I don't want to have to read these stupid think pieces about how.

All you guys who are not doing it the way i'm doing it hate your neighbor. You're disrespecting authority. You're breaking the fifth commandment like that is so Stupid and your words from 2009 prove that it's stupid.

I don't even have to argue against you you argue against yourself. So join the fight man or at the very least lay your weapons down and step aside.