The Truth About Christmas

I've been working on the next post so thank you for your patience in its arrival. Mostly I just wanted to post and let you all know that something is in the works and we're going to be having our first story from one of our posters coming up.

While this blog does focus on Quest in many ways, I'd also like to redirect the focus towards Jesus. During the holidays its very important that we as Christians keep our eyes focused on who the Author of our faith really is and celebrate the anniversary of His arrival to our broken world. I encourage you all, Christians, non-Christians, Questers, non-Questers, post-Questers, to find plenty of time to spend quietly with God and enjoying His heart for the season. Let the joy that you gain from that stillness with the Lord brim over to others around you and spread the "cheer" to anyone you can.

Love you all and a very Merry Christmas!

Theo

Love on a Quester

Most of you probably know someone that goes to Quest who is a friend or family member. This makes it all the more difficult to love them sometimes. I know that while I was involved in Quest, I frequently chose to not spend time with my friends or family so I could serve at Quest. This being the case, I know I was very hard to love by the people around me. However, they stuck it out and remained good friends and family and kept loving me even when I was hurting them.

Sounds a lot like Jesus.

They showed me love when I didin't deserve it, and they also spoke the truth to me in love. They encouraged me to see the other side of the picture and listen more to God's voice rather than the voices of leaders who had excessive amounts of authority in my life. I can't tell you how thankful I've been for these key people who exhibited grace, patience, forgiveness, and persistence in prayer on my behalf.

Now is the time for us to love on our Questers. The love of Christ will break down all barriers and keep us united. I can love my Questers, but this doesn't mean that I approve of all their actions, in the same way that Christ loves us but does not always approve of our actions.

Who is the Quester in your life that is particularly hard to love? (rhetorical question please don't answer that) How can you exhibit Christ more in how you interact with them? How can you love them and help them to be open to the truth?

As I have already found out, the questionable beliefs and practices within Quest run deep. Arguments or debates with Questers are usually fruitless and do more damage than repair, so I wouldn't enter into one unless you really knew thats what God wanted you to do.

So go out and love on a Quester. Give it all you've got and let Jesus fill your heart with love and patience. Come back here and feel free to share your experiences. Use anonymity where necessary. Peace be with you.

-Theophilus-

Perry Noble's signs that leadership has lost their minds

This is straight from Perry Noble's blog. Fascinating stuff and I found that many of them apply. Check it out.

Here we go…

#1 – The team spends more time seeking to imitate what is happening in other churches rather than begging God for HIS plan for their church. (Laziness!)

#2 – The leaders spend more time on the web to see what’s working instead of in the Word to see what God is saying.

#3 – Staff meetings become more focused on all of the “wrong” things other churches/leaders are doing (insecurity) instead of focusing on the problems that exist right under their nose.

#4 – The focus of the leadership meeting is not to lead and inspire and problem solve…but rather to just “make it” through the meeting.

#5 – The term “loyalty” is defined as, “we agree with the leader, no matter what.” Therefore dysfunction sets in as people are manipulated by fear and uncertainty…and they allow the “emperor to have no clothes” and pretend that everything is ok.(An environment of honesty MUST exist for a team to thrive!)

#6 – The focus of the agenda is to be reactive to what a few people may be upset with (usually big givers) rather than proactive about what Jesus said we should be obsessed with…advancing HIS Gospel.

#7 – The team is not willing to embrace taking risks because doing so could mean person loss for each member on the team.

#8 – Discussion seldom happens…lecture often does.

#9 – Decisions are made out of convenience rather than conviction.

#10 – The agenda of “Our Church Is Great” replaces the Biblical agenda of, “Our GOD IS GREAT!”

#11 – The people at the leadership table assume they are the smartest people in the organization; therefore, all other people should be ignored. (You REALLY need to listen to Andy Stanley’s leadership podcast from last month about this…AMAZING!)

#12 – The team is more focused on what random critics are saying than on what God is saying. (God does speak…but if He needs to direct your church it probably will not be through some bitter blogger or twitter person who has never been to your church, hates everyone and spends more time on the web bashing than in the Word learning!)

#13 – People are more concerned about protecting feelings than guarding the vision.

#14 – A leader will quickly sacrifice a team member instead of taking responsibility for a decision.

#15 – The people at the table actually believe the church would be in worse shape if they were not there.

#16 – A person disengages from the conversation if it’s not about their specific area.

#17 – When the people at the table get more satisfaction from being a leader than they do in simply following Jesus.

#18 – When the leaders never have a sleepless night over big decisions.

#19 – When the focus of the meeting is to impress other churches rather than minister to the people God gives them each and every week.

The Truth About Hebrews 13:17

For those of you who may have attended Quest (especially those of you who were members in a lifegroup) there is probably much fear and confusion associated with this verse. It is used at Quest to support blindly following church leaders as THEY hear from Christ on your behalf . If/ when there is opposition to a leader’s decision or guidance, this verse is quickly quoted or pointed to in effect to say “if you are not following me (a sinful human), you are not following Jesus (son of God, creator of the Universe)”. This kind of deductive reasoning is however misguided and twists the true meaning Hebrews 13:17, which like all other scriptures can not be extracted from its original context to appoint authority not given by Christ (who has all authority.. Matt. 28).

Now...here is where everyone who has ever felt shame or guilt for not agreeing with their leaders or was told to question their relationship/devotion with Christ because they heard something different from Jesus than their leader did….can just…..take...a…long deep…….breath. The truth is, Quest teaches a kind of submissiveness and obedience to their leadership that is simply not Biblical. Go ahead...look for it...comb the Gospels…..explore the Books of the Prophets….it’s safe to do, because it’s not there. And it’s not there, because Jesus knew better. Despite our good intentions, we are sinful people and cannot be trusted with that sort of absolute authority and so...Jesus never granted it. Those who assume that position (even at Quest) have manufactured this authority-- it is counterfeit and they will have to answer for it in front of the Lord one day. Pray for them for repentance and truth.

If you break down the verse as to what it truly says, the lie the Quest uses it to support is quickly exposed. Most translations read, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” The Greek word used for “submit” in this verse is hupeiko, and means “to retire, or withdraw.” We are not being called to follow orders or trust blindly, we are are being called not to hinder those who God has called to His ministry. (Can you imagine someone throwing banana peels in front of Paul the whole way to Corinth? No! You can’t, because we were told NOT to do that in this verse! =) ) If we consider this, the rest of the verse makes PERFECT sense. We obey them (as not to hinder them) so their work is joy for they are accountable for the things they do and teach along the way. It wouldn’t benefit us or the cause of Christ to hinder those called to be beacon’s of light in a land of darkness...DUH!=)

There is another Greek word that translates to “obey” ...this form of the word actually references obedience to magistrates or those in authority. This word Peitharcheo is found in Acts 5:29: “We must obey (peitharcheo) God, not man.” I think that pretty much speaks for itself, don’t you? No ambiguity there. Why does Quest never point to this verse?

This is the truth about Hebrews 13:17. Let this take root in your heart and begin the healing where lies and deceit may have caused havoc. Try to set aside any anger you may feel towards those who mislead you because they themselves may have been mislead. Pray for them. We will pray together. We will pray hard and we will not cease prayer until all of God’s lost sheep know the Good News. There is so much Hope!

Safe haven for any posters

So far it seems that this blog is off to an amazing start and has gone better than my efforts could make it. This seems to be the case with things that God calls us to. I wanted to thank all the readers and commenters. You all have had wonderful insights and additions to this blog and I encourage you to keep them coming.

The next step I would like to take is to invite any post-Questers to post their comments here about their experiences with Quest. As you have gathered from the nature of this blog this is not a place for unchecked anger or cutting remarks towards Quest or Questers. So please, only positive comments. It is the only way for people who are stuck in Quest to see that post-Questers don’t just live angry vindictive lives.

Furthermore, I would like to invite anyone who has heard of Quest or currently goes to Quest to post on here. This is the beauty of the blog. It can be entirely anonymous if you’d like it to be. There will be no penalty for asking questions about anything you see discussed here. None of your leaders will know and don’t need to know. Even I won’t know. I encourage you to ask questions about leadership, serving, and anything else you have been even slightly curious about but could not ask in the Quest environment.

As for my identity, it remains a superfluous detail amidst the truth that God is revealing. In the meantime you may call me Theophilus. It is a name that describes all of us as it Greek for “one loved by God.” I would also encourage you to spread the word about this blog, but feel free not to. You might just need to sit back and enjoy the discussion. Again, my email is thetruthaboutquest@gmail.com . Feel free to email it anytime or post a comment on the blog. In the words of one of our commenters “let the truth ring out.”

How to pray

For those of you who are unaware, Quest Community Church is a church in Lexington, KY that has certainly changed the city of Lexington. From humble beginnings, Quest started out as a church for people who didn't like church and felt God's calling to begin this ministry.

Over time, the church began to grow rapidly and somewhere in the mix, slightly new ideas were introduced that sounded like truth. Some of these ideas include their views on leadership, who needs Christ, and church involvement. Leadership in the church has become more about power and manipulation, the concept of knowing Christ was redefined by a loose interpretation of the passage in Matthew 7 (inflating the number of legitimate new believers), and serving is pushed to the point of guilt especially if one chooses not to serve or "be around" at key times defined by the leadership.

As stated in the previous entry, this type of behavior is more reminiscent of a cult rather than Christ's loving church. But here's the kicker. While the leadership at Quest has gone astray and hurt many people in the process, they are still people. Living, breathing human beings with feelings, hearts, souls, and families. They are just as vulnerable to deviation from God's path as any of us are. Here's where it gets tough.

Pray for them. Thats right. Pray. They need God's truth and grace just as much as we all do. They are not exempt from it and need people praying for them to see how the subtle new ideas that seemed Biblical are in fact not. They need truth, the kind of truth that only God provides. So pray for truth.

Pray also for the families of Questers who often find themselves feeling disconnected from that member of the family. Pray for understanding and compassion to be shown to the Questers so that they may see God's truth amidst the spiritual misinformation and man-made cultural norms of Quest.

Join me in praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ who have incredible influence in Lexington, but need redirection from Christ. Pray for the truth to come out. It always finds its way.

The Truth Is Out

Greetings,

This is the first of many posts to come regarding the many discrepancies of Quest Community Church in Lexington, KY. What on the outside appears to be a loving and active church is in reality a place that mirrors cult activity more than Christ's church as he intended. This blog has been created to serve many functions:

1. To be the voice for those who have been led astray by Quest

2. To let those who have been hurt by Quest to know that this was not Christ and recovery is possible.

3. To let those in Quest know that there is a possibility of life outside of Quest's style of discipleship and teachings that still pleases God as He intends. No more no less.

4. To fulfill God's tugging on my heart to warn those who don't know about Quest. Over time it has become a place where subtle ideas of power and manipulation of the congregation have become the norm with little to no input for change.

If you have any questions email thetruthaboutquest@gmail.com

This is the truth about Quest. More is coming. The truth is out.