THE PELOTON FELLOWSHIP: INTRODUCTION TO A COMMUNITY OF CHRIST FOLLOWERS IN THE TRADITION OF DIETRICH BONHOEFFER’S CONFESSING CHURCH

SCRIPTURE.“Truly God is [only] good to Israel, even to those who are upright and pure in heart.” PSALM 73:1, AMPC

QUOTATION. “When bishops err we must not follow…We must obey God before man.” – FRIEDRICH GUSTAV EMIL MARTIN NIEMÖLLER,Barman, Germany, January 4, 1934

1. FIRST THOUGHTS

Writing for the online journal ‘1517’ on January 4, 2019, GRANT KLEMBARA records the “Birth of the Confessing Church,” a momentous and courageous predecessor for what I most urgently believe true Christians in the United States are called to imitate in the 2020s.

“On Thursday, January 4, 1934, a few hundred pastors and church-office holders congregated in the German town of Barmen. Together, they formed the Pastor’s Emergency League: An underground resistance group who opposed the Nazi Movement. They were initially gathered and led by Pastor Martin Niemöeller, as well as Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was just 27 years old at the time. For two, warm winter days, these men debated how they might respond to a growing faction of Nazi Sympathizers in the Church known as the ‘German Christians.’”

THE PARALLEL. I have been writing with increasing intensity for the last three years that what happened in Germany 90 years ago is reoccurring right here, just beneath the gaze of an overwhelmingly slumbering American Church. Indeed, I have labored hard to sound the alarm that Hitler’s German counterpart found in our own brand of  Nazi Sympathizers constitute what can become known as, “American Christians.”

The Community in relentless opposition to that group that I will describe in this brief essay was gradually assembled online in the last several years by the finger of God as a moral and theological firewall of resistance against this rapidly expanding form of a uniquely American Fascism. It is inarguably rooted in Donald Trump’s Christian Nationalism Movement, more commonly known and recognized as MAGA (‘Make America Great Again’) Christianity.

Mr. Klembara concludes his review by observing that many of those German Confessing Church pastors would return to Barmen a few months later in May of 1934, to build on Karl Barth’s notes arguing for the absolute centrality of the Revelation of Jesus Christ as the starting point for THE BARMAN DECLARATION: A public statement that drew a definitive line in the sand between Christianity and Nationalism, addressing in detail the errors made by the “German Christians.”

The final part of this Declaration captured the spirit and conviction of their two gatherings, ending powerfully with the phrase, “Verbum Dei manet in aeternum,” or:

“The Word of God will last forever.”

As it was for the founders of the Confessing Church of Germany, so shall it be with this gathering of friends, brothers and sisters in the bond of Christ, to firmly stand against an Old Darkness that has traveled after nearly a century to American shores and to many American hearts, including millions of Christians.

1. THE ‘PELOTON FELLOWSHIP’

PELETON: “In a road bicycle race, the Peloton (from French, originally meaning ‘Platoon‘) is the main group or pack of riders … in a group [who] save energy by riding close (drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reduction in drag is dramatic; riding in the middle of a well-developed group, drag can be reduced to as little as 5%–10%. Exploitation of this potential energy saving leads to complex cooperative and competitive interactions between riders and teams in race tactics. The term is also used to refer to ‘the community’ of professional cyclists in general.” – ‘Wikipedia,’ edited July 27, 2022

Now pay specific attention to that two-word phrase, ‘The Community’ of professional cyclists in general. That’s where we will be headed today, by analogy.

ORIGINS. As memory best serves, I was preparing one of my morning studies this past week (about July 21) when seemingly out of nowhere ‘a word’ exploded in my mind with which I was completely unfamiliar: “PELETON.”

Now when this sort of thing happens with me, sometimes it’s something, and as often it’s just a sort of a random cognitive rumbling. But this time was different. It  was insistent; it stayed with me. More, it frankly seemed to ‘trouble’ me for a couple of days, until I was literally driven to start looking into it.

What I was to discover became increasingly exciting to me, as I was impressed that this could become the name of our loosely knit but deeply committed Christ followers who frankly sought refuge from this ‘New American Church’ abandonment of Canonical Truth in exchange for practical political power, safe messages, and economic security.

COMMUNITY. As I was pondering all this for several days, I came across a wonderful little article by a blogger who simply goes by the name, “MICHAEL,” titled, “Peloton Theory and Christian Community,” published in ‘Heavenly Perspectives’ on January 16, 2018.

Here are a few of his rich and practical applications of ‘The Peloton Idea’ to genuine Christian Fellowship and Strategy for dealing with the many Last Days challenges just ahead of us.

• THE RACE. “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but [only] one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain [‘seize or lay hold of] it ” – 1 CORINTHIANS 9:24

• THE PELOTON. “The Peloton is the main collection of riders in any cycling event that ride together in a large group. When runners race a Marathon, the field of contestants stretches out as the race goes on. The faster runners advance while the slower runners lag behind. However, in cycling the majority of the contestants ‘stay together in a group,’ the Peloton, for most of the race.”

• KEY TO WINNING. “So how are Christians supposed to run the race as if to win? Let’s get back to the Peloton Analogy. The rider in the race can either give up … or they can look for an alternative. The alternative for racers is the same as it is for Christians: [Like-minded] ‘Community.’”

• THE STRUGGLE. “Secular society constantly pulls on Christians who have managed to‘so separate themselves.’Typically, the pull is subtle, trying to seduce us to take a few small steps back toward ‘The [Secular] Spiderweb’ by telling us we should just accept some ideas that Christians know are biblically wrong. ‘Wouldn’t it be easier to just accept rather than fight? You are not going to win anyway.’ says the Serpent.”

• THE FOUNDATION. “Only by working together with others in [Truth-based] Christian Community can we hope to separate ourselves from the dangerous Spiderweb that is secular society … I’m also reminding you that each of us needs to be actively involved with a ‘doctrinally sound Bible Study Group’ [serving as] an accountability group or some other small Christian Group to maintain our distance from The Spiderweb. Without actively participating in [such] Christian Community, we are easily captured again by The Spiderweb of secular society and we become like salt that is no longer salty.”

DK. To summarize then, the absolute ‘Center’ of our success in the days just ahead will be primarily based on TWO ELEMENTS: (1) Sustained and frequent interaction with like-minded believers in reflection of the leading issues of the day that impact both Church and Society; (2) Special attention given to the many false ideas, philosophies and purveyors of such deception that Jesus said would proliferate the world in the Last Days.

None of which can effectively take place without, again, the absolute centrality of and focus upon and concourse with what the Law, the Prophets, the Apostles and the Messiah Himself commended to us forcefully as:

SOUND DOCTRINE! “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” – 2 TIMOTHY 4:1-4, NKJV

We have nearly all of us already learned the harsh lessons of depending only on what our teachers and pastors and priests and Christian leaders have told us about Biblical Truth. For years upon years or perhaps even for decades now, we have discovered that much if not most of what we have been fed by our pulpits is indeed the rancid stuff of ‘The American Gospel.’

The Apostle Paul had some fairly strong views about such Theological Sedition:

“If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine and teaching which is in agreement with godliness (personal integrity, upright behavior), he is conceited and woefully ignorant [understanding nothing]. He has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, which produces envy, quarrels, verbal abuse, evil suspicions, and perpetual friction between men who are corrupted in mind and deprived of the truth, who think that godliness is a source of profit [a lucrative, money-making business]—withdraw from them!

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we [originally] preached to you, let him be condemned to destruction!” – 1 TIMOTHY 6:3-5; GALATIANS 1:8, AMP

THE POINT. It is long past time that we become our own teachers of the Canon, beloved, true disciples of the Messiah with a fire in our hearts to learn of Him all that we can learn in the days remaining to us. WHY, you dare ask?

• PREPARED. To be ready and fully willing, in season and out of season, to convince, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering, by aggressively searching the Scriptures for God’s wisdom by which we can lovingly yet firmly hold ourselves and our brethren to account.

• PROTECTED. That we might never be drawn off or drawn aside into the dark canyons of cultural and demonic myths, fables and false doctrines that Jesus Christ Himself warned would fill the earth and even the Church in the Last Days.

IN SUM. These then are the fundamental building blocks of The Peloton Fellowship: A truly ‘Confessing Church’ in the remarkable tradition of Bonhoeffer, Niemöller and Barth, in faithful resistance against the American Nationalist Gospel, in equally zealous support of Canonical, Orthodox Christian Faith.

A Remnant Community, if you please – ‘Remaining behind’ with Jesus Christ, no matter what. Selah.

And now to an even deeper level of what it is that defines ‘The Peleton Christian,’ as I like to often say, right down to his bone and marrow, the very core of the individual.

1. THE TEACHING

SCRIPTURE.“Truly God is [only] good to Israel, even to those who are upright and pure in heart.” – PSALM 73:1, AMPC

Significant to our discussion today, we find in this briefest of ancient songs TWO GOLDEN STRANDS of Christian Doctrine that brilliantly clarify what it is to truly be a faithful follower of the Messiah. So let’s get to it.

• PURE. We begin with one of the most important Hebrew concepts in all of Scripture. Taken from the term, ‘Bar’ [בַּר], it quickly moves us to the very core of what the Lord looks for in a follower: “Purity; beloved of God; clean or clear; empty of any guile whatsoever; radiant or illuminated [by His truth]; that which receives nourishment from a clean feeding trough; this term occurs only in the more poetic writings of Scripture, elevating it to a special prominence.”

• HEART. Again, we make special note that the theology presented here does not refer to ‘outer things,’ but rather to the ‘inner man’ – that aspect of human life, thought and conduct that animates all that we do and defines all that we are (cf. Prov. 23:7; Matt. 23:28).  From ‘Lebab’ [לֵבָב]: “Center of the human will; mind and affections; soul, or the seat of knowledge and understanding; comprehensions, reflections and imaginations; inclinations and strong preferences; the human conscience, or ‘one’s moral character.’”

COMMENTARY. “‘Truly God is good to Israel’ –  To Israel, literally understood; in choosing them to be His people above all people on earth; in bringing them into a good land; in favouring them with many external privileges, civil and religious; in giving them His Word, Statutes, and Ordinances, as He did not to other nations: or, spiritually understood, the Israel whom God has chosen, redeemed, and called by His special grace; verily of a Truth, God is good to these; there is abundant proof and evidence of it.

‘Only God is good to such’ – Though He is good to all in a Providential way, yet only to His chosen and redeemed ones in a way of special favour; the goodness others share is but a shadow of goodness, in comparison of what they do and shall partake of; they are blessed with blessings indeed, and are only blessed; so this particle is rendered in Psalm 62:2, ‘but’, or ‘notwithstanding’ God is good; that is, though He suffers the wicked to prosper, and His own people much afflicted, yet He is good to them; He supports them under their afflictions, and makes all to work for their good; gives them grace here, and glory hereafter.

‘Even to such as are of a clean heart.’ – This character excludes the carnal Israelites, who were pure in their own eyes, but not cleansed from their filthiness, and describes ‘the true Israel of God,’ and explains who are meant by them, such as are pure in heart, inwardly Jews, Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile; this is not natural to men, their hearts are by nature unclean, nor is it in their power to make them clean: This is God’s work, He only can create a clean heart, and renew a right spirit; which is done by the sanctifying influences of His grace, and by the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, and thus purifying their heart’s by faith; yet so as not to be free from all impurity of spirit, but as to have a conscience purged from the guilt of sin, and ‘to have the heart sincere and upright towards God.’ – JOHN GILL, ‘An Exposition of the Old and New Testament,’ 9 vols., 1746-1763; edited

DK. Permit me to now highlight THREE KEY POINTS from Mr. Gill’s exquisitely rich review.

• OBEDIENCE. Contrary to the Gospel message that we will hear in almost all American churches today, God in fact does have favorites. Yes, He does. To restate Mr. Gill’s astute observation: “Though He is good to all in a Providential way, yet only to His chosen and redeemed ones in a way of ‘special favour.’” This is a huge theological point, drastically in need of reinsertion into our Sunday morning messages across the entire landscape of the American pulpit today. IN SUM: ‘God prefers the obedient to the disobedient’ (cf. 1 Sam. 15:22). The Doctrine of the Remnant applies here, since the majority of those who claim to follow God will in fact not choose ‘Radical Obedience’ – As Jesus himself stated it so concisely: “For many are called (invited, summoned to the wedding feast), but ‘few are chosen’” (Matt. right 22:14, Amp.).

• GUILELESSNESS. Noah Webster’s classic 1828 Dictionary defines this premier Christian virtue in this way: “Simplicity [of heart]; complete freedom from craft, cunning, artifice, duplicity, deceit or disguise.” Many Bible teachers would argue today that one cannot achieve such purity, but the Scriptures teach otherwise as we just demonstrated earlier. To clarify this important point, ‘the guileless person’ refers to any individual who at their very core simply and earnestly desires, consciously and unconsciously, ‘to please God’ in all that they do and say. It doesn’t mean that they achieve perfection, but the cleanness of their motives frees the power of the Holy Spirit to influence that individual toward greater and greater purity over their lifetime because their hearts are largely unfettered from worldly pursuits.

• SAGACITY. Finally, we come to a vital moral and practical skill in today’s world so rife with darkness and deception, subterfuge and wickedness and falsehood everywhere. Once again, we turn to the good Mr. Webster (1828) for a concise definition: “Being quick of thought; acute in discernment or penetration [of some situation involving a cast of characters]; readiness of apprehension; the faculty of readily discerning and distinguishing ideas, ‘and of separating truth from falsehood.’ Here then is the extraordinarily wise man, woman or even child who knows the difference between right and wrong, true and false, good and evil. Therefore, they are foundationally capable of making solid choices that lead to life and avoid choices that lead to destruction and death. Surely we desperately need Christian leaders such as these, but it appears we have so precious few that it very nearly takes one’s spiritual breath fully away, beloved.

We turn, finally to The Baseline qualification or distinguishing mark of the Peleton Christian that separates him or her indeed from all the rest.

1. LAST THOUGHTS

I could not help realizing over the last several years that I was researching the first edition of my book, ‘The Sixth Seal’ (2017), that there is a Succession of Order revealed in the opening of the first Five Seals leading up what I will argue here to be the very zenith, the pinnacle if you will, of courageous, true and steady commitment to Christ and Canon.

First, a very brief review of the FIRST FIVE SEALS from the Book of Revelation, Chapter 6, to clarify this ah he’s leavingpoint.

1. ANTICHRIST. There is very nearly today overwhelming consensus that the man riding on the White Horse in the First Seal is none other than the Man of Sin, the Lawless One, the Antichrist, who will rule and reign and terrorize the earth for some seven years during the Time of Jacob’s Troubles, the Great Tribulation. – cf. Jer. 30:7; Rev. 6:2

• WAR. As I have written in some detail in previous commentaries, here we have A Red Horse riding forth, signifying the rapid proliferation of national and international Conflicts leading to full scale War over a period of just a few years. There is fairly strong agreement among biblical scholars that these initially limited exchanges will ultimately lead to nuclear warfare, then more ultimately to the utter devastation of Earth’s Last War at Megiddo, known widely as Armageddon, at the end of the Seven-Year Tribulation Era. – cf. Isa. 13:6; Rev. 6:4, 16:16

• FAMINE. A Black Horse is then released as we see that the opening of the first two seals intensify the destructive impact on goods and services, with supply lines being cut off, hyperinflation going nearly uncontrolled, and widespread scarcity of those basic commodities advancing across the entire planet. Most scholars believe that the ultimate forms of this Seal will lead to increased violence, as the desperate citizens aggressively fight one another in order to survive. Some writers go so far as to predict instances of cannibalism that will emerge on the world scene. – cf. Jer. 19:9; Rev. 6:6

• PLAGUE. As a Pale, Ashen Horse rides forth at the opening of this Seal, there is a description of worldwide Death, with Hades following close behind, the result of the cumulative impacts of the first three seals hammering away at by now a rapidly disintegrating world order at nearly every level. Plague and virulent, deadly Pestilence are especially noteworthy in this particular Judgment, to the extent that the wild beasts of the field begin coming down out of their natural habitat to feed on the corpses accumulating under the onslaught of so many fatalities and lack of medical facilities as the world continues to spin out of control. – cf. Lk. 21:11; Rev. 6:8

• MARTYRDOM. And now we arrive at The Baseline. NOTE: My view of these Seal Judgments is that they do not constitute the Great Tribulation, but rather are a vivid description of what Jesus called “Birth Pangs” leading up to last seven years of human history. This means that the number of martyrs in this period of time are limited, contrasted with the countless millions who go to slaughter in the Tribulation Era by beheading under the raging treachery of the Antichrist. The Point: as with all of our Christian history, some of us will be imprisoned, suffer torture, and perhaps be executed as ‘Martyrs’ to the cause of Christ. QUESTION: Are we prepared to endure this? Second, is the American Church currently helping us to prepare for this? SELAH.

TWO CHURCHES OF HONOR. John the Apostle’s review of Jesus’ Letters to the Seven Churches in the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation show that out of those seven, only two were found to be honorable. Only two, beloved.

• PHILADELPHIA. “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name … Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” – REVELATION 3:8, 10, NKJV

• SMYRNA. “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” – REVELATION 2:9-10, NKJV

THE PELOTON FELLOWSHIP. Where all this leads us to my dear friends, is a Christian Fellowship that is still being carved out of the Madness of the last six years in America. ‘A separated group of Christ followers’ who cannot find common cause with so many of the churches today given the many social and political Compromises of Trump Nationalism on the Right, and Progressive Socialism of the Left.

In effect, we have no home here on the earth, except in fellowship with a Remnant Church of true confessors of Christ characterized by FIVE COMMITMENTS that shall serve as a Biblical Covenant with our King – unto life or unto death.

• NEW BIRTH. “Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’” – JOHN 3:5-8, NKJV

• FIRST PROHIBITION. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” – EXODUS 20:4-6, NKJV

• FIRST COMMANDMENT. “Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘Which is the first commandment of all?’ Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’” – MARK 12:28-31, NKJV

• FIRST LOVE.– “‘This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you’ … And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” – JOHN 15:12-14; REVELATION 12:11, NKJ

• FIRST TRUTH. “So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, ‘If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples. And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.’” – JOHN 8:31-32, AMPC

CODA. So, there you have it my friends, my first somewhat rough-cut Draft to propose to you all The Foundations upon which THE PELOTON FELLOWSHIP is formed. Underlying all that has been said thus far, we join in our own restatement of the JEWISH SHEMA, what Jesus called the First and Greatest Commandment:

We love God more than any other thing or desire or object or individual or activity on the earth. He is our Reason for Being, and to the best of our ability by the power of His Holy Spirit, we will love and obey His Word every day of our lives, and be quick to repent when we stumble.

Borrowing therefore from the Second Continental Congress Pledge of the delegates to that great Conference (July 2, 1776), we dare not create dedicate ourselves this time to a nation or political order or even a society, but rather: TO GOD AND GOD ALONE.

THE PELOTON PLEDGE. ‘Therefore, in support of these Honorable Declarations on July 30, 2022, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to the One and True King of the Universe: Jesus the Christ – Creator, Redeemer and Lord above all lords and kingdoms and principalities for all Eternity.

To Him and Him alone belongs all the praise and all the glory and all the power to accomplish these great and mighty things yet to come.

Ever your servant, DK

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