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Eight Reasons That the House
church Model is a Very Good Choice
By
Brother Mark © 2004
1) In Acts and in the
Epistles is there an indication that the teachings
(doctrine) and the practices (how to function and
structure) of the apostles were to be observed by all churches?
Some verses are:
I Cor. 11:1 Pattern yourselves after me [follow my example], as I imitate and
follow Christ (the Messiah). 2 I appreciate and commend you because you always
remember me in everything and keep firm possession of the traditions (the
substance of my instructions), just as I have [verbally] passed them on to you.
Phil. 4:9 Practice what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me,
and model your way of living on it, and the God of peace (of untroubled,
undisturbed well-being) will be with you.
II Thes. 2:15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions and
instructions which you were taught by us, whether by our word of mouth or by
letter
I Cor. 14:26 What then, brethren, is [the right course]? When you meet together,
each one has a hymn, a teaching, a disclosure of special knowledge or
information, an utterance in a [strange] tongue, or an interpretation of it.
[But] let everything be constructive and edifying and for the good of all.
I Cor. 11: 16 Now if anyone is disposed to be argumentative and contentious
about this, we hold to and recognize no other custom [in worship] than this, nor
do the churches of God generally.
I Cor. 14:37 If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him
acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command.
If it is true that these are commands, then the practices
of the apostles would point to the house church model as being God’s best
choice.
”God does not dwell in temples made with hands (Acts 17:24)
That Not only individuals, but whole houses are
recipients of the Gospel
Matthew 10: 14 ”And as you enter the house, give it
your greeting. ”And if the house is worthy, let
your greeting of peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your greeting
of peace return to you. ”And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words,
as you go out of that house or that city, shake off
the dust of your feet.”
Luke 10:5 ”And whatever house you enter, first say,
‘Peace be to this house.’”
Luke 10:7 ”And stay in that house, eating and
drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go
from house to house.”
Acts 10:22 ”And they said, ‘Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing
man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a
holy angel to send for you to come to his house and
hear a message from you.’”
Acts 10:30 ”And Cornelius said, ‘Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my
house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man
stood before me in shining garments.’”
Acts 16:15 ”And when she and her household had been
baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the
Lord, come into my house and stay.’”
Acts 16:32 ”And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who
were in his house.” Pentecost happened in a
house
Acts 2:2 ”And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing
wind, and it filled the whole house where they were
sitting.” Christians regularly meet in homes
Acts 2:46 ”And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking
bread from house to house,
they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart”
Acts 5:42 ”And every day, in the temple and from house
to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching
Jesus as the Christ.”
Acts 8:3 ”But Saul began ravaging the church, entering
house after house; and dragging off men and
women, he would put them in prison.”
Acts 9:11 ”And the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go to the street called
Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a
man from Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying.’”
Acts 12:12 ”And when he realized this, he went to the
house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many
were gathered together and were praying.”
Acts 16:40 ”And they went out of the prison and entered the
house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren,
they encouraged them and departed.”
Acts 18:7 ”And he departed from there and went to the
house of a certain man named Titius Justus, a worshipper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue.”
Acts 20:20 ”I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable,
and teaching you publicly and from house to
house.”
Acts 21:8 ”And on the next day we departed and came to Caesarea; and entering
the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of
the seven, we stayed with him.”
Romans 16:5 ”also greet the church that is in their house.
Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia.”
1 Cor. 16:19 ”The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca greet you
heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their
house.”
Col. 4:15 ”Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church
that is in her house.”
1 Tim. 5:13-14 ”And at the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go
around from house to house;
and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not
proper to mention.”
Philemon 1:2 ”and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and
to the church in your house”
2 John 1:10 ”If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not
receive him into your house, and do not give him a
greeting;”
CONSISTENCY
What do you conclude about God’s interest in our own churches adhering to New
Testament patterns for church practice? Is what was normative church practice
for all the churches in the New Testament what should be normative practice for
churches today? Was it these patterns of church practice that gave the early
church the dynamic that many of today’s church have been missing for so long? If
the Bible directly commands something, then we obviously ought to follow that
command. A very important question would be, “Does the Bible command adherence
to the traditions of the apostles??” If, however, the Bible is silent about
something (i.e., there is neither command nor pattern to follow), then we have
the freedom to do whatever suits us (following the leading of the Holy Spirit).
Note carefully that we do not advocate a negative hermeneutic, insisting that if
a practice is not found in the Bible, then we can’t do it. Rather, we promote a
normative hermeneutic, insisting that practices that clearly were normative for
the early church might be binding on churches of today. Matters of silence are
matters of freedom.
There are other NT practices that make much better sense when done in homes and
aren’t very workable in larger settings. Here are some apostolic traditions that
may still be binding on the church today:
1. The Lord’s Supper eaten as a full meal (1Co 11:17-34).
2. The Lord’s Supper partaken of weekly (1Co 11:17-22).
3. The Lord’s Supper eaten as the main reason for meeting each week (Ac 20:7,
1Co 11:33).
4. Interactive, participatory, open church meetings (1Co 14:26, 37).
5. Mutual edification, encouragement and fellowship as the goals of church
meetings (Ac 2:42, 1Co 14:3-5, 12, 26, Heb 10:24-25).
6. Church government by consensus: elder-led rather than elder-ruled churches (Lk
22:24-27, 1Pe 5:1-4).
7. Locally trained leaders (2Ti 2:2).
8. Church eldership that is male, plural, non-hierarchial, homegrown, servant
leadership (1Ti 3:1- 7).
9. House churches: smaller congregations (Ro 16:5, Col 4:15, Phlm 2).
10. Meeting regularly on the Lord’s Day (Mt 28:1-7, Ac 20:7, 1Co 16:1-4, Re
1:9-11).
11. The baptism of believers only (Mt 28:19-20).
12. The separation of church and state (Phlp 3:20).
13. A regenerate church body. (Mt 18:15-20).
14. Children present in the church meeting (Mt 19:13-15, Lk 2:41-50, Ac 21:5, Ep
6:1-3, Col 4:16)
15. A community based church: daily fellowship (Ac 2:42-47).
16. Church reproduction and equipping through the ministry of itinerant church
workers such as apostles and evangelists (Ep 4:11-13).
If you told most churches today that 10, 11, & 12 were
optional you would have a fight on your hands, so why no fight about the other
ones???
Are these suggestions or are they commands?
2) Should we practice the
traditions of the established denominational models of today if
questionable motives and a dark history is at the roots of these changes?
Just a few examples are:
Birth of Church Administrative Systems and One-Man-Rule There are church boards
or councils, pastors, elders or ministers that have a hierarchy system where
they impose authoritative tight control over all matters of congregational
life. Up until the second century, the church had no official leadership. In
this regard, the first-century churches were an oddity indeed. They were
religious groups without priest, temple, sacrifice. The Christians themselves
led the church under Christ’s direct Headship.
Among the flock were the elders (shepherds or
overseers), These men all stood on an equal footing. There was no hierarchy
among them. Also present were extra-local workers who planted churches. These
were called "sent-ones" or apostles. But they did not take up residency in the
churches for which they cared. Nor did they control them. The vocabulary of NT
leadership allows no pyramidal structures. It is rather a language of horizontal
relationships that includes exemplary action.
This was all true until Ignatius of Antioch
(35-107) stepped on the stage. Ignatius was the first figure in church history
to take the initial step down the slippery slope toward a single leader in the
church. We can trace the origin of the modern Pastor and church hierarchy to
him. Ignatius elevated one of the elders above all the others. The elevated
elder was now called "the bishop." All the responsibilities that belonged to the
college of elders were exercised by the bishop. In A.D. 107, Ignatius wrote a
series of letters when on his way to be martyred in Rome. Six out of seven of
these letters strike the same chord. They are filled with an exaggerated
exaltation of the authority and importance of the bishop's office. According to
Ignatius, the bishop has ultimate power and should be obeyed absolutely.
Consider the following excerpts from his letters: "All of you follow the bishop
as Jesus Christ follows the Father... No one is to do any church business
without the bishop . . . Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be. .
. You yourselves must never act independently of your bishop and clergy. You
should look on your bishop as a type of the Father . . . Whatever he approves,
that is pleasing to God... " For Ignatius, the bishop
stood in the place of God while the presbyters stood in the place of the twelve
apostles.27 It fell to the bishop alone to celebrate the Lord's Supper, conduct
baptisms, give counsel, discipline church members, approve marriages, and preach
sermons. The elders sat with the bishop at the Lord's Supper. But it was the
bishop who presided over it. He took charge of leading public prayers and
ministry. Only in the most extreme cases could a so-called "layman" take the
Lord's Supper without the bishop. Eventually only the Clergy could interpret
scripture and the Bible was removed from the laity!
Matt.20:25 Jesus called them together and said, ‘‘You know that the rulers of
the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over
them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must
be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just
as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life
as a ransom for many.”
Church Building called “church” rather than believers in Christ are ‘Church’.
It was in 323 AD, almost three hundred years after the birth of the church, that
Christians first met in something we now call a 'church building'. For all three
hundred years before that, the church met in living rooms!
Constantine built these assembly buildings for Christians not only in
Constantinople, but also in Rome, Jerusalem, and in many parts of Italy, all
between 323 and 327! This then triggered a massive 'church building' fad in
large cities all over the Empire.
"How could the Christian Church, apparently quite
willingly, accommodate this weird megalomaniac [Constantine] in its theocratic
system? Was there a conscious bargain? Which side benefited most from this
unseemly marriage between Church and State? ... Did
the empire surrender to Christianity, or did Christianity prostitute itself to
the empire?" (A History of Christianity, 1976, pp. 67-69).
When we consider the vast differences between the
established denominational models of today and the original Christianity of
Jesus Christ and the apostles, we can trace much of that change to Constantine
and the religious system he put in power. Many of these changes go directly
against Bible truths with evil motives at their inception.
3)
Starfish organizations can more rapidly multiply than spider organizations.
The churches in Acts and the Epistles were starfish in their structure.
The changes made since the apostolic age have turned the church into a spider
organization.
Spider = Centralized. Central body with legs. Cut off the head and it dies.
Starfish = Decentralized network. No head. Major organs are replicated
throughout each arm. Cut it in half and you get two starfish.
How to recognize starfish…
1. Is there a person in charge? If you see a pyramid and a CEO you are probably
looking at a spider. Spider = Hierarchy and clear accountability. Starfish =
open system, flat.
2. Are there headquarters? Starfish doesn’t depend on a permanent location or a
central headquarters. The organization (AA) is equally distributed across
thousands of community centers, churches, even airports. AA is found wherever a
group of members choose to meet.
3. If you thump it on the head, will it die? Starfish often don’t have a head to
chop off.
4. Is there a clear division of roles? In decentralized organizations, anyone
can do anything. If a member of AA wants to start a new circle they can. Any and
every activity is within anyone’s job description.
5. If you take out a unit, is the organization harmed? Units of a decentralized
organization are by definition completely autonomous. In fact a severed arm of a
starfish might grow an entirely new organization. Isolate an AA circle from the
AA organization and both will be able to survive.
6. Are knowledge and power concentrated or distributed? In spider companies,
power and knowledge are concentrated at the top. In starfish organizations,
power is spread throughout. Each member is assumed to be equally knowledgeable
and has power equal to that of any other member. Each AA circle knows about the
needs of its members, and each group can decide how to react accordingly.
7. Is the organization flexible or rigid? Decentralized organizations are very
amorphous and fluid. They are constantly spreading, growing, shrinking,
mutating, dying off, and reemerging. Each house church can flex to meet the
needs of those meeting there without needing outside permission.
8. Can you count the employees or participants? It’s not only that no one’s
keeping track, but also that anyone can become a member of an open organization
– or likewise withdraw their membership – at any time.
9. Are working groups funded by the organization or are they self-funding? There
is often no central well of money. Individual units might receive funding from
outside sources, but they are largely responsible for acquiring and managing
those funds.
10. Do working groups communicate directly or through intermediaries? In open
systems communication occurs directly between members. No roads lead to Rome
because there isn’t a Rome. In house church each member looks to Christ.
4) I believe that the admission by
many parachurch organizations that if the church was doing it’s job they would
not be necessary. Some examples are:
People being taught the milk and meat of the word in interactive meetings with a
leader and all believers sharing the responsibility according to the Lords
leading and gifting. VS. Bible study fellowship groups
Individuals being prayed for and taught from the Word, about their personal
struggles and confessed sin, to their elder/pastor, teachers and prophets that
they are very close to and have established trusted relationships with VS. paid
Christian Counselors.
Deep sense of Christ’s presence and overwhelming sense of Christ love in small
trusted gathering on a weekly basis VS. Spiritual retreat weekends
Older Godly men modeling and instructing from the Word the younger men to be men
of God, Godly husbands, and Godly fathers. Also Older Godly women modeling and
instructing from the Word the younger women to be women of God, Godly wives, and
Godly mothers. VS. Promise Keepers and Women of Faith
Older Godly families modeling Biblical financial principles and teaching the
young families just starting out how to avoid materialism, worldliness, and bad
debts VS. Paid Financial Counselors
Christians being involved with their neighbors by praying for, doing acts of
kindness/service, and sharing their lives and faith with them. Opening the Word
to them and leading them to Christ. VS. Outreach and Evangelistic Programs and
Campaigns
All these parachurch examples are good and used of God in a mighty way.
However the house church model functions quite well without the involvement of
parachurch organizations. By being small, spiritually gifted, interactive, and
families staying together, this is possible.
5) God has blessed the house church
movement throughout church history. They have been very fruitful but persecuted
by the established denominational models.
1. They insisted on the Bible as their sole source of theology.
2. They were not afraid of being a persecuted minority.
3. They, for the most part, worked outside of the established church, often
being thrown out of, or even executed by, the “state church” of their day.
The book of Acts & NT epistles 33 AD
Montanists (150 AD)
Priscillianists (300’s)
Donatists (300’s)
St. Patrick’s Missionary
Movement (400’s)
Peter Waldo & the Waldenses (1150)
John Wycliff & the Lollards (1370)
Hussites (1400’s)
The Reformation of Luther, Zwingli, & Calvin (1500’s)
Anabaptists (1520)
Huguenots (1600’s)
George Fox & the Quakers (1650)
Methodists and Moravians (1700’s)
William Carey and the Protestant Missionary Movement (1800)
Brethren (1850)
Jesus Freaks (1970)
Cell-Group Movement (20th cent.)
6) God is currently blessing the
house church movement worldwide and making it fruitful as compared to the
results of the established denominational models of today. More are springing up
all over the world at this time. Some examples are:
Canada HC networks forming in cities & towns (approx.400 HC’s)
India 1995-2001 saw 3500 HC’s planted in Madhya Pradesh with 70,000 new
believers
China 80-100 million believers in HC’s
USA approx. 1600 HC’s on internet alone
Cuba 6,000 to 10,000 HC’s formed since 1992 petrol crisis
Ethiopia growth from 5,000 to 50,000 believers in HC’s during 1980’s Marxist
oppression
Burma, Hong Kong, and the Philippines new HC leaders and groups being formed
Cambodia 1992-1999 saw 200 new house churches formed with 10,000 new believers
Australia“Oikos Australia” :national, informal, network of HC’s
By comparison the established denominational models of today are not doing any
where near as good a job reaching their cultures for Christ. Some Established
denominational models are growing as others are shrinking. This mostly is just
the transferring of the saved community moving around looking for a better local
church for their family. There are blessed exceptions to this but this is a very
small percentage
This not to say that HC networks can’t be guilty of the same imbalances, they
can and we need to be warned! Their results currently and historically however
speak for themselves.
7) The economic advantages of the
house church model far outweigh that of other models used today.
The established denominational models of today can be defined as:
plot plus building plus priest plus salary plus programs
The house church is:
people plus ordinary houses plus faith plus shared life
House church networks are undeniably cheaper. Established denominational models
cost enormous sums of money to establish them, and more money to maintain or to
multiply. House churches literally make money, because they produce more than
they consume.
In established denominational models of today there seems to be an endless cry
for more money for ‘the church work’. We should not overlook house church
alternatives and be better stewards of the financial talents God gives us.
8) Fulfilling the "one another" commands to the Church don't work very well in larger gatherings.
4:15 But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head.
3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God.
10:24 And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, 10:25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near.
27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens his friend.
6:1 Brothers and sisters, if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too. 6:2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
4:32 But instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.
6:18 With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.
9:6 My point is this: the person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. 9:7 Each one of you should give just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver. 9:8 And God is able to make all grace overflow to you so that because you have enough of everything in every way at all times, you will overflow in every good work.
2:42 They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
4:10 Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God. 4:11 Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
If these verses are commands to the Church they are to be practiced when we come together. In the house church setting they are more easily done.
Conclusion
If you think about these 8 separate reasons listed here you will see that most,
if not all 8, add weight to the validly of the other 7 points. I’ll give you a
taste of what I mean. After I studied the origins of the common practices in the
established denominational models of today, I felt that these changes were wrong
and had hurt Christ’s body. As I continued to study the starfish/spider
organizational concepts and then looked back at the changes since Constantine, I
realized that all these changes transformed Christ’s body from the starfish form
in the NT to a spider form with the spider’s head getting bigger and bigger with
each change. I also saw that each of these changes made it financially more
expensive to maintain or duplicate. I then realized that the quality of
life-changing discipleship had been lost in the larger lecture format. This
caused the rise parachurch organizations to try to fill the hole made by these
unbiblical changes since 300 AD. If you prayerfully conclude that the Scripture
does not give us a mandate to do house church you still have to deal with the
other 7 reasons I have stated here. If you are interested in learning more on
these 8 points or more about being involved with the house church model, I have
more resources available upon request. As a boy, my mother told me, “If it ain’t
broke don’t fix it.” On the other hand, if it’s not working very well try
something else. Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different
result is one definition of insanity.
May Christ lead, guide, and grant you His peace…………………Bro Mark