ekklesia

Recently I have returned to being more in touch with my passion and love for the local church. Part of that passion is to see the local church flourish and exercise all parts of itself to its fullest capacity to be the expression of the church that God intended. The church is where believers come to hear the teaching of Scripture, are edified in their faith, and sent back out into the world to proclaim the name of their Savior. Believers are in the midst of their sanctification process and at the same time are broken individuals trying to figure out what it means to be a follower of Christ. In these processes, the church has the amazing ability to come alongside them in support, love, and encouragement to see them grow in their relationship with the Lord and be moved to share their faith with people in their communities.

The church is made for discipleship.

It seems that some churches have adapted to the consumerist culture that is so prevalent nowadays which leads them away from the foundational practices and ministries that were intended to grow the members spiritually and personally. It is evident when people become discontent with their church and feel it is lacking something and look for it elsewhere. It is possible that what some churches lack is the commitment to discipleship and informing their members of the importance of their commitment to the community.

In the early church, it seems as if communities were committed to the whole group for purposes of the others’ spiritual growth and sanctification. House churches like the ones described in Scripture (Acts 12:12, 16:40; Romans 16:3-5; Col. 4:15; Philemon 1:1-2) were “devoted to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). Devotion to study the Word of God as the foundation on which you base your life is important for the individual believer and the church as a whole. Relationships within these communities were tight knit because they were small house churches dedicated to knowing each other and helping one another grow in the Lord.

Is there a need for traditional churches in today’s culture to return to the early church model of gathering?

Making this move or shifting paradigms around this idea is recognizing the need for believers to be deeply connected within their church and growing in their faith for the benefit of the church and to bring glory to God. A large shift is moving towards churches taking a new model of gathering; the house church model. Francis Chan planted We Are Church in San Francisco, CA with hopes of countering the consumerist church culture and the noncommittal attitudes of many believers. The design is multiple house churches made up of small amounts of people who gather at least once a week to study Scripture, worship, pray, and equipped to be sent back out into the world to proclaim the name of Jesus. Since Jesus first stated to His followers that the church is supposed to make disciples of all nations, churches ought to be striving to carry this the best way they can. Matthew 28:18-19 is still as relevant as it was when Jesus first announced this was His desire for His followers to do to build up the church. The house church model has many benefits to engage believers and evangelize non-believers, and because the commitment is much higher than a traditional church, members are diving into deep and intimate interpersonal relationships with other believers.

While most churches are not equipped to make the change over to the house church model, it is important for many churches to evaluate their own ministry practices of discipleship. Evaluation is necessary because as the church represents the body of Christ, there is always room to grow into what is the most effective and efficient mode of ministry to best represent Christ to other believers in order to make more disciples of Christ. For believers desiring a more intimate community that is still founded on foundational principles of what the church is and should be, the house church model may be helpful. As neither model is the “correct” or “right” way to do church, finding a church that is representing Christ and rooted in Scripture and all that God says for the church to be a part of and take part in, is what is important.