Yes, the church really is the people
The church is the people of God gathered together – brothers and sisters in Christ meeting together.
That’s easy to say, but for many people, it’s difficult to recognize the church outside of a specific place or time or event. But, when the church really is the people, then the people will be more important than any of those other things.
My brothers and sisters proved this point last weekend. But, let me start a couple of months ago.
A good friend of ours had surgery back in December. She has been recovering well, but she cannot sit or stand in one place for more than 30 minutes or so. She has joined us a couple of times (for short periods of time) when we gather together, but she’s only able to meet with us for a few minutes.
Last week, one of our brothers in Christ called her and asked if we could gather at her home instead of our normal meeting place. She said she would love that. So, he sent out an email and got on the phone and made sure that everyone knew where we would meet Sunday morning.
We talked, read Romans, prayed, shared, sang, laughed, cried, and ate together in our sister’s living room and kitchen. She was able to sit for while, stand for a while, and, then – when she couldn’t sit or stand – she was able to lay down in her bed.
Why would my friend go to all that trouble to change our meeting place? Why would our sister allow a bunch of people into her home?
Because people are the church, and people are important.
Gathering together with the church is not about being in a certain place. It’s not about a certain order of events or actions. It’s not about listening to someone speak. It’s not about great songs, choirs, or bands.
Gathering together with the church is about helping each other grow in faith, love, unity, and service in Jesus Christ. If other things and places and events and activities take precedence over the “each other,” then we’re missing it.
Instead, we should be willing to set aside everything else for “one another.”
(For another great example of this, read this post from Guy at “The M Blog” called “Dealing with painful real issues in house church.”)
Do you know of other examples in which believers changed their plans to show that people are important to them?
Unraveling the gathering of the saints through church history
I’m currently working on the chapter in my dissertation concerning the “History of Interpretation.” Since the focus of my dissertation is “the purpose of the gathering of the church,” this chapter will examine why the church gathered through various eras of history beginning in the second century through modern times. (Other chapters will cover the first century gatherings as described in the New Testament.)
As you can probably imagine, there is no homogeneous answer to the question: “Why should believers gather together?” Even within a given era, there are many different reasons given. And, all of the reasons must be considered within their theological, historical, and cultural context.
Another New Testament student recently said this when first reading about church history (see my post “There is no golden age of Christianity“):
First, There is no golden age of Christianity. Each age holds its own flaws, and each leader his or her own failings. The patriarchs, the Roman Catholics, the reformers, the emperors, even the apostles struggled in their understanding of God, and how we relate to Him. As a Christian growing up in the evangelical tradition, I have heard a great deal of praise attributed to the apostles and reformers contrasted by sharp criticism, if not hatred, for all things Roman Catholic. While I am a protestant, reading this text has opened my eyes up to an important truth. The Gospel did not pass away between the fourth and sixteenth centuries only to be resurrected by the Reformation. The name of Christ remained a focal point for a millenium in the midst of plagues, persecutions, and political strife, and the Catholic practice of monasticism preserved all of the ancient writings, including the Scriptures, that brought the reformers to their powerful conclusions. There may have been many distorted and overlooked truths, but there were men who stood firm in their trust of Christ and worshipped Him in the way their culture taught them was appropriate.
As an example, consider church gatherings during the Reformation – a period mentioned by the student in the quote above. When Luther and the other “Magisterial Reformers” first began to rethink the church, they started with the idea that the church should be simpler and flatter – i.e., no hierarchy.
For example, Owen Chadwick writes in The Early Reformation on the Continent (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001):
Everyone [among the Magisterial Reformers] agreed that services in church should be simpler, with less elaborate ritual; that they should be in the language which the people understood; and that they should contain nothing which was contrary to Scripture or could not be justified from Scripture…
It was also agreed that the congregation should be a people that took part with the clergy and did not sit or stand silent while the clergy read the service or the choir sang. How this could be done was harder. (pg 181)
But, something happened to change their mind. Within a few years, they had reverted to a new type of hierarchy and a new type of clericalism (although different from the hierarchy and clericalism of the medieval Roman Church).
John Howard Yoder once wrote this concerning this change in the thinking and practice of the Magisterial Reformers (“The Hermeneutics of the Anabaptists,” MQR 41 (1967): 291-308):
[The Magisterial Reformers] abandoned their initial vision of the [Reformed] visible church, the hermeneutic community, and were obliged to shift the locus of infallibility to the inspired text and the technically qualified theological expert.
Meanwhile, many of the 16th century Anabaptists maintained the idea of a simple and participatory church, with the two groups battling each other over their differences.
But, thinking back about the Magisterial Reformers and their change of heart concerning the simplicity of the church and the participation of all involved in teaching and discipling the community…
Why do you think they changed their mind about the church? Can you think of any good intentions or motives that may have led to this change? (By the way, one of the authors that I quoted in this post suggested a “good intention” that led to a more hierarchical, clerical church.)
Those zany house churches
Ok, so the title of this post is extremely “tongue-in-cheek.” I have nothing against churches gathering in homes. In fact, I think it would be beneficial for many Christians to gathering in homes. If I were backed into a corner, I would tell you that I prefer to gather with my brothers and sisters regularly in homes.
My good friend Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress” wrote a post recently called “Why I Am A House Church Proponent.” His post is a very kind and very well-written to a post I wrote a little over a year ago called “Why I’m not a house church proponent.”
Eric gives the following reasons for being a “house church” proponent:
- House church follows the most common biblical pattern.
- House church is inexpensive.
- House church offers a relational atmosphere.
- House church keeps numbers low.
- House church can be rotational in nature.
- House church promotes the priesthood of all believers.
(If you haven’t yet, please take the time to read Eric’s post. It’s not very long, and he explains each of his points above very well.)
And, in fact, I agree with his points. Gathering in homes with other believers (as opposed to gathering in dedicated buildings or even in rented spaces) can promote the things that Eric lists. And, those are good things.
The problem is, meeting in homes does not guarantee those things… especially the most important aspects of gathering relationally (#3) and seeing everyone live out the priesthood of all believers (#6).
In fact, in a comment on Eric’s post, someone named Seth left this comment to me:
Alan, you said “meeting in homes does not guarantee that we are meeting for the right reasons.” I agree with you. But how do we overcome that mentality of meeting for the wrong reason? What is the cure then? I’ve been in numerous house churches where it is basically an institutional church stuffed into a home. Same issue. Been wondering how to break out of that rut. You have any ideas?
Yes, unfortunately, I also know of many house churches which are “basically an institutional church stuffed into a home.” In fact, in our area, the most hierarchical, authoritarian leader who I know is part of a house church.
So, I greatly agree with Eric (and others) that meeting in homes can be beneficial for the church. I agree that for a group of Christians desiring to meet to edify one another, gathering in a house can promote that kind of mutual discipleship.
However, for a group of believers who do not understand their roles and responsibilities in building up each other in faith, unity, and service in Jesus Christ, then moving their meeting to a home will not help, and might actually hurt.
So, for me, I’d much rather see a church gathering in a dedicated building but learning to meet for mutual edification, than a group meeting in a home without mutual edification.
Reading through and then studying Romans together
Starting next Sunday, during our regularly scheduled weekly gathering, we’re going to begin studying Paul’s letter to the Romans together. That morning, we’ll read through the whole book. Yes, all 16 chapters. It will probably take just over an hour to read through the whole letter.
We won’t talk about Romans next week. That will be a good chance for us to hear the entire book in one sitting, listening for the themes and connections and divisions in Paul’s letter to the believers in Rome. I think this is a very important (and often overlooked) part of studying a book together.
We’ve done this several times before. The last time was a few weeks ago (last fall) when we started studying Ephesians together. Of course, Ephesians is quite a bit shorter.
As far as I can remember, this will be the first time that we’ve read a longer book (like Romans) on a Sunday morning. Usually, when we read through a longer book, we’ll get together at a different time, like a Saturday night. We’ve read through all four Gospels and a couple of other books like that.
Then, the following week – about two weeks from now – we’ll begin studying Romans together, always trying to keep the entire letter in mind while we discuss different parts.
While we’ve studied many books of the New Testament and Old Testament together, we’ve never studied Romans. But, a few weeks ago one of our sisters in Christ asked if we could study Romans, and everyone agreed. I think it will be a great study for all of us!
The hard part, of course, will be to try to listen to what Paul actually wrote instead of just listening to what we’ve already been told that it means. Now, some of what we’ve been told that it means is true and good. But, we can’t count on that… no one should ever count on that.
Instead, we will read and study and discuss carefully, trying to understand this important letter and what God wants us to know and do in response.
By the way, I assume that we’ll get some thing wrong… that we’ll disagree about some things… that we’ll be confused at parts. But, that’s ok. We can trust God to help us grow in maturity in spite of this… and we know that he will use this letter and the words of our brothers and sisters in Christ to accomplish this.
So, we’ll read and study and discuss, and we’ll listen to one another, and we’ll seek to discern what God wants to teach us and how he wants to change us through this time together.
Have you ever read through Romans (or any other book in Scripture) at one time with a group of brothers and sisters in Christ? What did you think about that experience?
Coming together to build each other up in the Lord
The title of this blog post is the subtitle of a blog that I’ve recently started reading and enjoying. The blog is called “Synerchomai,” and it’s published by Tim, who often reads and comments here.
If you’ve been around my blog for even a short time, you know that I focus on followers of Jesus gathering together in order to build up one another. So, I was very interested to read Tim’s blog as well.
In fact, like I said earlier, I’m really enjoying his post. They do not come from theory or idealism, but from the real world of gathering together with brothers and sisters in Christ.
Here are a few of Tim’s posts that I’ve enjoyed the most:
- Simple Evangelism Lesson, and a Question
- Why Study Church?
- Does it Annoy God when I don’t Sing during Worship?
- Why I Can’t Chill Out Over Leadership
- Organic Church is not Always Fun: Dealing with Issues
I love the fact that Tim interacts with other bloggers and other blog posts, and I love that Tim writes about real world issues and problems. So far, he’s written about evangelism, singing, leading, children, and many other topics… and not just the idealistic principles behind these, but the blood-and-guts, down-in-the-mud true life version.
I hope you enjoy Tim’s blog as much as I have.
Edification: Whenever you come together…
During the last week, I’ve summarized some of my series and posts on the topic of “edification.” For the most part, these series and posts are based on the New Testament, not based on cultural norms or social constructs. About a year and a half ago, I wrote another post on edification called “Whenever you come together.” This post will round out this week of thinking about edification when the church gathers.
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Whenever you come together
The primary focus of this blog – and my primary academic focus over the last few years – is church gatherings. Even more narrowly, I have been asking the following question: “According to the New Testament, why should believers gather together as the church?” (For that reason, just over five years ago, I named this blog “The Assembling of the Church.”)
Obviously, when you begin to study the gathering (or assembling) of the church, many other ecclesiological issues become important, not least of which would be leadership, fellowship, community, spiritual gifts, Lord’s Supper, baptism, and many, many more issues. In fact, a person’s understanding of the nature of God, of Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit will affect the way that person gathers with other believers. And, in reverse, the way a person gathers with other believers demonstrates what that person understands about God, Jesus, the Spirit, salvation, etc. (In fact, the way people gather together often says more about their beliefs than what they state concerning those beliefs.)
In the modern church, you will find two primary reasons given for the church to gather together: 1) worship or 2) evangelism. Both of these fall short of the scriptural evidence. First, according to Paul and other writers in Scripture, every aspect of the life of a child of God is to be worship. Second, since we’re talking about the church (i.e., those who are already God’s children), then evangelism is not needed – they have already been evangelized. (This does not mean that believers should not work together for the express purpose of proclaiming the gospel to unbelievers, but this should not be called a gathering of the church.)
So, according to Scripture, for what purpose should believers gather together?
Paul answers this question very succinctly in 1 Corinthians. Now, when reading this letter, it is clear that the Corinthian church has many problems. Some of those problems surfaced when they gathered together. Paul addressed these issues in 1 Corinthians 14, as part of a longer section in which he addresses spiritual gifts.
However, from a grammatical and discourse standpoint, 1 Corinthians 14 – and especially the last half of the chapter – are the focus of this teaching on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14. Thus, Paul began teaching on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:1 so that he could get to 1 Corinthians 14:1 and begin instructing them about meeting together.
So, according to Paul, why should believers gather together:
The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up. (1 Corinthians 14:4-5 ESV)
So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. (1 Corinthians 14:12 ESV)
I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue. (1 Corinthians 14:18-19 ESV)
What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. (1 Corinthians 14:26 ESV)
In each of these passages, Paul continuously and consistently stresses the same point: when you come together as the church, you should seek to build up (edify) one another. Notice that building up others is more important to Paul than manifesting some gift of the Holy Spirit. (He says it’s better not to manifest a gift of the Spirit if that gift only builds up the individual.)
Why is prophesy to be preferred over speaking in tongues (uninterpreted) when the church meets? Is prophesy inherently better than tongues? No, they are both manifestations of the Holy Spirit. But, when the church meets, exercising gifts of the Holy Spirit is not to be our goal. Our goal – our purpose – is to edify one another. So, prophesy is preferred over speaking in tongues when the church meets because the whole church can be edified through prophesy.
These statements are incredible in their scope. Paul says that when gathering with other believers – in fact, any time you are gathered with other believers – you should seek to edify one another, mutually. Paul does not leave an opening from some gatherings of believers in which mutual edification is NOT the purpose. The point of this entire chapter is clear: anytime we are with other believers, it is all of our responsibility to help one another grow in maturity in Jesus Christ. This is not the responsibility of some; it is the responsibility of all.
And, it is in this purpose of gathering together (mutual edification) that we understand Paul’s previous instructions concerning spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12) and love (1 Corinthians 13).
Can we come together for other purposes? Well, sure. We can come together for many different numbers of purposes. But, if we wish to follow the examples, principles, and instructions that we find in Scripture, then we will only come together for the purpose of building one another up.
Remembering the Importance of Mutual Edification
Typically, when the church gathers together today, the focus is on something called a “worship service.” We all know what this means: a few people have prepared songs, prayers, and/or a teaching (sermon) that are presented to others. Other are invited to take part in the songs (some of the songs), in a prayer or two occasionally, and in giving money to the church organization (some of which may be used for missions or for those in need).
A few years ago, when I began studying the church in the New Testament (especially when believers gathered together in the New Testament), I noticed something important. The “worship service” of today does not resemble what they did or how they gathered together.
Now, the thing is, this is not a problem as long as the way we gather together is unnecessary to our life in Christ and our growth in him. But, as I continued to study, I found that the things we do (and don’t do) when we get together with other brothers and sisters in Christ is not only important, but is necessary to our growth and maturity in Jesus Christ.
A couple of years ago, I wrote this:
However, just because the authors of Scripture were not concerned with the specific things that happened when the church met together does not mean that they were not concerned with the church gathering together. In fact, I think they were very concerned.
It is correct for us to say that Scripture does not tell us how the church should meet together. It is completely incorrect to say that Scripture does not tell us why the church should meet together. Scripture is very clear on the purpose of the brothers and sisters in Christ gathering together, whenever they gather together. (See “Mutual Edification and the Church: Introduction.”)
There’s a phrase used to describe what believers in the New Testament did when they gathered together: “mutual edification.” There are two important parts to this term. 1) “Mutual” indicates that the entire church – all the people – took part. 2) “Edification” indicates that the goal was growth, maturity, encouragement in Jesus Christ.
In fact, as I studied the New Testament, I found that “mutual edification” when the church gathers was presented by the authors in “examples,” in “principles,” and even in “commands.”
In other words, if the authors of the New Testament were correct (and I think they were), and if we should consider what they wrote to be important (and I think we should), then we should also recognize the importance and necessity of mutual edification whenever we get together with our brothers and sisters in Christ. When? Like Paul wrote, “Whenever you come together…” (1 Corinthians 14:26)
I’ll end with this:
We demonstrate our worship to God when we obey him and give ourselves to him. According to Scripture, when the church meets together (that is, whenever two or more disciples of Jesus are together), we worship (that is, we obey God) when we mutually edify one another. (See “Mutual Edification and the Church: Conclusion.”)
Watching the church change from barren to fruitful
Roger at “SimpleChurch Journey” has shared a very interesting list in his post “Choudhrie’s Challenges Re-Visited.” The post is a summary of an essay written by Victor Choudhrie titled “Mega Church to Meta (Beyond) Church” and subtitled “21 Steps to transit from being a barren church to a millionaire of souls.”
Here are some of the interesting “steps” (interesting to me):
3. Phase out programmed Sunday ‘services’ while implementing informal, small
gatherings. The Bride of Christ must have intimacy with her Lord every day, not only for a
couple of hours a week, lest she become unfaithful.4. Replace Mosaic tithing with Christian sharing, thereby harnessing the enormous,
financial resources, hospitality and goodwill available in Christian homes.5. Dispense with wafer-and-sip Holy Communion and promote breaking of bread with
simple Agape meals (love feasts) from house to house, that believers take with glad
hearts, ‘and the Lord added to His numbers daily’.7. Shift from being a spectator-oriented church to a ‘metastasizing’, interactive,
participatory, prophetic church. Empower men, women and youth, to get the dragon off the driver’s seat.10. Know your identity in Christ: You are a royal-priest, made so by the blood of the Lamb.
Dismantle the ‘Reverend’ culture that divides clergy from layman.14. Empower every Sunday school, bible school, prayer cell, women’s fellowship, and
cottage meeting, by calling them full-fledged, authentic churches.18. Reorient your personal paradigm. Your business, workplace or home, wherever you
spend most of your time, is your ‘primary nuclear church’. It matters little whether you
are the CEO, or the janitor or the kitchen queen; you are a full-time minister there and
accountable.
Obviously, there are other “steps” in Choudhrie’s essay besides the ones listed above (14 other steps, to be exact).
I love that the focus of these “steps” is to empower, equip, and send all believers as priests in God’s kingdom, wherever they live, work, etc. These steps recognize that the Spirit indwells all of God’s children, and, therefore, he can and does work through all of them. He does not only work through a few of them.
Given the many exhortations in Scripture toward mutual service, mutual discipleship, mutual edification, mutual teaching, etc., I agree with Choudhrie that taking these steps would help the church grow toward maturity and fruitfulness.
What do you think?
The Church, the Synagogue, and the City Gates
The first-century church gathering and the first-century synagogue gathering had much in common. In fact, since all of the first Christians were Jews, their synagogue gatherings greatly influenced how they gathered as the church. (Of course, there were big differences also. And, by the way, it seems that later the medieval church repaid the favor and greatly influenced the medieval synagogue.)
But, where did the synagogue come from? There are many different theories, but it’s really a mystery. Some suggest that the Jews began gathering (i.e., synagogue) when they were dispersed after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. But, there’s another theory that I find quite interesting.
Levine (The Ancient Synagogue, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005) suggested that the synagogue does not find its beginning in the temple, but in something quite different:
On the assumption, then, that the first-century synagogue served as a center for a variety of communal as well as religious functions and activities, we now are in a position to look for the framework which served the same (or similar) purposes in earlier centuries. When seen in this light, it becomes clear that the setting for most, if not all, of these activities in previous eras was the city-gate, the main communal setting in cities and towns in the First Temple period. (page 27)
So, according to Levine, the synagogue originated from the community based activities associated with the “city gates” (as found often in the Old Testament). Why and when did the gatherings move away from the city gates? He has a theory for that as well. He concludes that as Hellenistic (Greek) influence rose, and as the Jewish people took on more of the culture and society of Greece, and as Jewish cities became influenced by the Greek city, the locale of community activities moved away from the city gate and toward the city center.
Why is this important? Well, if Levine is correct, then the synagogue was not primarily based on Jewish worship (i.e., temple) but in Jewish community identity and activities. Obviously, since the Jews found their identity in the Hebrew Scriptures, these writings found a prominent place in their community activities. But, this was not the only activity associated with the synagogue.
Scant evidence exists concerning the synagogue before the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. (at which point the focus of the synagogue definitely changed). So, if Levine is correct and if the synagogue finds its start in the social activities related to the “city gates,” then we can understand more about those activities by studying what happened at the city gates.
Many of these same activities were transferred to the new gatherings of the Christian community after Pentecost. So, studying the “city gate” activities in the Old Testament can help us understand more about the early church as well.
What kind of activities am I talking about? Well, I’ll look at some of those activities in my posts this week as I look at several Old Testament passages concerning the “city gates.”
What do you think? Do you think Levine may be correct that the early synagogue finds is origin in the social and community activities related to the city gates instead of the worship activities related to the temple?
Another example: Mutual edification through serving together
In yesterday’s post, “Examples of Mutual Edification When the Church Gathers,” I offered several examples of how we work together to build up on another when we get together. I included examples of studying Scripture together, singing together, praying together, and eating together. (As I said in that post, a Facebook friend suggested that I write about those examples.)
At the end of that post, I also said that there was an absolutely necessary element that leads to mutual edification. What element is that? It’s sharing our lives with one another throughout the week in many different way and at many different times.
There’s something else that we do that always results in us building each other up, and this activity has additional benefits as well. I’m talking about serving others together. Don’t misunderstand me. It can be very beneficial to serve others individual, and we often do this as well. But, when we serve others together, we get the added benefit of having many opportunities to edify one another as we serve.
While the specific types of service can be “big” things, even small acts of serving together can be a catalyst for mutual edification. We’ve done simple things like rake leaves, cut grass, work at a food pantry, make food, etc. We’ve also done bigger things together like traveling across the state, to other states, and even around the world together in order to serve others. However, like I said, even simple tasks of service allow us to not only love others, but also to build up one another while we serve.
How do we build up one another while we serve others? Well, certainly, there are usually opportunities to talk and encourage and teach one another as we serve side by side. Similarly, as we find out what different people are going through, we’re able to pray together as we serve. But, even the encouragement to serve is a method of edifying each other.
You see, when we do some kind of service like this, it’s usually initiated by one of our brothers or sisters who knows the person being served and the need for service. This brother or sister tells others about the opportunity/need, we pray about it, and then decide as a group how to serve the person.
There have a been a few times when I did not want to serve someone… oh, I knew that I should want to, and it showed me that my heart was not in the right place. Because of the example and encouragement of my brothers and sisters and the opportunities that they brought to our attention, my heart / love issue was brought to the surface (and of course, I wasn’t the only one). Thus, together, we are encouraged to grow in love and concern for others.
Interestingly, I’ve found recently that the teenagers among us often take the lead in these opportunities to serve together. They seem to love to gather together for the purpose of caring for someone else. What an encouragement this has been to the rest of us!
How about you? Have you ever served other people together with brothers and sisters in Christ? Have you found this to also be an opportunity to edify one another?