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HOUSE CHURCHES
Introduction
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The word "church" conjures up all kinds of different images in people's minds. Many of us picture a building with a steeple, pews, and stained glass. In fact Webster's Dictionary lists as its first definition, "a building for Christian worship." For others, the picture of a group of people attending a religious service in a special building on Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. comes to mind. But I submit to you, that our popular conceptions of what church is are radically different from that of the New Testament. In fact, I would go so far as to say that our perspective of church actually blinds us to the truth of the Scriptures on this important subject.
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Almost all of us have grown up with this [blinding] perspective of church, because that's about the only model that we have ever seen. But I submit to you that this perspective on church will quench real church life rather than promote it. I'm convinced that the believers in the early church would be dumbstruck at our modern concept of church life. Instead of a program perspective, the Bible presents to us a community perspective on church life.
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In all of the biblical usages of the word "church", it never refers to a building or to a program. It always refers to people! The word refers to people Jesus loved and gave Himself for. The local church is a specific group of people who have a certain relationship together. For Christians in the early church, the word "church" probably conjured up the image of a small group of believers who knew each other, were together often and loved each other to the point of laying down their lives for one another.
To see what the early church was like, let's look at Acts 2:42-47:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />"And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 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, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Notice several things from this passage. These early believers were continually devoted to the apostles' teaching. They were feeding regularly on their teaching of Christ. They were growing in their knowledge of Jesus rapidly. They were also devoted to fellowship. Fellowship means "a sharing in common with." What did these believers share with each other? Everything, including their material possessions! They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with anyone who had need. It's important to note that this sharing of possessions wasn't legislated from the top down. It came from within their hearts, being birthed by the Holy Spirit. They were also continually devoted to sharing the Lord's Supper with one another. In fact we read in vs.46 that "day by day they were breaking bread from house to house, sharing their meals together with gladness." They were with each other all the time. They ate meals together. In fact when they ate their meals with one another, they would pause and remember Christ in the breaking of bread and the passing of the cup. They were also continually devoted to prayer. They were praying constantly, seeking God's direction and will for their lives. Notice also that God's blessing was upon them. He was working great signs and wonders through the apostles, giving them favor with all the unbelievers, and adding to the church day after day. Notice additionally where they met -- the temple and homes. They would meet in large groups at Solomon's porch at the temple to hear the apostles' teaching, and would then get together in homes to break bread, pray, and praise God together. Notice also, that
this community didn't depend on any special buildings. What do you suppose would have happened if the temple grounds were closed off to the early Christians? Would the church be shut down? Not on your life! This group of people was too vibrant and alive for their existence to depend on a special building. If the temple grounds were closed down, they would just continue to meet in an open field, at a riverside, or in homes. It's impossible to define these people in terms of programs. You can't define them as the ones who meet at the temple and from house to house. No, there's something much more dynamic and alive here. This was a community of people who shared their very lives with one another. Church was not just a part of their life, it was their life. For them, church was a seven day a week, Christ-centered community.
Now, compare that early church to what we observe in the church today. There's not much to compare is there?! If our church buildings were shut down, I wonder if our churches would fold as well. If the programs were shut down, would the church also collapse?
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The early church was a thing of beauty. It was a vibrant, exciting, body of people living in community with one another. How far we have drifted in 2,000 years! Oh, that God would restore us to our rightful heritage!
I believe one of the primary hindrances to vibrant New Testament church life has been that the church has held tenaciously to man-made traditions, and have rejected apostolic traditions. Jesus taught clearly that the tradition of man was to be spurned whenever it came into conflict with the Word of God. "And the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, 'Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?' And He said to them, 'Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.' 'Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.' He was also saying to them, 'You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition'" (Mark 7:5-9).
However, it is just as clear that the apostles of Christ developed traditions which they expected the churches to keep. Consider the following passages:
"Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you" (1 Cor. 11:1-2).
"So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us" (2 Thess. 2:15).
Additionally, the Scriptures show us that the apostles expected all the churches to follow the same patterns that they had established. For example, when Paul dealt with the issue of head coverings he wrote, "But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God" (1 Cor. 11:16). When Paul was establishing guidelines for orderly church gatherings he wrote, "... as in all the churches of the saints" (1 Cor. 14:33). In this way he referred to a universally practiced apostolic tradition to justify his guidelines. If a church broke with established apostolic tradition, it received a rebuke, "Was it from you that the word of God first went forth? Or has it come to you only?" (1 Cor. 14:36). Paul is saying, "If you think that God gave you some new revelation that it's all right to change the practices of the church, guess again! If so, you are the only ones He gave it to, because none of the other churches are practicing that!"
There are many apostolic patterns of church life that are widely embraced today including the freedom of the local church to govern itself, a plurality of elders, meeting on Sunday as the "Lord's Day", believer's baptism, and the sending out of missionaries. However, there are other apostolic traditions that are not widely embraced including church gatherings designed for mutual edification of every member, the love feast, one cup and one loaf used in the Lord's Supper, meetings held in homes rather than specially designed religious buildings, and church discipline. It is my conviction that these apostolic traditions need to be recovered and applied to church life today as well as these others!
The Setting For The Gatherings Of The Early Church
What was the normal setting for the wonderful life of the early church? Where did they meet? The answer may surprise you. The early believers met primarily in homes! This can be easily substantiated from the Scriptures.
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." Saul knew where to find the gatherings of the church -- in homes!
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." Even at this early date, the church had already found a meeting place in Lydia's home.
Acts 17:5 "But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and coming upon
the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people." It appears that the Jews knew that the church met in Jason's home, and thus began there in their quest to find them and run them out of town.
Acts 20:20 "how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable,
and teaching you publicly and from house to house."
Romans 16:5 "...also greet
the church that is in their house."
1 Corinthians 16:19 "The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila nad Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with
the church that is in their house."
Philemon 2 "...and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to
the church in your house."
Col. 4:15 "Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and
the church that is in her house."
2 John 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; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds." Here we have a warning to the church not to receive false teachers into their house. This doesn't refer to individual believers allowing non-Christians into their homes for social or evangelistic purposes, but rather is a warning to the church not to allow false teachers to participate in their meetings. Since involvement in the meetings meant an opportunity to speak, it would have meant possible harm to the church if a false teacher were allowed into the meeting.
Thus, there is much evidence from the Scriptures that
houses were the primary meeting places in the early church.
A little research into church history will reveal another very interesting fact --
the church of Jesus Christ had no special buildings for worship for the first 200 years of its existence! Even then, church buildings were very rare until the time of Constantine in the 4th century. How could these early Christians possibly advance the cause of Christ in the world without church buildings? The answer is that they did so very well. In fact the enemies of the Christian faith said that they had turned the world upside down. They made their mark for Christ in the first century, without special buildings, seminaries, mission boards, denominations or programs. When is the last time you heard a non-Christian say that about the church today?
How did it happen that believers left living rooms to gather in large cathedrals? The change came primarily in the 4th century through Constantine, the Roman emperor. When he wedded church and state together, making Christianity the official religion of Rome, he authorized the construction of special buildings designed for Christian worship. A great influx of new buildings sprouted up across the empire. It was at the same time that multitudes of people were coming into the church out of paganism following the example of their emperor. In order to accommodate them, the church began introducing ritual, ceremony, and pomp into the meetings of the church -- things very familiar to ex-pagans. Soon the clergy began to wear vestments to set themselves apart from the laity. The informal, interactive, vibrant meetings of believers in living rooms were replaced with formality and passivity, in large, impersonal buildings. And for the next 1,700 years this has been the rule in the church of Christ. Even the reformation, though bringing back to the church an orthodox understanding of theology, never really dealt with restoring orthodox apostolic practices to the church. The reformation replaced the priest with the pastor, and the altar with the pulpit, but many New Testament distinctives of church life were still buried under hundreds of years of tradition.
Could it be that there was good reason for the church to meet in homes from the very beginning? Could it be that rather than being a step up, it actually became a step down when the church decided to forsake homes entirely for large building-centered worship? I believe the answer is "yes."
We see a Biblical pattern for the assembling of
larger gatherings of believers for the purpose of being taught the Word of God. In Acts 2:46 we find the early church gathering in large numbers at the temple (probably Solomon's Portico (Acts 3:11). Undoubtedly, this was where the early believers were taught by the apostles (Acts 2:42). We also find Paul and Silas teaching large numbers of Christians at Antioch for a year (Acts 11:21, 26). Where did these believers meet to be instructed in the things of God? Well, it's obvious that "considerable numbers" can not be instructed in a house! Perhaps these believers met outdoors, or in a rented facility (Acts 19:9). In Acts 20:20 the apostle Paul states to the Ephesian elders that he had taught publicly and from house to house. Evidently, Paul not only taught in homes, but also
in a public setting of some kind. Therefore, the Scriptures provide the pattern of the early church meeting in large gatherings to be instructed. If there is a Biblical pattern for the church meeting in these larger gatherings, and if there is access to a building large enough to accommodate them in a comfortable setting, I see nothing wrong in utilizing these buildings, especially if exorbitant amounts of money are not needed to secure them. But if the gatherings of the church take place only in large buildings, then I believe that the church will miss out on some vital aspects of Biblical church-life.
In the large building-centered gatherings it becomes extremely difficult to practice using one loaf and one cup in the Lord's Supper to symbolize our unity together in Christ (1 Cor. 10:16-17); enjoy a Love Feast in conjunction with the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 11:20-22, 33-34; Jude 12); participate in meetings where each one is allowed opportunity to minister to the saints (1 Cor. 14:26); develop deep and intimate relationships with one another so that when one member suffers all the members suffer (1 Cor. 12:26); and obey all the "one-another" commands of the New Testament. These were all essential elements of church life in the first century, but have been largely abandoned because with our present structures they cease to be functional. For these reasons I believe it is important that we return to the New Testament norm of the church meeting in homes. These "house churches" may choose to cluster together in a larger setting at certain times, but New Testament church-life will not be reserved only for these "public" gatherings, but will be experienced and lived out with other believers during the week as they meet together in homes.
</font>[/QUOTE]</font>[/QUOTE]</font>[/QUOTE]</font>[/QUOTE]Quotes taken from
http://www.solidrock.net/publications/anderson/books/house.church.html
