House Church. Benefits of a House Church

I. Introduction

In the previous videos we have examined the Early Church model for making disciples. We saw the Lord’s mandate that everyone, yes every true Christian must be using their God-given gifts and talents to serve if the Body of Christ is to be growing as the Lord intended. In this video I want to demonstrate the benefits of House Churches and challenge all who claim to be Christians watching this, and Church leaders, if we are being obedient to the Lord’s commands or simply ignoring them.  

II. Paul’s Summary of a Functioning Church

Romans 12:4-8 gives a brief summary of what a functioning Church looks like. It reads; 

4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is mercy, let him do it cheerfully. (Romans 12:4-8)

One of the key statements here, a statement which has virtually no reality in modern Western Churches, is that ‘in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others’. But before we unpack that statement we need to understand what Paul is referring to. From verses 6-8 he gives a short list of roles that members of the Body of Christ should be performing in order to have a healthy Church, prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing, leadership, and mercy. From 1 Corinthians 12 we could add to this list, evangelism, interpretation, intercession, and administration.

Considering the fact that Paul claims that every member of the Church has a specific function, and that every member is ‘indispensable’ (1 Corinthians 12:22), which of these functions and roles do you possess and are you using them for the Body of Christ? For example, if you have the gift of encouragement, when do you use it? This is a specific spiritual gift, not just the idea that someone says a word of encouragement to someone once in a while. If you have a gift of teaching, do you have the opportunity to teach, or would you be expected to go to seminary for 3-4 years before being allowed to exercise this gift? And what about serving? How exactly are you serving the Body of Christ? Let’s imagine you can play a musical instrument, but there are others who are better than you and these ones are on the stage each week, and even on the payroll, but you never have that opportunity.

Or perhaps you are a great cook and love preparing meals for others. Unfortunately, you never get the opportunity to use this gift except for the odd occasion when a Church friend or family visits your home. And what about mercy? Does anyone in your Church have this gift? This gift is manifested in specific people who have a powerful sense of empathy for others, especially those who are suffering, physically, and mentally, a person who comes alongside to pour out the compassion of Christ and see people restored. But let’s be honest. In most churches people may have to take the first step and make an appointment with the pastor, or if the Church has one, a counselor. 

Now, imagine every member of your Church meets in homes every week with groups of say 10-15 people and your church has 10-20 of these little house churches. You meet with the same group every week. You know each other deeply, you pray together, worship together, support each other and share each other’s lives as a family. In this situation every gift is necessary and being used. You need dozens of musicians, 10-15 teachers, people who love to cook and provide hospitality, those who love to bring a few words of encouragement, people who have a gift of mercy and recognize those who need compassion. If you have ever been a part of such a house church, you will understand what Paul meant when he said we ‘belong to one another’.

III. We Belong to Each Other

Most people understand the commitment, loyalty and responsibility which exists in a family. The idea of ‘belonging to each other’ is covenant language and we have an unspoken covenant with our natural brothers and sisters. But the church is supposed to be a family with even deeper covenant ties that mere blood ties, for the Church is a family of brothers and sisters with eternal ties, united as God’s family in Christ.

If I asked you who in the Church your are responsible for, most would say, “my own family. It is the pastor and leadership team who are responsible for the members of the Church, not me.” In large church gatherings often the person sitting next to you is basically a stranger. You may say ‘good morning’ and ‘God bless you’ on a Sunday morning, but next week they are sitting on the opposite side of the building.

In a House Church, the exact opposite is true. You meet with the same people every week and the reality of family in Christ is powerful and life-changing. I have witnessed Christians who were in incredibly dysfunctional non-christian homes who suddenly began to understand what love in a family really looked like when they joined a house church. 

For the first time in their lives they felt truly loved, they felt like they belonged to others and the grace, mercy, acceptance, and commitment given to them, was incredibly transforming. Their love for Christ deepened as they experienced His love manifest in the members who saw them as a brother or sister, people who considered them their eternal sibling and responsibility to God. They very soon realized that the key to deep joy and happiness was in serving others, was in giving yourself to others. In other words, they were becoming real disciples.

The Christian life is never meant to be lived in isolation of other Christians. It is never Christ and me, but us in Christ. The reality of belonging to each other is obvious in the Early Church. They shared their possessions, there were no needy people among them, for we do not let family suffer, but we recognize we are responsible for each other before the Lord. This paradigm is powerfully life-changing, both for those who give and those who receive. As Paul wrote in the next verses of Romans 12,

10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. (Romans 12:9-13)

These are the hallmarks of Christian discipleship and they are produced in Christians who both recognize and practice belonging to each other.

IV. Encourage and Build.

In Thessalonians 5:11, Paul writes;

Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1Thessalonians 5:11)

In this verse Paul is calling all Christians to encourage each other with the intention of building each other up in the faith. Sadly, this command can manifest itself as shallow flattery, or even an obligation to say something nice. In his list of gifts in Romans 12, Paul mentions encouragement in verse 8 as a specific gift. The Greek ‘paraklesis’ means to offer comfort, console, strengthen and come alongside. Biblical encouragement is not flattery, it does not target the individual’s ego, rather, a person with a gift of encouragement desires to see the broken made whole. In this sense it is very similar to the gift of mercy, however, mercy is more focused on compassion and empathy.

Just as the Lord sees beyond our masks and brave face and ‘I am doing fine’ statements, through the Spirit the encourager recognizes those who need to be comforted and consoled. The encourager strengthens those weakened by difficult circumstances by coming alongside them and showing them their value before Christ and a personal vision for their future. These people are a channel of God’s love and compassion, but also, the ones who help us get back on our feet, take the Lord’s hand, and walk together, being built up to a new strength in Christ. The encourager is often a person who can help others discern their own spiritual gifts and encourage others to fulfill the good works prepared for them to do (Ephesians 2:10). Barnabas was such a person and his name literally means ‘son of encouragement’.   

Nobody can use this gift with people who are almost complete strangers. You cannot come alongside people who don’t know you, who are not going to trust you with their problems. I have witnessed people who became involved in a house church setting who discovered they had the spiritual gift of encouragement. 

These same people would see someone in a large gathering and recognize the person was really struggling and needed encouragement, but they felt they had no right to offer help. They would pray for the person and perhaps quietly tell the pastor or designated church counselor that they thought this person needed help, but their hands were tied by social constructs that said we should mind our own business.

After joining a house church such people were free to come alongside those members of their little church family as the Holy Spirit led. I have seen broken people radically changed by those who have the gift of encouragement. I am convinced that there are many people with this gift who never have the opportunity to use it as the Lord intended. 

V. Carry Each Other’s Burdens 

In Galatians 6:2 Paul gives another command which is seriously neglected under the present church paradigm. He writes:

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 

(Galatians 6:2)

In 1 Corinthians, Paul explains this command in this way;

There should be no division in the body, but its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (1 Corinthians 12:25-26)

Many Christians hide their struggles for fear of being judged or appearing too weak to be able to carry their own burdens. If your church constantly preaches that the Lord always provides, that only those lacking in faith have financial, relational or emotional burdens, then those who are collapsing under the weight of their circumstances will either hide or leave. Yes, the Lord does always provide, however, He often expects His church to provide that same provision. There are many examples of this in Scripture. Stephen and six other ‘spirit-filled men’ were assigned to be responsible for the daily distribution of food to the poor and widows (Acts 6) and Paul was collecting money for the church in Jerusalem. 

If there were families in your church who were struggling to pay their weekly bills, to buy groceries, trying to find employment and turning to secular institutions for loans, would you know who these people are? Some churches have food banks, which is commendable, but many may be too embarrassed to admit their need. In the passage we opened this video with Paul mentions a spiritual give of ‘contributing to the needs of others’ and commands these people to ‘give generously’. Some people come to Christ with financial issues they have accumulated due to their life-style, and sometimes it is that same crisis that humbled them to reach out to God.

The Lord has blessed certain people with the gift of financial wisdom and many have far more than they need. Such people may give a percentage to the church but have no direct contact with people who need both their personal contribution, or financial wisdom. Furthermore, in a house church which does not have paid professional pastors, building maintenance etc, there is always an excess of money which can be used to help those in need until they are able to support themselves.

In our house churches in Ukraine members who have excess sometimes give interest free loans to families, apart from the house churches helping with medical bills and other urgent needs. We take Paul’s words seriously that when one part of the body is suffering, all are suffering, and we see the result that when that same part is rejoicing, all have that same joy. Living in a war for over 3.5 years has no doubt sharpened to an even greater extent the realization that life can be cut short. In this regard, large churches have also been very involved in humanitarian aid.

VI. A Challenge to Leaders

In the previous video I stated that there will be no paradigm change unless it comes from those in leadership, so finally I want to offer a challenge to leaders. 

In Ephesians chapter four Paul states;

11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 

15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4: 11-16)

The primary role of every Church leader is to ‘prepare God’s people for works of service so that the Body of Christ may be built up’ and that every Christian is no longer immature and tossed about by ‘every wind of teaching’, but mature, and that the ‘whole body of Christ grows and is built up in love as each part does its work’.

No pastor or teacher can achieve this by preaching a sermon to people once a week, or even having some of them go to a weekly Bible study. Preaching and knowledge of Scripture may open people’s eyes to what they need to do, but knowledge does not transform because transformation requires action, responsibility, accountability and commitment. Most of you have Churches full of people with plenty of knowledge, but no real transformation or opportunity to be transformed.

Paul wrote a chapter to the Corinthian Church explaining that every single person serving with their gifts is absolutely essential for the Body of Christ to function as God intended. If we only give lip service to 1 Corinthians 12 we are not leading the Church or preparing the saints as we have been commanded.

We cannot force people to find their gifts and role in the Body of Christ, but the modern paradigm does little or nothing to ensure that every member of the Church is serving. I know that most of you recognize this problem and have tried various methods to get people more involved. Yet the problem refuses to go away because a paradigm cannot be changed until the leaders are ready to make some radical changes. Here I want to offer some practical suggestions which I believe are essential. And let me state again that I believe that both large and small groups have their place in discipleship, so I am never suggesting you close your doors and force people into house churches.

1. Prepare a detailed Statement of Faith. The very first criteria for any functioning church must be unity in what you believe. The statement of faith we prepared for our house churches has 22 points. The first 14 are essential doctrines; The Trinity, nature of Christ, role of the Holy Spirit, The Fall, what is required for salvation, hell and immortality, sanctification, Body of Christ, Church structure, sacraments, theology, emphasis on all things being Christ-centered, Great Tribulation and Rapture. 

The other 8 points are; our views on spiritual gifts such as tongues, church planting philosophy, eternal security of the believer, women in ministry,  Mosaic law and tithing, marriage and sexuality, alcohol use, and theological extremes to be avoided. I will post a link to this statement of faith in the description.

Furthermore, as some of you may already know, I wrote a full Practical Systematic Theology textbook which compares the views of theologians on all major biblical topics and compares these views with early Church theology. This book was reviewed and critiqued in detail by pastors and theologians from various denominations around the world, Greek scholars and church elders. This 600 page book is the foundation of our churches. If anyone desires further clarification regarding any point in our Statement of Faith they can study the issue in detail in the textbook.

Most importantly, we stand by the following standard when it comes to Holy Scripture as stated in the introduction to the textbook, a standard based on the belief that all Scripture is ‘God-breathed’.

If there is any passage or verse of Scripture, correctly interpreted within its context, that contradicts our theology, we have got it wrong.

It is not enough that most of Scripture agrees with us, it must all fit perfectly into our theology or we are either claiming Scripture has mistakes, rather than admitting that we are mistaken.

A detailed statement of faith ensures unity. We understand that argumentative people can find a few cherry-picked verses, usually devoid of context, to push a personal agenda or denominational bias. In the vast majority of such incidents, these issues are dealt with in great detail in our textbook. If an argumentative person is not willing to submit to our Statement of Faith, after being shown why we stand on it biblically, then we do not consider them a member and politely suggest they find a group of like-minded people.

You probably already know those members of your church who may have a gift of teaching. These are often the same guys who have questions, or even annoy you with rigorous critique of your sermons. Get these people together along with pastors and thrash out your statement of faith. These people will become the elders of your house churches, people dedicated to upholding your statement of faith and ensuring unity. 

2. Lead by example in regards to finances. The apostle Paul spent three years establishing the house churches in Ephesus. There is little doubt that he was not only training elders, but also preparing Timothy to be the bishop over those churches when he decided he could leave these churches under these elder’s authority. But Paul took no money for his labor, rather he supported himself through his craft of tent-making. Here was the greatest NT theologian, a man, not only powerfully led and inspired by the Holy Spirit, but trained in both Tarsus and Jerusalem prior to his conversion, and now sitting making tents. If your church has financial problems, would you be willing to get a part-time job? All of your house church leaders and members will likely have full-time jobs.

When we established three house churches, one of our pastors had been a fully paid pastor for years. It was a huge challenge for this pastor to have to get a secular job, but the experience just cemented the fact that we need every member to be using their gifts. I also suggest that each house church needs to have a degree of independence in regards to how offerings are used if you are to see a real paradigm shift. You may decide on a 50/50 split. In this scenario, house churches use 50% of the offering to help members of their small church family, and the other 50% is given for the other church administration, missionary support, or whatever the church is involved in. You will discover that when members have a direct part in what happens to their offerings, that the offerings increase substantially, for they are seeing the fruit of their generosity up close. 

Furthermore, re-evaluate the wisdom of paying musicians to use their gift. Once house churches are formed, you will have all of those musicians who never had the opportunity, now using their gifts. Why should a select few be paid to use their gifts for God and others not. If a musician is not prepared to serve without pay, I suggest they may have a celebrity mentality or ego issue, and such people should not be leading worship. Indeed, after a few months of worship in a house church, you may find that people want to get rid of the strobe lights, smoke machines and concert atmosphere as they have discovered truly Christ-centered worship in the home. In our large gatherings the selected musicians meet one or two hours before the service for practice, especially if it is a new song they have been learning during the week.

3. Have a long term vision for changing the paradigm. Start with a few house churches and watch how the Lord spreads the vision over time. Yes, there will be challenges and even friction, and some people may even leave. But know this: they likely left because they had no desire to be discipled and were probably just the goats among the sheep. 

I pray this video/article has been useful and inspiring for you. God bless.

Steve Copland