2 or 3 gathered, number 1

The Unimpeachable Home Church

The concept of home meetings is derived from the Scriptures and the sanction of the Apostles of Jesus Christ. Its early existence is universally acknowledged by the historians of ecclesiastical antiquity. Its basis is the priesthood of every believer and the brotherhood of the church. J.B. Lightfoot, perhaps the greatest defender of Christianity in his era, wrote: The priestly functions and privileges of the Christian people are never regarded as transferred or even delegated to officers... The only priests under the Gospel, designated as such in the New Testament, are the saints, the members of the Christian brotherhood. (Commentary on Phillipians pp. 184-185, 1868.)

Before denominationalism, the Reformation, and the Papacy was the simple house church. Each church mentioned in the New Testament was, in fact, a home church! It is true that some Christians met in the Jewish synagogues and around the Temple but it was only on a temporary basis. The inevitable split soon occurred.

It was through the institution of the Christ-centered house church that Christianity swept across the nations in many of its greatest triumphs. The house church theme conspicuously appears throughout the New Testament writings, born out of the new reality that the ancient Temple and the ancient priesthood had met their predicted fullfillment-completion in the life and death of the Son of God. Now, the believer in Jesus is not only a priest but a dwelling place of the Eternal Deity. "Know you not that you are the temple of the Lord?"

The Apostles were perfectly comfortable as they beheld these early Christians meeting from house to house. As an elderly gentleman writing to the Church at Rome 30 years after Pentecost, the Apostle Paul greets these home-based operations with wonderful affection. He does not rebuke them for their small membership nor for being without a church building or building fund - even after decades of existence. He simply reminds them that their faith and reputation is a world-renowned model! First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. Romans 1:8.

Consider the example of Aquilla and Priscilla, that prominent New Testament couple who apparently lived in Rome, Corinth, and Ephesis. As they moved about, so did the church - they simply opened their home for Christian gatherings. Wherever they went, they were the host and hostess of the saints. This too is what was meant concerning Gaius, who hosted the whole church. Rom.6:23.

Today and across the centuries, thousands of house churches have quietly come into existence here and abroad. In China alone there are an estimated 70 million house churches! And in Europe - particularly Great Britain, interest is blossoming. This is the Lord's work and it is marvelous in our sight!

Ours, regrettably, is the bloodiest century of human existence, despite these good things. The ancient rock of religious freedom is steadily eroding. Communism has not died. Multicultural globalism is rapidly becoming the new world religion. Abortion continues unabated. Women, children, and especially the elderly are in constant peril. World-wide suffering and hardships abound as three more people join the human race every second. If ever Christians were to emulate Jesus Christ, who went about doing good - this is the hour. The challenge of the gospel isn't to piously wait or worry but to overcome evil with good by the power of the one who is in you, who is greater than any other. Romans 12:21.

If the house church arrangement is a legitimate one it can, under God, be another ministry instrument, evangelistic tool, channel of blessings, and Kingdom builder in these concluding days of the twentieth century and beyond.

Our Introductory Issue

In 2 or 3 gathered, the Network organ, we shall attempt to balance the scriptural with the historical with the practical in all matters pertaining to home churches. This first issue offers some scripture passages and other quotations to get you thinking. We will especially be encouraging one another to greater heights of Christian ministry. Together we'll be making thoughtful investigations of subjects such as the success of the early Christians, Roman persecutions, the constitution of a true church, church structure, the archeological records, church planting, worship, worship services, the regulative principal of worship, clergy-laity distinction, the failure of modern attempts to activate the laity, clerical titles and apparel, seminaries, call to preach, office of pastor, office of elder, office verses function and giftedness, ruling-teaching eldership debate, office of deacon, deaconess, mutual ministry, lay counseling, liturgies, Catholic influence in the Protestant Churches, Greek influence in the Protestant Churches, sermons, the primacy of the sermon concept, sacraments, the agape or fellowship meal, frequency of Lord's supper, participation of children in the Lord's Supper.

Fund raising, the use of funds, true spirituality, the true meaning of fellowship, ordination, hospitality, priesthood, priesthood of the believer, the parish system, denominationalism, the psychologizing of Christianity (i.e. turning the gospel into endless self-help and therapy), discipleship, lifestyle evangelism, urban evangelism, improving race-relations, Christian environmentalism, conflict resolution among Christians without courts, children in the home church, the duty of every Christian to love every other Christian, our obligations to the unborn and elderly, Christian networking, ecumenicism, the cell-church movement, the tax-exempt status of the church, church and state relationships, and naturally, the role of women.

So let us get to know one another as time goes by and begin to hold each other up in prayer. Tell us, sometime, would you, how you came to possess this pioneer spirit with respect to "the church in your house"?

The House Church Network

Christianity is inherently social in its plan and purposes. The greatest commandment includes loving your neighbor as well as God. The new commandment from Jesus was for us to love each other as he had loved us. Enemies, also, were and are to be loved and fed. In the community of faith every believer is to love the others enough to die for them. This love is even considered to be a higher virtue than knowledge. 1 Cor. 13.

When one weeps - all weep . When one rejoices - all rejoice. No one lives or dies to himself. A free-lance, do-it-yourself believer would have been unheard of in the beginning. The New Testament documents, particularly the epistles, are a record of this wide-scale cooperation or networking. This wonderful interaction is expressed dozens of times by that oft-repeated expression "one another". Quite often this ancient correspondence is examined and the context is overlooked as the content is given most of the attention. The context was always that of community networking within the household of God.

Instruction, information, as well as tangible resources were networked, as geographic and cultural boundaries were transcended. "One for all - all for Christ." Here, an explicit exhortation for an explicit situation. There, a personal recommendation for a traveling Christian. Here, a warning of certain false teachers known to be near. There, a transferal of funds for poor saints in a far away place. Here, the command to read an apostolic letter written to another group in another place. Spiritual gifts were not for ones self but for the benefit of the group. Comforts, as well. Thus: 2 Cor. 1:3,4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Local churches, mission boards, Christian relief agencies and parachurch organizations have obviously been long engaged in this business. The House Church Network merely continues this tradition along the lines of modern technology, seeking to support the house church community through informational and referral services. We are not a church, nor a denomination, nor a tax-exempt organization. We are individuals who see the Christian house church as a worship and service center - complete in itself. Low cost, low maintenance.

Our constituency is committed to the steady pursuit of excellence in every realm. Our belief system is more than a fire-insurance policy or spare tire because it - or rather Jesus Christ - is real and relevant to all of life. We are in search of others who, at last, have ceased to chase rainbows and have made the realization that all of their earthly dreams are not going to be fulfilled, that all their personal needs are not going to be met at once, but rather, that God has carefully placed them here for the benefit of others. Our Master, you recall, came not to be ministered unto but to minister. None of us can change the whole world as He did but everyone of us can change someone's world for His glory.

The basic purpose of our network is your own network - helping you with others to formulate the doctrines of domestic Christianity and to plan and execute a successful house church strategy, centered upon the Lord Jesus Christ and simple enough to multiply. Your expanding local network (group, loop, circle, or whatever you prefer to call it) of family, friends, and prospects will naturally be the primary sphere. Perhaps, we can be a secondary one as opportunities arise.

The services of the House Church Network are offered freely to all Christians who desire such an informal association. We can be reached from anywhere in the world via www.housechurch.org.

House Church Building Blocks

Our research of the Christian house church eventually confronts us with the leadership and church government questions. What a shame and disgrace that after 19 centuries, we still haven't achieved consensus. How can it be that the questions concerning Church structure could have so many different answers? How can it be that the one who carefully orders the physical world would have no explicit plan for the structure of his church, his most prized possession.

Some today are claiming apostleship. Others, the priesthood. Others, godhood. Denominationalists endlessly debate the ordination of women, homosexuals, etc. Catholics and Protestants clash in Ireland. Many home churches, too, are suffering from a needless inferiority complex because they don't have "church officers". Could it be that the answers to these questions are far simpler than had been formerly imagined? We believe so.

Let's begin a very brief overview of these things in the book of Genesis and observe that neither the Old Testament tabernacle nor the temple had architectural provisions for large group meetings, although there were occasional meetings in and around these structures. The family was the seat of religious activity. That is an unexpected fact.

Here are some other significant passages which will enable us to bring matters into focus and hopefully arouse interest:

Gen. 50:7 KJV And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt. * This passage, surprisingly, is very significant to the house church platform. It is a reminder that other civilizations also had elders. As with the Hebrews, these were not elected officials. Age meant dignity in these patriarchal societies. Age meant honor. This is why Paul told Timothy (often, mistakenly referred to as an elder or pastor instead of an evangelist) not to let his youth be despised. The same Hebrew word is translated elsewhere in Genesis as old. Check Gen. 18:11, 19:4, 24:2, 25:8, 35:29, 43:27, 44:20.

Exod. 12:3, 26,27 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. And when your children ask you, "What does this ceremony mean to you?' then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians. " * The Passover was a "down home" domestic celebration.

Exod. 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. * Long life - eldership - was a special favor and reward from God.

Num. 3:10 Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests; anyone else who approaches the sanctuary must be put to death." * The sanctuary was not identical to its supposed modern counterpart - the church sanctuary.

2Chr. 10:6,8 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked. But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. * Here the elders are quite naturally contrasted to the younger ones.

Isa. 1:11f "The multitude of your sacrifices - what are they to me?" says the LORD. I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations - I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. * This section recalls the Lord's notice of national sins as well as personal ones. This is an exact parallel of our own land - much religious activity - little concern for the least, last, and lost. Blood, everywhere. House Church Christian, this is the situation in which you now find yourself.

Jer. 7:3f This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!" If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. Matt. 12:6 I tell you (said Jesus) that one greater than the temple is here. * This temple did not save them from captivity.

Mal. 1:6 "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? * Significant point: age, again, is honor, not a curse to be remedied by euthanasia and other lesser forms of neglect. See also Job 15:10, 32:4. 1 Tim 5:1.

Matt. 9:10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. * The Christian is to use his home for purposes of hospitality, even to unbelievers.

Matt. 10:11-14 "Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. * Christian hospitality is continually enjoined.

Matt. 10:25 It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household! * The church is routinely referred to as a household.

Matt. 18:16,17 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. * Where, one must ask, are the "church officers"? Think about this.

Matt. 18:20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Matt. 28:19,20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." * His presence is promised to each of us. He abides in us always. He's naturally in our midst, even in disciplinary proceedings as in Matt. 18.

Matt. 21:13 "It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.' " * Not a house of worship or house of sermons. Prayer.

Matt. 23:8,10,11 "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. * Protestantism and Catholicism have not been altogether faithful in obedience to this.

Matt. 24:1-2 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." * Note: nothing could have been more devastating to the ears of a Jew. They prayed facing the direction of the temple and even swore by it. Matt. 26:60,61 But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward and declared, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.' "

Matt. 27:51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. * Do not miss the meaning of this magnanimous symbolism. The key word here is access.

Matt. 25:41-45 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 2:14 -15 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 1 John 3:17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 1 Tim. 5:8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. * Let these things be a warning to those who think they have fulfilled their basic obligation to God by going inside of a building to sit and hear a speech. Christian faith is not based upon nor measured by the number of meetings that one attends.

Matt. 26:18 He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.'

Luke 3:11 John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." * These are the fruits of repentance according to the the greatest man born of women. Today's formula, too often, is repent and spend the rest of your life suspended in some ubiquitous state of perpetual religious tutelage.

Luke 10:25-37 * In the story of the good Samaritan, Jesus told us to love our neighbor and to go and do likewise..

Luke 17:10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' " * One of God's favorite hobbies is to humble proud humans. As necessary as charitable employment is - it doesn't earn us anything before God.

Luke 22:24 Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Compare 3 John 9, I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. * Some religious leaders today, as then, will not get off the grass to let it grow. The great explanation for the failure of marriages, churches, and nations is that there are some who must control, dominate, manipulate, and enslave. There is something of that in all of us, too. Incidentally, pastors are not just to blame for the problems of the church, today. For every "priestly preacher" who feels that congregational life should center around him, there are dozens of "lazy laymen". Thus this sad system keeps feeding upon itself.

John 4:20-23 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. * Worship, therefore, isn't confined to a certain place.

John 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." * Outsiders haven't always seen our love and are consequently not saying, "What must I do to be saved?"

Acts 2:46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, Acts 5:42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

Acts 6:3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them. * Here is the supposed origin of the diaconate, although they are not called such. The prestigious Dictionary of the Apostolic Church (edited by J. Hastings D.D. , T.T. Clark 1915) is correct in revealing that the word for deacons is just servant or minister - "quite general and does not indicate a special office".

Acts 7:47,49 But it was Solomon who built the house for him. "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me?" says the Lord. "Or where will my resting place be?"

Acts 8:1,4 ... and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. * Most persons in our era are allowed to preach only after they receive the internal call, the external call, ordination, and seminary training.

Acts 12:12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.

Acts 16:13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.

Acts 16:15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us. Acts 16:40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.

Acts 18:26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. Acts 18:27 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. * This writing to the disciples on behalf of another person is one of our precedents for Christian networking. This passage is also a wonderful reminder of how God uses us in spite of our erroneous doctrines.

Acts 20:7 (KJV) And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. * In order to make this meeting appear as a "worship service" the word for dialogued is inaccurately rendered preached.

Acts 20:17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. Acts 20:28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 1Pet. 5:1,2 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers - not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; * Paul knew of two kinds of elders - those within the church and without. Christian elders (seniors) were and are to be shepherds or pastors. It is that simple. Conclusion: many have yet to consider and fulfill their pastoral role in the church, thus creating an immeasurable shortfall of laborers. Conclusion: as we grow older, it becomes incumbent upon us to be a careful pattern of virtue for the younger. Same as with the older women.

Acts 20:20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. Acts 28:30 For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him.

Rom. 1:12; 14:19 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. * Paul's ministry wasn't a one-way street. He gave and took.

Rom. 16:3-16 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. Greet Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys. Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my relative. Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them. Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings. * This is one of the most instructive passages in Scripture about the structure of the church. Small groups clustered together, meeting in their living rooms.

1Cor. 3:16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 1Cor. 3:17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple. 1Cor. 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 2Cor. 6:16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." Eph. 2:21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. * "Christ liveth in me...Oh what a salvation..".

1Cor. 11:5 And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head ... * The writer presumes that women will be participating.

1Cor. 14:24-26 But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!" What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.

1Cor. 14:29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. * Nothing is found in the NT about the centrality or dominance of one man's teaching, nor one officer's teaching. Every elder was to be a pastor and teacher. See 1 Tim 3:2.

1Cor. 16:15 You know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service (ministry) of the saints.

1Cor. 16:19 The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.

Eph. 4:12 to prepare God's people for works of service (ministry), so that the body of Christ may be built up. * This NIV version is a more exact translation than the KJV, which tragically misplaces the comma, completely obscuring the true meaning of this.

Phil. 4:22 All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar's household. Rom. 16:23 (KJV) Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother. * The mention of these two dignitaries meant that Christianity wasn't (yet) an underground religion that necessarily had to hide behind closed doors.

Col. 4:15 Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. * Note: the NAS and NIV, unlike the KJV accurately translate this.

1Tim. 3:2-7 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap. * These characteristics represent the ideal, not always the real. They are qualities, not qualifications. It is assumed that these are qualifications in order to establish "church officers". When saying, for example, that a Boy Scout must be brave, clean, reverend, etc., do we mean qualifications? No. If we say wives of deacons must be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things, do we mean qualifications or qualities? If these are her qualifications, would this, then, make "deacons wife" an office in the church? Consistent logic would require it. The same impersonal verb used here is used dozens of times in the NT. More often than not it is translated as is needful, ought to be, or should be - not must. Reread it as such. The word rendered recent convert is used a number of times in the Greek Old Testament. It literally means "a young plant". Its meaning here is immature. (Maturity is the goal of the Christian life. See Eph. Eph. 4:13, 4:15, James 1:4.)

1Tim. 3:11 In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. * This NIV translation of are to be instead of must (KJV) is, again, the best. The word translated here as wives should be women (gunee). This is yet another feeble attempt to make deacons look like "officers". Incidentally, the Acts 6 passage as the origin of the diaconate is equally frail, as many of the best commentators admit. Do not overlook, however, in this Acts passage, what Christians used to do and ought to be presently be doing - feeding the hungry. Food for the soul and food for the body.

1Tim. 5:17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. * Paul has just dealt with the subject and treatment of older women (widows). They are to be honored. (1 Tim. 5:3). Now he is simply turning his attention to the elder men, who also are to be honored (same root word ,timao, timee). He is not introducing here a clergy-laity plan in the eldership, as has been conjectured. Even our beloved Matthew Henry's commentary calls that a strange view. "The disparity (inequality) existing among teaching and ruling elders among Presbyterians, instead of being defended, is very much to be lamented, and ought as much as possible to be removed. This is to be done, however, not by lowering the teaching elder, but by elevating the ruling elder," wrote Thomas Witherow in The Apostolic Church. Which Is It? 1856.

Titus 1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. * Titus simply appointed elders (older ones) to be the examples, overseers, and pastors. He didn't appoint men to be elders. Major difference. If you think this is an extreme position, then refer to the original text and explain why there is no word in the original for office in these elder, deacon passages. Our translators, it appears, were covertly substituting hierarchy for brotherhood. The concept of eldership or seniority was already thousands of years old in the Jewish culture. Eldership naturally appears in the NT writings without introduction. If it is now an OFFICE bestowed upon young men, why is no mention given of this unusual fact and this unusual change???

Phlm. 2 to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home:

1Pet. 5:1-3 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. 1Pet. 5:5 Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. * Here is yet another example of old and young being categorized, contrasted, and exhorted. Paul makes the same frequent comparisons

Hebr. 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching. * We must remember the context and place of the Old and New Testament meetings - primarily the homes of believers. This single exhortation to meet must be contrasted with the hundreds of other passages that demand tangible activity beyond the meetings. Meetings are great - the early Christians often met every day. They weren't however an end in themselves, but a means to equip saints for ministry.

Hebr. 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 1Pet. 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

1Pet. 2:5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Jude 12 These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you... * The great occasions of the church calendar had been the various feasts. This would naturally continue under the new covenant. 1Cor. 11:33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat...In one of the earliest descriptions of the Christian community in the secular writings of the Roman authorities (Pliny to the Emperor Trajan ), it is stated that the Christians "assembled to eat a harmless meal". How do these festive occasions of our Christian legacy compare to some of our dreary and ultra-cerebral "worship services" or "sacramental services"? Shame.

More Preliminary Thoughts (and Friendly Warnings)

An explosion of interest has already occurred in home employment and home schooling. The hour may be ripe for home church expansion in North America and elsewhere. Let God be the judge. As millions of disheartened American saints have made their final departure from the older denominations of their parents, oftentimes a suitable alternative isn't easily found. We have encountered many who are sure that something is wrong but they are almost at a total loss to expain what it is.

There have already been a number of incidents in the U.S. in which would-be church planters were refused permission to build church buildings. The exploding urban population centers both here and abroad, offer fewer and fewer possibilities for the traditional plan of obtaining real estate for houses of worship. Few denominations even target the inner cities in their missionary strategies, at present. Furthermore, there are growing numbers in our society whose employment does not allow them to attend the scheduled meetings of the institutionalized Church.

Beyond our society in the USA are teeming millions in growing urban areas around the world. The trend toward urbanization continues. Cities more and more represent jobs and survival.

House churches should be an obvious solution to these ongoing dilemmas.

Now, because the home church theme has been given little emphasis in recent centuries, there are a few items about this ancient institution that need immediate clarification . Remember, it is an institution of God to be considered and not a fad to be apologized for.

First, it is not our persuasion that the home church alternative is for every Christian or that it is a be-all, fix-all solution for the world's woes. Many of the small group benefits are already available in some of our traditional churches. Every community, however, doesn't offer such opportunities and some may never offer them, if buying property and hiring a clergyman continue to be the prerequisites.

Established religion, we know, is going to be here for a long time. It has accomplished immeasurable good and shall continue to do so if the Lord wills. If you are ministering and being equipped for further ministry in this traditional realm, stay where you are and consider yourself blessed. Be faithful and make generous and regular contributions of your time and resources. If you are not content in this traditional environment, make sure the problem is not you, instead of someone or something else. Do not rise up in unrighteous indignation against the establishment and vainly imagine that you can start something yourself called a home church that will closely resemble perfection. You cannot, and it will not. home churches have their own set of unique problems, too. Above all, do not, we repeat, DO NOT slam any doors behind you if you must leave your present church situation.

We will be taking a very close look at the church of yesterday and today. Our desire is to meekly critique the church in a constructive fashion. Certain truths cannot be presented, however, without exposing error. In such cases we shall speak the truth in love. Our purpose and driving force in the pursuit of the truth, is to activate and motivate every disciple into ministry for Jesus Christ. God may be pleased to use some of us to move the church from a worship service mentality to a worship AND service paradigm.

Because each disciple has different ministry gifts, no two home church operations will be identical. All, we trust, will have specific ministry goals and regular service projects. All will be evangelistically oriented. Christian character-building and personal holiness shall not be neglected. Intimacy and personal accountability shall naturally prevail in such an environment - the strong silent types will have adjustments to make. Each unit, we pray, will be a catalyst for Christian activity - not a navel-gazing society for theorists or introverts.

Some units will have very visible leadership. Others, not. Some will use small portions of food and drink to represent the body and blood of our Savior. Others will incorporate these into a full meal - a dinner meeting. Some will have creeds, some will have liturgies, some will sing a cappella, some with instruments, some with the stereo. Some, at last, will sing the incarnation hymns all year round. Some may form a drama team or an orchestra. Some will meet early, some late. Some will meet outdoors. Some, thanks to a recent and favorable Supreme Court decision will be able to meet in any public place that is available to any nonreligious group. Some will belong to a large local network that has a monthly group meeting or two. Some groups will have regular meetings among families on a rotational plan. All will be flexible, mobile, and have little or no overhead.

Some will specialize in the theology. Some in prophecy. Some in political action. Some in Christian book and literature distribution. Some in education. Some in home-education. Some will have a special ministry to public school teachers. Some will target the newcomers in the neighborhood. Some will minister to troubled teens, unwed mothers and the like. Some groups will be larger than others and will eventually have to divide. Some will baptize by immersion - others by pouring. Some will view admission into the church by virtue of birth, others by new birth. The point that we're making here is that copy-cat-cloned home churches directed from a central location are precisely what is not envisioned. The Scriptures happen to allow great liberty among the saints in many of these areas. We will not go beyond what is written and thereby make ourselves wiser than God.

Be forewarned that on these pages will be found frequent references pertaining to the necessity of good works. This is because faith without works is emphatically dead. This is because we are recreated in Jesus for the performance of good works. Students of the Scriptures do not believe in salvation by works or that works can add to our salvation or in any way repay God. Of course not. We work, we serve because we are His children not in order to become His children.

Be informed in advance, too, that there exists no secret agenda to pin a new label on anyone. We are not into labels. We desire nothing more than that Christians be Christians. We aren't here to Denominationalize, Dispensationalize, Pentecostalize, Presbyterianize, Premillinialize, Theonomize, or rebaptize you. If you're like us, you have opinions about these "isms" and you have respectable Christian friends whose views differ from your own. These things will vary among the home church people. Let each be persuaded in his own mind. Seek peaceful coexistence with every brother and sister and find yourself laboring together so diligently in the work of the Lord that these issues do not divide you. 1 Corinthians 1:11-13.

Keep it also in your mind that all of us don't receive all of the truth at once. God, for His own sovereign reasons seems to use the installment plan when it comes to revealing his precious truths. Be patient therefore with one another and prove all things, holding fast to that which is good. Dwell often on your own spiritual pilgrimage and esteem others better than yourself. The house church concept is actually an entire world and life view. Be patient with us, too. Take it upon yourself to prompt us when we're mistaken.

Ask yourself today exactly what are your motives in your interest in home church? Jesus, you recall, encountered people in his day who thought they didn't owe anything to their parents. Mark 7:9-13. Whatever these elderly received was a "gift to God" - not an obligation. This is a classic example of people using religion to justify greed. Since the days of Judas the Christian landscape remains cluttered with such moral wreckage. As you ponder a church in your house and possible relationship with this organization carefully analyze your own sincerity. Think not that you can find reasons here to do or give less to God and your fellow man. Neither consider lowering your ethical standards, as some have, in dealing with the Internal Revenue Service or your local tax assessment office. Please do not declare your personal property as a 'church' or take the tax advantages afforded to 'preachers'. And please stay out of those parking places reserved for 'Clergy'.

If you are moving toward the home church alternative, please move very slowly. As the builder in Luke 14, sit down first and count the cost. Let time go by and let things crystallize in your minds, then God will bless you with confidence. So open your Bibles and your minds each day. Trust the Lord to give you the wisdom that he promised to give. Seek and you shall find.

Be as wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove, we would urge you again, in your treatment of our traditionalist brethren. Brethren they are - our eternal partners! Expect some of them to misunderstand you. Their enthusiasm about home church will be, shall we say, "well under control". Some may even avoid you in the same manner they have always avoided a person of another denomination. Let them certainly behold within your midst an unfailing love, an immutable steadfastness, and a cheerful meekness. Look back at them across their denominational boundaries and possible mistaken views of church structure, church leadership, ministry, worship, etc. and let the dying prayer of Jesus Christ that his people would be one, be fulfilled in your life and in your home.

Lightfoot, Schaeffer, and Schaff

The kingdom of Christ, not being a kingdom of this world, is not limited by the restrictions which fetter other societies, political or religious. It is in the fullest sense free, comprehensive, universal. It displays this character, not only in the acceptance of all comers who seek admission, irrespective of race or caste or sex, but also in the instruction and treatment of those who are already its members. It has no sacred days or seasons, no special sanctuaries, because every time and every place alike are holy. Above all it has no sacerdotal system. It interposes no sacrificial tribe or class between God and man, by whose intervention alone God is reconciled and man forgiven. Each individual member holds personal communion with the Divine Head. To Him immediately he is responsible, and from Him directly he obtains pardon and draws strength. J.B. Lightfoot, St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, 1978 (orig. 1913) pg.181.

Paul continues, "Likewise greet the church that is in their house." Aquila and Priscilla were then in Rome. But when they were in Asia, as we learn in I Corinthians 16:19, they also had a church in their home. Apparently wherever Priscilla and Aquila went, people were saved and a church was then started.

It is interesting, however, that the church was in their home. Lightfoot says that there were no church buildings as such before the third century. Since Lightfoot made that statement, however, archaeologists found a most interesting place in Rome. Roman houses-unless they were the great mansions - were relatively small. What archaeologists found was a place with the facade of two houses still untouched, but with the internal walls torn out to make a larger room. And from everything that was found there, the archaeologists believe that this was a church building. This structure is dated at the end of the second century. But whether one accepts Lightfoot's starting point in the third century, or whether one dates it at the end of the second century, it really makes no difference. There is no biblical norm as to where, and where not, the church should meet. The central fact is that the early concept of the church had no connection with a church building.

Now it is important to realize two things here. First, these are the New Testament forms commanded by God. These norms are not arbitrary - they are God's form for the institutional, organized church and they are to be present in the 20th century as well as any century. Second, there are vast areas which are left free. There is form and there is freedom.

Someone may feel that something else is clearly commanded beyond the eight norms I have given. Others may question whether one of these is really a norm. But do not let us get bogged down at this point. My primary point as we prepare for the end of the 20th century is, on the one hand, that there is a place for the institutional church and that it should maintain the form commanded by God, but, on the other hand, that this also leaves vast areas of freedom for change. It is my thesis that as we cannot bind men morally except with that which the Scripture clearly commands (beyond that we can only give advice), similarly, anything the New Testament does not command in regard to church form is a freedom to be exercised under the leadership of the Holy Spirit for that particular time and place. In other words, the New Testament sets boundary conditions, but within these boundary conditions there is much freedom to meet the changes that arise both in different places and different times. Francis Schaeffer, The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century, 1970 pp. 61,62,66,67.

That the Christians in the apostolic age erected special houses of worship is out of the question, even on account of their persecution by Jews and Gentiles, to say nothing of their general poverty; and the transition of a whole synagogue to the new faith was no doubt very rare. As the Saviour of the world was born in a stable, and ascended to heaven from a mountain, so his apostles and their successors down to the third century, preached in the streets, the markets, on mountains, in ships, sepulchres, caves, and deserts, and in the homes of their converts. But how many thousands of costly churches and chapels have since been built and are constantly being built in all parts of the world to the honor of the crucified Redeemer, who in the days of his humiliation had no place of his own to rest his head! Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol I, pg. 475.

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