House Church Talk - writing about HC to folks in IC's

[Bruce Woodford]

Hi Folks,
Have any of you had any opportunity to discuss house church issues with 
folks you know in IC's?  Could you share some of those comunications here?

About 7 years ago, I was writing back and forth with a brother (let's call 
him "Brother A.") from a circle of assemblies of which we had been a part 
for many years but  had left. I had become convinced that "breaking bread" 
in scripture was simply the dividing of food into portions prior to eating 
it at ordinary meals and that, in doing so, we were to remember the Lord. He 
was not at all prepared to acknowledge this. In his last letter to me at the 
time he said that the Lord had blessed such assemblies as his in many 
countries which remembered the Lord in assembly meetings every "Lord's Day" 
as each saint took a tiny piece of bread from a common loaf and a sip of 
wine from a common cup and he was satisfied that to do so was to follow the 
Lord's appointed way.  He said that if I could testify of the Lord's 
blessing in a similar or greater way upon gatherings of the Lord's people 
who remembered the Lord in full meals, he would be willing to reconsider the 
matter.

At the time, I knew almost nobody else who believed in "communion" in the 
context of full meals so I had nothing further to write to this brother. But 
after being involved in house churches for over two years and learning of 
countless others who have remembered the Lord in full meals together, I 
recently wrote back to this brother telling him so.

He replied, in part, as follows:

Dear Brother Bruce,
Thanks for your recent letter. I sensed the enthusiasm in your letter as you 
wrote it. I have heard about these "house churches" over the last few months 
from different sources, but have not had the opportunity to actually sit 
down and talk to anyone about them. As a result of my sheer ignorance, I 
have a number of questions that I would like to ask you, knowing that you 
will give me detailed, careful, scriptural answers. Some people I would not 
trust to give me such answers, but I think I know you well enough to know 
that you will answer me that way!

Regarding such gatherings, I have been in places before (mainly on the 
mission field) where the assembly met in a private home, mainly because 
there was no other accomodation available or the assembly was so small that 
it could not afford another building. This is not unusual. We also routinely 
communicate with two missionary couples in Hong Kong who go into China all 
the time. They speak of at least 30,000 house churches in that great nation, 
and there is much persecution unless you identify with the "established" 
government-approved church.

Because no one has ever spoken to me from a scriptural perspective about 
these places, please help me to answer the following questions:

(1)How do elders and deacons function there and how are they identified?

(2)How does the obedience, submission and leadership of Heb.13:17 manifest 
itself in such a group?

(3)How is discipline administered?  (Matt.18:15-17, I Corinthians 5,  I 
Timothy 5:19-20)

(4)Is the women's head covering insisted on at these gatherings? (I 
Cor.11:3-16)

(5)Are women silent in the gatherings?  (I Corinthians 14:34,  I Timothy 
2:11-12)

(6)When you are sharing a "full meal together", how do you distinguish 
between the saved and the unsaved?  Do unsaved visitors and/or children 
partake equally?

(7)What is your understanding of  I Corinthians 11:20-22?

(8)What are the criteria for admission into the fellowship of this group?  
(Acts 2:38-42)

(9)Have these people left their previous gatherings for positive scriptural 
reasons, or because they were dissatisfied, disgruntled or discontented?

Thanks for the opportunity to chat again. I look forward to your answers.

Your brother in Christ,

A


I responded as follows:


Dear Brother A,

It was certainly good to hear from you today!

I am so glad that you have asked some excellent questions about house church 
gatherings!

I will do my best to answer your questions from my very limited experience 
in house churches the last couple of years and from corresponding with many 
others who are in similar gatherings.

1. Elders and deacons in house churches are recognized by scriptural 
qualifications set out in I Tim.3, Titus 1, Acts 6, I Cor.16:15,16 etc.  and 
seek to function according to such instructions as are found in Acts 20 etc.

2.Just a few observations before answering your questions on Heb.13:17:

Re. "obedience" and Heb.13:17, the word is an unfortunate translation. It is 
usually translated "persuaded", "trusted", "have confidence" etc.

Re. "rule"...this too is an unfortunate translation required by King James 
who wanted to keep control over the churches through the "clergy"!  This 
word too is most often translated by such words as "esteem", "think", 
"judge", "count" or "account".

Re. the word "over", as in "rule over" finds no equivalent at all in the 
Greek text!

Re. the word "submit", it is found nowhere else in the N.T. and means to 
"surrender" or "yield to".

So rather than such leaders being "over" any of the people of God, such a 
concept is foreign to scripture and contrary to the pattern for church 
leadership explained by the Lord Jesus is Luke 22:25-27!

Church leaders are not to "rule" anyone, but are to serve! The pattern of 
their service is to be that of the youngest child in a household or that of 
a household slave!  Neither have any authourity to tell anybody what to do, 
or what they cannot do!  But both can exercise great influence on others BY 
THEIR OWN EXAMPLE!

So realizing these things, saints observe others in home gatherings. They 
have the opportunity to see what people are really like and when they 
observe men who serve with a humble spirit, who do not attempt to "lord it 
over God's clergy" (I Peter 5:3), but are rather "addicted to the service of 
the saints" I Cor.16:15, it is to such that they gladly and willingly 
"surrender". It is such servant leaders whose humble and faithful demeanor 
"persuades" the saints, earns their "trust" and gains their "confidence."

3.Re. discipline and Matt.18, I Cor 5 and I Tim.5... I have not yet seen a 
situation in our two years of being involved in house churches where I Cor.5 
or I Tim 5 discipline was necessary.  However we have seen people seek to 
carry out Matt.18 steps regarding personal trespasses. But as in most 
churches/assemblies/ congregations we have had associations with over the 
years, we have found that the vast majority of believers in any gathering 
often choose to ignore or disregard the Matt.18 instructions and we have 
seen great havock wreaked wherever these instructions are ignored and people 
take things into their own hands, speak to people who are not part of the 
problem or part of the solution but refuse to speak personally and in 
private to the ones they ought to!

4. Re. insistence that women's heads be covered in the gatherings...
Such insistence is without any scriptural ground whatsoever!  Women's heads 
are to be covered NOT IN GATHERINGS PER CE, but whenever they pray or 
prophesy!  This passage of scripture has been so abused in so many circles 
and where such "insistence" is the norm, I have never yet met any sisters 
who could scripturally explain why they did what they did!!!  To make 
"compliance in gatherings" a requirement for fellowship in a gathering is 
totally unfounded in scripture!  If such insistence IS made, those who 
"insist" must be consistent and "insist" on uncut hair as well!!!  But such 
insistence and the accompanying sanctions against those who do not comply, 
almost makes it impossible for any sister to respond to such instructions 
constrained simply by the love of Christ.  My wife often has sisters inquire 
about her head covering when she prays or prophesies, and as the subject has 
arisen in our gatherings,  or in personal conversations, I have given 
teaching on the subject. But I see no scriptural ground for compelling 
compliance with this or any other scriptural instruction  which is not 
accompanied with specific sanctions. (Examples of such sanctions for 
specific behaviours would be found in I Cor.5:9-13 and II Thess.3:11-15)

5. Re. the silence of sisters in the gatherings (I Cor.14 and I Tim.2)
I Cor.14:34 and 35 teaches that women are not to speak in gatherings of the 
WHOLE CHURCH. (v.23). The first Corinthian epistle was addressed to "the 
church of God at Corinth" which included every saint in that city. See 1:2. 
So the "whole church come together into one place" of 14:23 is a city wide 
gathering of all the saints in the city.  Such gatherings were common new 
covenant events in the first century. See Acts 2:46a;  6:2-5; 15:12-22 etc. 
(See the "whole church" specificly mentioned in Acts 15:22.)

I have not yet seen such a gathering of the church in any community in which 
I have ever lived, and I doubt that you have either. But I pray that I will 
have that opportunity soon! The greatest  hindrance to such gatherings is 
one of the very oldest problems faced by the church...that of  division on 
sectarian grounds! See I Cor 1:10-13. But those whose hearts are enlarged 
and whose bowels are not straitened (II Cor.6:11-13) long for the day when 
the church of God in their community will actually gather in such a manner 
as early churches did and as I Cor.14 regulates!

I find it so amazing that those who insist on compliance with 14:34,35 in 
all assembly gatherings usually ignore or say that the other regulations of 
the same passage cannot apply, or the need for them has passed away!  In all 
our years in the assemblies where you find your fellowship, we never once 
were in a meeting that functioned by all the regulations of I Cor.14:23-40!  
Verses 34 and 35 were held high but all the rest were explained away as not 
necessary!!!  Why?

Many gatherings of the Lord's people in the book of Acts included the vocal 
participation of sisters in speaking in tongues, praying, expounding the 
scriptures, or prophesying!(Acts 1;2; 4:31; 8:4; 10:44-46; 12:12-16; 18:26; 
21:9 etc)  But in the gatherings of Acts 2:46a, Acts 6 and Acts 15 there is 
no mention of any sisters participating, nor is there any mention of 
breaking of bread in such whole church gatherings!

Thus I see two distinctly different kinds of church meetings. (1)Whole 
church gatherings in which there is one speaker at a time, all the speakers 
are males, tongues speaking only occurs if there is an interpretter, no more 
than two or three speak in tongues, no more than 2 or 3 prophesy and if 
something is revealed to another that sits by, the first "holds his peace" 
(i.e. is as silent as the sisters!)
(2)Much smaller gatherings in homes in which the saints break bread 
together, where they edify one another, exhort one another, provoke one 
another to love and good works, confess their faults one to another, pray 
for one another, and each one (having received a gift) ministers it as a 
good steward of the manifold grace of God which has been entrusted to them 
by the Spirit of God.

It is absolutely impossible for sisters to obey the commands of Hebrews 
10:24,25 in gatherings where they are required to be silent!  Yes, the the 
saints are not to forsake the assembling of themselves together, but when 
they do assemble they (not just the men!) are to provoke one another to love 
and good works, and to exhort one another!   There is not a single "one 
another command" in the new covenant scriptures which is limited to males 
only!  Every "one another command" is for all saints!  So no, sisters are 
not required to be silent in house church meetings because I Cor 14:23-40 
does not regulate house church meetings in many homes across a particular 
city, but rather regulates the gathering when the whole church comes 
together into one place.

6. Re. distinguishing between believers and unsaved vistors or children when 
we break bread and share a full meal together:...
Scripture never ever requires that saints separate physically from the 
presence of unbelievers when they break bread!  For the unsaved, it is 
simply a meal and nothing more. For the saints, it holds extraordinary 
significance because only they can truly remember Him!  The assigning of 
secondary or distant seats to unbelievers and eating before them while not 
inviting them to eat as well is absolutely contrary to James 2:1-9. True 
James 2 deals with partiality between rich and poor, but the same principles 
apply to any partiality.  But notice also the context of this assembly 
gathering...it is in a home! I've never yet been in a hall or auditorium 
where the host had a footstool!.  But such is quite common in house church 
gatherings where many sit on the floor!

7. Re. I Cor 11:20-22. Paul was rebuking the Corinthians for selfishness, 
drunkenness, and neglect of the destitute among them.  They were having 
whole church gatherings of the church of God at Corinth in one place, but 
Paul clearly says, "when ye come together therefore INTO ONE PLACE, this is 
NOT to eat the Lord's supper."

It seems they had turned the whole church gathering, not only into a 
gathering of mass confusion of speaking in uninterpretted tongues (ch.14), 
but they had also turned it into a drunken party!!   Paul tells them that 
eating and drinking is to take place in their homes v.22 and that when they 
do eat and drink, they are to remember their Lord.  Such eating and drinking 
would rule out selfishness, drunkenness and neglect of the destitute among 
them.

8.Re. criteria for "admission into the fellowship" of a house church...

A few comments first for clarification:
-Fellowship is NOT something that any believer is "admitted into". You never 
ever in scripture find people who are "in fellowship" or "out of fellowship" 
as many of us have been taught!  Fellowship is something you HAVE or you DO 
NOT HAVE!  Every believer is called unto the fellowship of Jesus Christ our 
Lord. (I Cor.1:9)  But not all HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD!  (I John 1)   
Fellowship is not "extended" to some and "withheld" from others who meet a 
particular standard of ours. Fellowship is that enjoyment of relationship to 
God which every believer who walks in the light HAS! One who walks in 
darkness does NOT HAVE FELLOWSHIP, even if he has been "received into a 
meeting"!

So you see, I cannot answer your question because we do not "admit" anyone" 
into the fellowship"!
Rather we receive one another as Christ also received us (with all of our 
warts, our failings, and all of our features that are not yet conformed to 
His image!)  to the glory of God.  Romans 15:7

(9)Re. whether folks left previous gatherings for positive scriptural 
reasons or because they were dissatisfied, disgruntled, or discontented...

I do not see a necessity for there to be a clear demarcation between leaving 
for scriptural reasons and being dissatisfied, disgruntled or discontented!

When any believer realizes that they are in a gathering where some 
scriptures cannot be carried out, where other scriptures are wrongly 
interpretted, where authority of the Head is usurped by church leaders, 
where the Holy Spirit is scheduled right out of the meetings, where there is 
no opportunity for one anothering and the exercise of believers spiritual 
gifts etc etc etc...you will always find believers who are dissatisfied, 
disgruntled and discontent!  They may not even leave, for they may not even 
know why they are discontent! They may not even know what God intends that 
His church should look like, but many do know that "church" as they know it 
is not what it ought to be.

But I do know, that many, like the "motley crew" who gathered themselves 
unto David in the cave of Adullam (in debt, and in distress and discontent I 
Sam.22.) are finding tremendous blessing, restoration, enouragement, growth 
in their walk with the Lord and with His people in simple, Biblical house 
church gatherings  where Christ is acknowledged as the Head. There every 
believer is a priest, every believer is one of the people (laity) of God (I 
Peter 2:4-10), every believer is a gifted minister ( I Peter 4:10,11),  
every believer is one of  the heritage (clergy) of God (I Peter 5:3), and 
every believer is ordained to bear fruit that remains. (John 15:16).

I trust that the above may answer your questions and hopefully give you a 
different perspective on at least a few things. But above all, I hope that 
our consideration of these vital truths of scripture will not just be for 
consideration of truths but that our hearts may be drawn out and constrained 
by the love of Christ to live our lives as unto Him! (II Corinthians 
5:14,15)

Your brother in Christ,
Bruce

_________________________________________________________________
MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*.  
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus