I’m excited to share the first in a series I’ve entitled Unsung Heroes. In Western society it’s difficult to do life together, but it does happen, it can be sustained and it can be life-changing. I pray these stories encourage you to keep meeting, keep searching and start gathering. This story is told by Steve Scott Nelson.
My name is Steve Scott Nelson. I was born in Winston-Salem, NC. We also lived in Raleigh, Asheville, and Bethesda, Maryland. Then we moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where I attended high school and played soccer. After graduation, I went to Clemson University in South Carolina, mainly to play soccer with five of my high school teammates.
I heard about God’s love and Jesus dying on the cross for me during high school, but nobody explained to me how to trust Christ personally. I finally understood how to get saved while attending Clemson. Some students came to my room and shared the gospel with me. I was very interested, but still didn’t understand that salvation was not dependent upon my efforts, but totally the grace of God. I also needed to repent and surrender control to Jesus. I made that decision at the beginning of my second year at Clemson and became a new person!
I met my wife, Danelle, during college. She got saved during her Junior year through my roommate sharing Christ with her fiancé, Bob, who also became a Christian. They both became a part of a Bible study group that I helped to lead. We got married May 10th, 1975. Bob had become my best friend and roommate. He was the best man in our wedding.
Danelle and I have 7 children and 22 grandchildren, most of whom live in the Atlanta area. Here is a photo of most of them.
While we were attending Clemson University, we met Herschel Martindale from Houston, TX. Herschel visited Clemson to help a Freshman co-ed find a Bible-believing fellowship. God led Herschel to myself and a good friend of mine. While he was there, Herschel gathered a small group of us together and taught us about the New Testament church, reaching the world with the gospel, and how God wanted us to make disciples. It was revolutionary to us. God rocked our world. We were never the same.
We decided to embrace the truths Herschel taught and began to be the church. We met as a large group on campus to worship, teach the Word, and had open meetings where all could share. We also met in homes off campus to break bread, have open, participatory meetings, where everyone was encouraged to build up one another. We often had meals together as well. We led people (both students & non-students) to Jesus and baptized them in Lake Hartwell. We were very young in the Lord and would butt heads at times, especially us men. Herschel would travel back and forth from Houston to patiently teach, correct, and encourage us in the Lord. He was an amazing role model in his marriage, family, love for believers and the lost, and his devotion to Christ. He never tried to control us, but trusted us, and he trusted God with us. He made disciples who made disciples all around the world!
Our campus church became a community church. Our church in Clemson started churches in Raleigh, Columbia, SC, Kiev, Ukraine, and Atlanta, GA. Danelle and I moved to Atlanta to help start the new church plant in 1986. While living in Atlanta we got away from the simple, organic church principles and became a traditional church. We had pastors preaching sermons (including me), worship teams, paid staff, programs, and we purchased buildings. Some of us began to realize that we were failing to make disciples like our early years. After much prayer and discussion among the leaders, Danelle I moved to Kiev, Ukraine to join friends living there to start churches.
While living in Ukraine, my good friend and fellow missionary, Timmy Powers and I both read Neil Cole’s book, Organic Church. We realized how we used to embrace many of the principles in his book, but had gotten away from our roots. We invited Neil to come to Kiev and teach. He graciously came and taught our Ukrainian friends for several days. As a result, many of us began to practice evangelism looking for people of peace to start new churches among their friends. A number of drug addicts and alcoholics came to Christ and were passionate about growing in their faith and sharing the gospel with their friends and families. It was exciting to see God working and disciples multiplying. Danelle and I felt like we had accomplished our goal of raising up disciples who were multiplying disciples and new organic churches, so we returned to Atlanta to help my mother who had become a widow during our time overseas.
Coming back to America to practice organic church principles, proved to be challenging. I think the Christian culture in America does not understand why some of us embrace these church principles. It is also difficult “to pour new wine into old wineskins.” Many believers who were brought up in a traditional church have difficulty letting go of past experiences and practices to consider organic church principles. It can be scary, weird, and it takes faith in God to do something new! Ask Peter! He too resisted when the Lord told him to go take the gospel to the Gentiles. In the same way, most of us struggle with functioning as an organic church in the beginning. The unlearning process takes time, patience, developing Biblical convictions, and the support of others who are functioning as an organic church on mission.
The benefits of practicing organic church are numerous. Each member is encouraged and equipped to walk with God, develop their relationship with Him. This enables them to build into one another. The church members are not expecting the pastor and staff (clergy) to do all the work of teaching, training, and evangelism. Ephesians 4:11-16 teaches us the body grows if each member is growing in Christ and building up one another. This is more than a meeting, it is a lifestyle of devotion to Christ, love for one another, and love for the lost. Organic church provides these opportunities. It is not automatic. It takes each member choosing to walk closely with God, obeying and trusting Him. When they gather, each one has a song or teaching or prophecy to build up the faith of others.
Many of our children grew up in an organic church, and several are part of one now. We have children in our churches now who have made tremendous contributions to our churches and grown in their faith. Of course, we are also convinced that the primary responsibility of a child’s spiritual growth lies with their parents. Parents need to be healthy role models of loving God and others. That is the heart of all discipleship! “More is caught than taught.” Jesus said, “A disciple is not greater than his teacher, but everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher.” Luke 6:40. A healthy organic church develops an environment of trust, openness, and honesty because people are loved and feel safe. It is messy, but it is real, and it is edifying!
The most important factor of a house church’s survival, I believe, is remembering whose church it is and who is doing the building. “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Matthew 16:18. It is Jesus’ church. It belongs to Him, not any one of us and He is building it. Nothing will stop Him! Therefore, we can relax and trust Him. We can praise Him because He is the head of His church!
Struggle is normal in a church made up of former sinners who are being sanctified. Do not be surprised by conflict, disagreements, or hurt feelings. Forgive one another. Serve one another. Consider one another as more important than yourself. Struggle is normal in all relationships. Growth comes when we love one another and God is glorified because we can’t do that without Him.
I do believe that those who endure, persevere, and flourish all have others to encourage them. They have mentors. They have other friends or leaders in other churches that they can call on for prayer, support, and encouragement when it is hard. Reading good books on these subjects can also be encouraging when we feel like quitting.
Steve can be contacted at steve.nelson@reliant.org.
I would love to hear from those who have been doing organic church for an extended time. Contact me (Jonathan Rovetto) at 414.217.2189 or at jirovetto@yahoo.com. Don’t miss the next Unsung Heroes, subscribe below.