Below is the second excerpt from Safe Houses of Hope & Prayer by R. Maurice Smith. You can find out more about Maurice by going to his website risingrivermedia.org. The first excerpt can be accessed by clicking here.
I would dare say that most Christians in traditional institutional churches never achieve or experience genuine fellowship (what I would prefer to call genuine community). Why? Because genuine fellowship is messy, takes work and requires perseverance. For time pressed leaders, it is much easier to teach people to death with impressive Bible notes in PowerPoint presentations than it is to work through the personal issues which stand in the way of genuine community. And lectures you can control are easier than dialogues which you can’t.
Our English word translated “fellowship” is the Greek word koinonia which comes from the Greek word koine, meaning “common.” Fellowship is the holding of certain things in common. In the life of the organic house church it is a mutual sharing of our lives together. We share a common life in the Kingdom of God and drink from a common River of His Spirit in the bond of Christ.
The desire for genuine koinonia was not new in the ancient world, nor was it exclusively Christian. The Classical Greek philosophers had envisioned a utopian fellowship that they described as koinonia. But all classical attempts to achieve this koinonia by human effort had failed miserably. But now, through the death and resurrection of Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, God had accomplished in the Church and the Kingdom of God what the efforts of men throughout the ages had never achieved: genuine fellowship. And this fellowship, this genuine koinonia, was manifested in the organic house churches of the New Testament where believers shared their lives with one another. They shared meals together in one another’s homes. They prayed together, endured persecution together, worshiped together and, at times, they even died together. They preferred one another’s company above all others and gave sacrificially to meet each other’s needs. To express it in contemporary terms for today, these early house churches were made up of people who loved to hang out together. They shared an affinity an attraction based on common interests – that surpassed the natural – it was supernatural. True koinonia or fellowship means that as Christians we share a common life in the Kingdom of God.
A quick word is in order at this point about genuine koinonia or community versus pseudo-community. In genuine community the reality is that baggage happens and this frequently results in conflicts. But mature believers look past the conflict and work together to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2) and help each other unpack their baggage and resolve their conflicts. Unfortunately, this is a new experience for many people who have only experienced the pseudo-community of most churches (traditional and otherwise).
In his excellent book The Different Drum Dr. M. Scott Peck describes pseudo-community this way:
“The essential dynamic of pseudo-community is conflict avoidance. The absence of conflict in a group is not by itself diagnostic. Genuine community may experience lovely and sometimes lengthy periods free from conflict. But that is because they have learned how to deal with conflict rather than avoid it. Pseudo-community is conflict-avoiding; true community is conflict resolving.”
Genuine community, genuine koinonia requires intimacy, vulnerability and conflict resolution with both God and men. Genuine koinonia requires a willingness to work through differences, baggage and conflict. If we are to be successful as organic house churches and as Safe Houses of Hope and Prayer, then we must pursue genuine community in our house churches and create a safe place where it can take place.
I really enjoyed reading Safe Houses of Hope & Prayer by R. Maurice Smith. His writing is down to earth, comedic and full of wisdom. The excerpt below addresses how relational gatherings can transform messy people. You can find out more about R. Maurice Smith by going to risingrivermedia.org. Another excerpt from this book can be accessed here.
Let’s face reality, shall we. For several years now I have taught a simple maxim in our house church network: “Life is Messy.” If we look with honest eyes we quickly see that people’s lives are a mess. Their families are a mess; their marriages are a mess; their finances are a mess. And that messiness is most often (but not always) caused by sin and its ripple effects. This is true of the non-Christian as well as for the believer. For those of us seeking a Jesus-shaped spirituality in organic house church, our challenge is how to respond to the messiness of life (particularly other people’s lives) when it shows up in our living room. Over the years we have had just about everything from divorce to demonic manifestations show up in our living room. That’s the challenge (and the blessing) of organic house church. But the messiness of life raises issues of how we deal with issues of sin and its consequences in the lives of those around us as we seek to lead people into the Kingdom of God.
Generally speaking, there are two basic ways such messes can be addressed: 1) We can attempt to create religious rules (“Do these ten things and God will love you and we may let you back into our house church!”) designed and intended to clean up messes and prevent sin, or 2) we can seek God for the inward transformation of the heart and life which overflows in obedience to God.
Brandon and Alondra know how to handle all kind of messes.
The choice between these two approaches for dealing with issues of sin and the messiness of people’s lives, the choice between outward religious conformity to rules versus trusting God for the inward spiritual transformation of the individual, will eventually confront every organic house church. And how you respond will define your ministry and your walk.
I want to urge you to believe God for the inward spiritual transformation of people’s hearts, in spite of the messiness of their lives, rather than allowing yourself to walk in a spirit of control and religious legalism. Every ministry, including the organic house church which meets in your house, will eventually be defined by two things: What it stands against, and what it stands for. As organic house churches and Safe Houses of Hope And Prayer, we must stand against sin and the kingdom of darkness in all of its manifestations, and against any spirit of control and outward religious conformity which believes and teaches that you can fight spiritual darkness with man-made religious rules. We stand for the Kingdom of God in all of its righteousness and holiness, and for the genuine spiritual transformation of the individual heart which will overflow in obedience to God.
Is your life a mess?
Here is where life gets complicated and messy. You see, in order to deal with or prevent the sins which they see in others, people and ministries are constantly tempted to create rules of outward religious conformity. We fail to comprehend Paul’s description of the Law in 2 Corinthians 3 as representing a ministry of death and which offers only a fleeting, temporary glory. All too often we fail to realize that, if the Law of God brought only death and condemnation, any laws and rules of men can only do worse! Religious legalism is like fools gold. In the end it is a worthless disappointment, but one which leads many people astray before the truth is discovered.
But because men are sometimes desperate for any kind of glory, however fleeting, they will pursue even a temporary and fading glory which they can control, rather than a greater abounding glory which only God by His Spirit can give. And there’s the rub. A religion-shaped spirituality made up of legalism and outward religious conformity places trust in ourselves to conquer sin and to clean up life’s messes by our own efforts. But a Jesus-shaped spirituality seeking spiritual transformation must always trust God, for He alone gives His Spirit without measure.
What does this mean for Safe Houses of Hope And Prayer and organic house church? And why is this an issue? It means that in both word and deed our message MUST be that we are not here to call anyone to obey our set of rules. We are here to proclaim the Kingdom of God and liberty to the captives. We are here to proclaim that God wants to transform people from the inside out, to deliver them from the ministry of death and condemnation and to introduce them to the abiding and abounding glory of God in the face of Christ. To the extent that we impose our man-made rules of outward religious conformity, we short-circuit the work of God’s Spirit and offer the fool’s gold of believing that personal transformation will come as the result of keeping a set of rules.
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Written by Roger Thoman from SimpleChurch Journal. Check out his website simplechurchjournal.com
Church is people. Living for God is lifestyle. This is the simplicity of being ekkesia: followers of Jesus.
Traditional church has focused on programs, pulpit teaching, and Sunday performances. It is a religious system rather than a spiritual ecosystem. And systems, by nature, tend to mass – produce followers who conform rather than disciples who commune, serve, and live the lifestyle of Spirit.
Abiding Isn’t a Concept, It’s a Lifestyle
Jesus’ words in John 15 are shockingly practical: “Abide in me and I in you.” He’s not handing out another theological point – He’s describing the whole Christian life.
And yet, many of us were never discipled in how to abide. How to slow down. How to recognize His presence moment by moment. How to remain rooted in Him throughout our day, our disappointments, our decisions. Too many times we became students of outer forms rather than inner spiritual realities.
Learning to Walk by the Spirit
Galatians 5:25 says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” That assumes a kind of attentiveness – a listening and responding in real time. A rhythm of relationship.
The Spirit-led life doesn’t fit neatly into structured forms of religion. The Spirit is wild. Unpredictable. Personal. Organic. He doesn’t follow an order of service.
So, we default to structure over surrender. We program what should be discerned. We mechanize what should remain mysterious.
We live from places of comfort rather than out in the messiness of people’s needs and suffering where Jesus is more likely found.
Dying to Self Is the Way In
And maybe this is why we prefer the outward forms of religion. Romans 6 tells us that if we’ve been united with Christ in His death, we will also be united with Him in His resurrection life. But how many of us walk into this mystery of death to self?
This isn’t just about sin management. It’s about an inner crucifixion that leads to freedom. It’s about surrendering the false self so that the true self, hidden in Christ, can emerge.
The Power of Stillness
“Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Stillness is where the noise dies down and the presence of God becomes known in the quiet center of our soul. But institutional Christianity, along with the Western culture, is often addicted to activity and noise. Many times our worship has become loud, crowded, performance-driven.
Stillness requires a different space, a different pace. It’s uncomfortable at first. It undoes us. But it’s there – in the silence, in the unhurried place – where we begin to hear the whisper and feel the nearness.
Rediscovering the Ancient Path
This is the journey we’re reclaiming. Not a rejection of faith, but a return to its root. A faith that’s lived from the inside out. A daily, actual, experiential walk with Jesus.
We are being invited – many of us, again or for the first time – into the deep waters of the Spirit. A lifestyle.
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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 Beresford Job.
I came to know the Lord in 1971 whilst touring with a street theatre group. One of the guys from a bunch of Christians we happened upon hugged me. In the literal twinkling of an eye, Jesus revealed Himself to a lost and messed up young hippy. In an instant, I knew myself to be a sinner in utter need of His love and grace. In that moment, I was turned upside down and inside out, and all I wanted to do was to follow Him from that moment onwards.
Among the numerous things that I suddenly knew to be true, but which had never been the slightest part of my thinking before, was that the Bible, which I had never even read (except for a couple of Old Testament passages at school in a Religious Education class) was God’s Word, and that it was meant to be our final authority in all matters.
Within just a handful of years, the Lord had led me into a full-time pastoral and teaching ministry. I was fully focussed on His calling on my life to look after people and help them grow in the Lord, and to teach what Paul referred to as ‘the whole counsel of God’. However, I had a special burden to help believers form into house churches as taught by the Apostles in the New Testament, as opposed to the traditional churches which are instead based on the teachings of the Early Church Fathers. Now, fifty years later, in various parts of the world, I continue in this same ministry and calling. Forty of those years having also served as an elder in one such local church at home in England.
There was absolutely no way I could have ever fulfilled this calling from the Lord on my own. He eventually brought me the person I needed more than anyone else, second only to Him. Belinda and I married in 1984. After years of wondering whether it was only ever going to be just the two of us, in 1998 Belinda gave me the most beautiful daughter I could have ever imagined. We named her Bethany and, until recently, she travelled with us wherever we were seeking to help the Lord’s people. Our calling has always been strictly a family effort as far as we have been concerned. Nowadays, Bethany’s life and work commitments means that she can usually no longer accompany us. We were thrilled, however, that she was recently able to be with us on a trip to a church in Australia. Nowadays it is mostly just me and Belinda travelling together.
I am now in my 70th year and, as I look back in time, and at things as they stand now, I can, in all but one thing, identify so very much with the experience of Paul the Apostle. Unlike him I look back on all too much sin, failure, foolishness and mistakes, and I can only but thank the Lord that He has forgiven me so fully. Like Paul, however, I look back and out on both joy and tears. Joy at those who grew in the Lord, and at the churches that are still going strong many years later, but with tears and heartbreak at those believers who did not grow and stay faithful, or who just ended up living spiritually stagnated and carnal lives. Discouragement and heartbreak also over the churches that started – and often very well – but which failed because of unrepentant sin, and the unwillingness of those believers who comprised them to truly live in the light with one another.
Yet even when it comes to those believers who failed to pass the test, and who even returned evil to those who laboured so hard to be a blessing and a help to them, I can truly say that it is still wonderful to know that they were at least given a chance. I feel both humbled and privileged that I and my family could have been part of that process. It is true indeed that everything works together for good to them that love God, and who are called according to His purposes.
So to those who are already on the wonderful path of biblical church life, plus those who are not yet, but who desire to be so, I say the following: it is difficult, and it is fraught with problems, but be encouraged by the knowledge that such are the difficulties and problems that we are meant to encounter. They are precisely designed by the Holy Spirit to sanctify us, and to deal with our sin and bring us closer to the Lord Jesus. They are the trials and tribulation promised us in scripture which, if we endure to the end, bring us more and more into the very life of the Lord Himself. Believers are, by God’s infinite and boundless grace, saved whether they endure or not, but what a tragedy to just live out some comfortable, unchallenged and compromised carnal discipleship, rather than staying at the cutting edge of radical ongoing surrender to the Lord.
So don’t be unduly concerned with what worldly Christians might want to define as ‘success’, and neither be overly occupied with outcomes, whether positive or negative, or seemingly good or bad. All such can be left in the Lord’s capable hands. No! Be rather completely and utterly concerned and occupied with simply being faithful to the Lord, and with living in obedience to His word. Nothing is wasted as long as our desire and motivation is to “…live godly in Christ Jesus.”
The below article was written by Buff Scott, Jr. You can contact Buff and sign up for his Reformation Rumblings newsletter by emailing him at renewal@mindspring.com.
The universal biblical principle, found throughout, is that in the assemblies of the early saints all gifts were shared mutually. The “hired hand” today interferes with and disrupts this principle. Do you suppose Paul had the professional minister in mind when he told the Roman believers they were “able to instruct one another” (Rom. 15:14)? Surely he was not referring to a one-man instructor! And was Paul coming off the wall with a lot of nonsense when he told the believers at Colosse they were to “teach and admonish one another” (Col. 3:16)? The one-man admonisher was nowhere to be found.
In the early assemblies there was a mutual exchange of praises, teaching, sharing, and singing. No one person did it all. The Thessalonians were told to “encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (1 Thess. 5:11). When we substitute this “one another” arrangement with a counterfeit system, such as the professional minister, we are guilty of disrupting heaven’s blueprint for spiritual growth.
We need to be reminded that if a congregation can import a man and pay him a big salary to do all or most of the public speaking, the same congregation can import another man and pay him a healthy salary to do all of the singing, and still another man to do all of the praying-for a salary, of course. Well, you get the idea. The principle that allows one allows the others.
To state it more explicitly, if importing specialists to feed the flock is heaven’s way, all of our gifts can be performed by proxy. As a result, all we need do is warm a pew and wait till heaven arrives. For, after all, we’re paying others to do our ministries.
Take a look at our house assemblies, usually referred to as “house churches.” Where’s the pulpit minister? He’s not needed! Why? Because all attendees contribute their share, as God’s grace abounds within them, and as He confers a diversity of gifts among them. Why in the name off good sense are we incapable of conducting our “church services” in the same fashion? The reason is because we have gone professional. We have abandoned common ground in favor of skilled specialists. We want the world to know how sophisticated and refined we have become. So we go all out to import the best and build the fanciest edifices. We have adopted idolatry, just as surely as we have substituted a bogus system.
When will it all end? In the trash-heap of by-gone religions unless we wise up and address our deficiencies and get back to the basics of edifying and strengthening one another. The situation will not improve until and unless we rediscover the “one another arrangement,” as is so clearly defined in scripture. May God open our hearts and minds to do just that.
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Timothy Germain has created this great little PDF, 69 pages with images and graphics. Solid material and easy reading that can be sent to a friend to introduce them to House Church. This can also be used as a study guide for current groups. The PDF is free to download. I have also included a sample page below.
I’ve read a few books by Stephen E. Atkerson and it seems his model of House Church or Small Church is a bit of a mystery to me. The Second edition of New Testament Church Dynamics was published in 2024 and contains some interesting concepts not found in most books on the subject. I hope he has success and people do life well under his ministry, but I can’t recommend his book. You can read some excerpts below.
Aberrant Theology The lure of a participatory meeting might attract those looking to promote an eccentric doctrine. This is another situation where leaders are needed. Timothy, stationed in Ephesus and temporarily functioning as an elder, was to “charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine” (1Ti 1:3). One qualification for an elder is that he must “be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9). Similarly, Titus was told: “Exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you” (Titus 2:15). John warned about a known deceiver: “Do not receive him into your house” (2Jn 1:10). The prevention and correction of error is one reason elders are needed.
One way to filter out doctrinal error is for the church to have an official statement of faith. Remarks made during the church meeting must be consistent with the belief statement. Members with odd beliefs should not be free to publicly express them. In addition, only brothers who are in good standing with the church should be allowed to share. Each week, an announcement should be made that only church members are permitted to speak. The leaders are the gatekeepers for would-be speakers.
Congregational Size Meetings that are either too big (hundreds of people) or too small (fewer than ten or twenty) present hindrances to participation. The presence of too many people will be inimical to intimacy. It will intimidate the shy and inhibit sharing and accountability. Only a tiny fraction of those present in a big meeting would be able to share anyway (even if they had the courage). Too few contributions from people in a tiny congregation could make the meeting seem dull because of the absence of diversity of spiritual gifts. The typical first-century church, meeting in a wealthy person’s villa, might have sixty-five to seventy people in attendance. There were 120 in the upper room. Early church meetings comprised scores of people: not hundreds and, certainly, not thousands.
Overall I think Stephen promotes the idea of a small church in a building that allows others to speak and share a meal. This seems more of a hybrid between a typical organic church and the institutional church. Like I said above, if people are becoming more like Christ, then God bless them.
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Secret Church by Maurice Smith is sobering, well written and important. Is the Church ready to face the darkness when the moral and spiritual lights go out? How does the Church prepare itself? I recommend this book and I look forward to reading other works by Maurice. The excerpt below is about getting started. Check out his website risingrivermedia.org.
“And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:46-47).
When the Church was born in the Book of Acts, beginning at Pentecost, those early disciples had no idea how to “do” Church. Like you, they had NEVER “done” Secret Church, or any other kind of Church gathering. But by Acts Chapter 7, after a span of only a few weeks, those early disciples had recognized gifted leaders, assigned responsibilities according to gifts, callings and needs and organized thousands of new converts into a network of organic house churches, spread out all over Jerusalem. These “Secret Churches” met regularly from house-to-house, shared meals together and shared resources to help those in need (read the first seven chapters of Acts to get the whole picture). What is truly amazing, by modern “church growth” standards, is that they did it all without a budget, a building, a professionally trained staff, any “how to” manuals, any church planting or church growth workshops, and no worship team. And they did it all while enduring persecution, first from institutional Judaism and later from Rome itself. It was Simple Church. It was Organic Church. It was Secret Church. It later became an Underground Church. But most importantly, it was Effective Church, effective for the times in which they lived. How effective? So effective that they were accused of turning the Mediterranean world upside down (see Acts 17:6).
There’s an important point here. Secret Church isn’t about a program. Secret Church is a lifestyle; a lifestyle of being a disciple of the Kingdom, lived out in community with other disciples of the Kingdom. That was true of Secret Church in the 1st Century, and it is true of Secret Church today. It is somewhat ironic that as our civilization collapses and devolves into that same moral and spiritual paganism which characterized ancient Rome, God is calling His Church back to being the counter-cultural witness of 1st Century Secret Church. Your journey into Secret Church truly begins when you and I embrace the biblical truth that we don’t “go” to Church. We “are” the Church, a small manifestation of the Kingdom of God where ever we happen to be, starting in our homes.
American Christians seem to have a built-in “default” button. Press it and the average American Christian will show up at a building on Sunday morning at 11 AM looking for a bulletin and a program, ready to sit for an hour-or-so while “others” (paid professional staff) “do” Church. That isn’t church, not in the biblical sense. As A.W. Tozer described it a generation ago, and little has changed since.
“When we compare our present carefully programmed meetings with the New Testament we are reminded of the remark of a famous literary critic after he had read Alexander Pope’s translation of Homer’s Odyssey: ‘It is a beautiful poem, but it is not Homer.’ So the fast-paced, highly spiced, entertaining service of today may be a beautiful example of masterful programming – but it is not a Christian service. The two are leagues apart in almost every essential. About the only thing they have in common is the presence of a number of persons in one room. There the similarity ends and glaring dissimilarities begin.”
Secret Church doesn’t have a default button. If it did, when pushed, the result would be a potluck in someone’s home, worship together, ministry to each other based upon individual spiritual gifts and needs, and maybe even a discipleship study. The focus would be on building community, worshiping together, making disciples and finding ways to sow the seed of the Kingdom by serving those in need. Making the mental transition to Secret Church will take both time and intentional effort. And we may quickly discover that we have less time than we think. The urgency to move forward may well be determined by events which are beyond our control.
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Off Course! is a great little book by Rick Sundblad. Rick highlights eleven perils, which the early church faced, that threw the church off course. If you want to learn about the early church fathers and how their theology changed the direction of the true church, this book is for you. The excerpt below is from a chapter addressing how to get back on track.
Discipleship is designed to help us become more like Christ. Biblically it is done when believers share their lives in Christ through meaningful discussions focused on the directives of the Scriptures and learning how to apply God’s truth to our daily lives. This is what true biblical fellowship, or the Greek word koinonia, is supposed to be about. It is life sharing, spiritual nurturing, a bonding together of the body of Christ. We could look at this like receiving a spiritual life transfusion, helping one another in the preparation process God uses to make us like Jesus to be servants of his grace. “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).
But if you are discouraged from talking openly about your relationship with God how can you ever hope to really improve it? I know some may say, “I can talk about God whenever I want!” But please be honest, how often, if ever, do those conversations get to where the rubber meets the road spiritually? Where iron sharpens iron and genuine repentance is seen in people’s lives, and the relationship and connection with the body of Christ are made stronger? Or do those types of exchanges nicely end up with, “You should talk to our pastor.”
Living a life of true discipleship involves a daily walk with Christ that will be reflected in a desire to constantly focus on things that have eternal value. If we are closely walking with Jesus, not at a distance, we will have a much better chance of staying on his course. If we get too far apart, out of sight from WHO we are to be following, we will surely lose our way.
In Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark The Times, author Os Guinness gives this admonition against losing our way and the hard work it takes to prevent it.
“Do we know the world well enough to know how and where it is likely to be squeezing us into its mold? And do we know our faith well enough to know where the mold of our world will be beneficial and where it would be harmful? We are to be as close as we can be to our Lord’s call to us to be in the world not of it-a challenge that requires not only faithfulness and obedience, but discernment and the willingness to count the cost and say no to the world.”
“God loves the world-the people of the world, that is and in this sense so must we. But God does not love the spirit and system of the world that is set against his kingdom, and neither must we. Thus one positive reason to understand the world is our desire to love the world too and to witness to the world, for the world is the social setting within which people hear what we have to say. Equally, one negative reason to understand the world is the danger of worldliness, for unless we discern its spirit and its shape, the world will always threaten to squeeze us into its mold unawares.
When we truly live in the world but are not of it, the church becomes-under God-the greatest transforming agency the world has ever seen. The glory goes to God and the credit to the truth of the gospel. It is not we ourselves, but our living-in-truth that changes the world. Our small part is simply to live the truth of the way of Jesus to which we have been called [p. 88].”
Sadly, it appears we may have collectively wandered off course and gotten stuck in the morass of self-righteous pride, time-ignorant worldliness, lukewarm complacency and blind selfishness. Such a pity. We miss so much of what he wants. And don’t forget, if one part of the body is stuck, we are all stuck. “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it” (1 Cor. 12:26). May we sincerely repent and ask God to forgive us, and help all of his true church to get back on his charted course for his glory.
“For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures. Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement allow you to live in harmony with one another, according to the command of Christ Jesus, so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with a united mind and voice” (Romans 15:4-5 HCSB).
Published in 2003 and edited by Steve Atkerson, ekklesia addresses the roots of biblical church life. This book is an earlier version of a book published in 2008 entitled House Church. You can read an excerpt of House Churchhere. The ten contributing authors make ekklesia a well rounded book and I recommend it. I especially enjoyed the two different perspectives on women being silent in the church. Below is an excerpt written by my good friend Jon Zens on how to deal with conflicts and problems that will eventually arise in any group.
No human family can function indefinitely without having to face a conflict or problem. Likewise, in Christ’s family there will be problems that must be resolved. Indeed, much of what was written in the New Testament had to do with correcting errors of teaching and practice among the saints. What guidelines does the New Testament give for working through the bumpy times that any congregation will inevitably face? 1 Corinthians 1:10 reveals some critical apostolic teaching in this regard.
First, it can be noted that Paul directs his exhortation to the “brethren.” These were believers in a city who maintained an ongoing relationship with one another in the bonds of Christ. They were committed to one another because of their common interest in the Gospel. It is this deep mutual fellowship (koinonia) in Christ that provides the backdrop for Paul’s approach to them with correction. Larry Crabb notes a vital perspective that emerges from this consideration, “Change takes place when truth is presented in relationship. Perhaps a relationship of deep regard and empathetic concern is the context for change, creating an atmosphere in which the truth of God can be heard nondefensively and thus penetrate more deeply…to be healthy, a church must present truth in the context of encouraging relationships” (Encouragement: The Key to Caring, Zondervan, 1984, pp.84,91).
This insight reflects what we saw in Romans 15:7. A loving, caring, accepting atmosphere must be the context for speaking the truth to each other in love (Rom.15:14). What reason would we have to think that Gospel truth will take deep root in a setting which reflected instead the modified line from the old song, “Where seldom is heard, an encouraging word”?
Next, Paul confronts the Corinthians with a very serious problem. Paul had a number of issues with them, but this is the one at the top of his list. They were clustering around gifted personalities, and by such schism were ruining the image of an undivided Christ. “Each one of you is saying, ‘I’m of Paul; and I’m of Apollos; and I’m of Peter; and I’m of Christ.” This sinful division was already occurring and had driven the saints apart from one another.
To solve this problem Paul appeals to them “to agree” about the wickedness of this situation. If they “agreed” then the divisions could no longer exist. The participle katartismenoi used in verse 10 is significant. It is from the same verb used in Ep 4:12, translated there as “equip” or “prepare.” It is the verb used when the disciples were “mending” their nets (Mt 4:21; Mk 1:19). We could loosely translate the verb, “mending with a view toward rendering something as functional again.” This idea also emerges again in Galatians 6:1, “restore such a one…”
As used in the context of 1Co 1:10, we can see an important implication of being “perfectly united in mind and thought.” While we are not given any of the details as to how they worked this out, at a minimum we can say that the Corinthians had to work through this matter until the breach was “mended” and they finally “agreed.” A process which results in unity is in view. They were already split apart, so in order for the torn garment to be repaired they had to: (1) take the apostolic instruction; (2) come back together; (3) face and discuss the word of the Lord together; (4) repent of their sins; and (5) be restored again to their original oneness.
The utterly amazing fact is that, even with all their problems, Paul assumes that the assembly has the spiritual resources to overcome their waywardness. Many posit that the problem-solving abilities Paul presupposes will only work among mature churches. But this is a bogus suggestion. Corinth was in many ways a very immature assembly, but Paul still expects them, for example, to deal with immorality in their midst (1Co 5) and to resolve their disputes internally without going to unbelieving courts (1Co 6).
The apostles taught that within the New Covenant community all were anointed by the Holy Spirit who enabled them to “test” and “discern” what the will of God might be (1Jn 2:20,27; 4:1; 1Th :21). The ekklesia, therefore, is first of all a discerning community, able to “bind and loose,” and thus is also a decision-making community. The very word chosen to earmark the New Covenant people of God, ekklesia, is taken from the secular political realm, not from a religious context. Ekklesia referred to a group of people with common interests getting together to accomplish certain business. It would be very similar to the town meetings that took place in developing America in the 1800’s. John H. Yoder observes that, “The word ekklesia itself…does not refer to a specifically religious meeting, nor to a particular organization: it rather mean the “assembly,” the gathering of a people into a meeting for deliberation or for a public pronouncement… The church is where, because there Jesus is confessed as Christ, people are empowered to speak to one another in God’s name… It is only in the local face-to-face meeting, with brothers and sisters, who know one another well, that this process can take place of which Jesus says that what has been decided stands decided in heaven” (“Binding & Loosing,” Concern #14, Feb. 1967, pp.2ff.; cf. TDNT, IV, p.336).
As you reflect on the New Testament epistles, it is quite striking that church leaders are not addressed separately, as if some special decision-making authority resided in them. Instead, Paul directs his writings to the entire assembly. For example, he does not rebuke the elders at Corinth for failing to deal with the immoral person or for not resolving the disputes among the brethren. He puts the nexus of responsibility on the whole congregation to carry out Christ’s revealed will.
Paul’s approach flies in the face of the traditional decision-making method, which views “the pastor,” or a body of leaders, as the source of decisions. Abraham Kuyper, for instance, removed the “right to judge” from the congregation and asserted that “the administrative authority over the church rests not with the members, but properly with the presbyters” (“Pamphlet on The Reformation of the Church,” The Standard Bearer, Oct. 1979, p.14). Jay Adams avers that “take it to the church” means “take it to the elders,” who then forgive or excommunicate (Ready to Forgive, Pres. & Reformed, pp.3-4). Such an interpretation is arbitrary, informed more by presuppositions than by the text itself. Elders will certainly be a part of the “discerning” process in the body, but the New Testament will not sustain the notion that elders are the process itself. The truth is, there is very little focus on elders in the New Testament, compared to the at least fifty-eight “one-another” imperatives found therein.
Both times Jesus uses ekklesia to identify His New Covenant people, He attaches “binding and loosing” to its function (Mt16:19; 18:18). This clearly indicates that we need to significantly broaden our ideas of what is entailed in doing “church.” Traditionally, doing church means going to a building, sitting in a pew, singing some songs, putting some money in a plate, hearing a sermon, shaking the pastor’s hand, and heading home to get your roast out of the oven. Most fundamentally, however, ekklesia means doing the whole gamut of kingdom activities with other committed believers in a local congregation. We are not used to thinking of resolving disputes within the body as “church,” but the essence of practicing ekklesia involves problem-solving and decision-making in an atmosphere of loving acceptance where Christ’s truth can be spoken in love.
It behooves us, therefore, to realize that it is expected of assemblies to “agree with one another” and to be “perfectly united in mind and thought”. This does not mean that we must have unanimity regarding every doctrinal nuance, but it does mean that we must be ready to work things out with our brethren as required in light of apostolic teaching. Paul was not surprised when congregations had problems, but he was upset when they failed to work through their problems together as a body. Here is a question each of us needs to face: when the inevitable day comes in my assembly that a problem surfaces, am I going to run and hide from it, or am I going to stand with the body and do my part to be part of its resolution? Real ekklesia requires hard work and commitment, but we must never forget that Jesus’ presence by the Spirit, persistent prayer, preferring others ahead of ourselves, and fervent love are where the battles are won.
