Going part 3 - House to House?

We have already established that the call to "go and make disciples" is for all who have been saved an indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is also clear from scripture that making disciples requires more than just actions or vague references to God or Jesus, but rather telling people about who Jesus is, why He came and why that is important to us and them. The next question is - How do we go as 21st century followers of Jesus Christ?

Do we wait for them to come to our church and then teach them - is that going?

Do we put up a sign for our church - is that going?

Do we have attractive programs and invite folks to come in person or through advertising - is that going?

Do we pay evangelists and missionaries to take the gospel to the lost in our area and around the world - is that going?

Does going require we leave the safety of the church or can we use all the other means at our disposal and stay, while still fulfilling the command to Go?

I am not against any of the above mentioned activities as possible means to get the gospel to a lost world. For making disciples to take place in parts of the world where there is no established church, sending missionaries is an obvious need. However, with the other above mentioned strategies there is cause for caution. The church has always had times and places for centralized worship, teaching and administering church ordinances, but has it ever been the plan that the local church be that and nothing more? Can the centralization of the church, at the exclusion of going, be a detriment to church growth, both numerically and spiritually?

The original 1st century church (Acts 2:40-47) was probably not intended to be the final word on what the church would become, but is it likely the church was ever to be less than it was in that very pure 1st century form? Here is how that first church met as a church -

Acts 2:46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. (NKJV)

If the church was not to become less than it was when first established, then we must answer the question, is centralizing all church activities a good thing? Clearly we see some corporate teaching taking place in the temple court, but we also see the church meeting from house to house! It is with both these types of gatherings taking placed that we see "the Lord added to their number daily those who are being saved". Why might both kinds of gathering be best and necessary?

1st - Some may not have felt welcome at the temple as it was a place where,  by Jewish law, only those who were ceremonially "clean" could go and outcasts of society would likely see it as the last place they would be welcome. Is this not a reality for the centralized church through the ages? Isn't the misconception that the church is against sinners, rather than loving them and wanting to set them free, a huge problem in our time? Isn't it likely that there are those who would come to our homes, because we have developed a relationship with them at work, school or other places, that may not come to the centralized church meeting, because they have seen or heard some bad information regarding the church?

2nd - There is a level of intimacy that can occur in the home of other believers, that may be difficult to achieve in a larger corporate church setting. The "gladness and simplicity of heart" describes intimacy that requires getting to know people at a deeper level. If all of our church time is engaged in activities at the centralized church meetings, will we develop these deeper relationships? Is it possible that more and bigger church activities actually works against us developing the kind of meaningful relationship God intends us to have with other believers?

Finally, who does the ministry at the centralized church meetings? Pastors and others teach the word to all ages of people while some use their time/talents for a multitude of other things. In many churches these other things might include: singing in a praise team or choir, watching children in the nursery, being an usher, cleaning the church or serving on committees. OK, great, these things may be very necessary for the centralized church gathering to take place in an effective and orderly fashion. However, if this is all there is, have we gone?

Perhaps the greatest benefit of smaller gatherings of believers in homes, is the opportunity for everyone to engage in discipleship and ministry. Other forms of service are good, but if we don't get to interact in deep intimate ways with other believers, we miss the opportunity to get to know their needs, encourage them, pray for them and perhaps meet their needs ourselves, rather than relying on some special person or group in the church to do it.

The church gathering in a home, is also a great opportunity for reaching those who don't think they would be welcome at the larger more formal church gathering. If my neighbors are regularly invited to  my  home or another home, by people they have already come to see as loving and non-judgmental, they may come to know the Lord through this smaller gathering and I will get to be more intimately involved in the work! This is very important since we have already established that going is the call of all believers and we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do it!

So why don't we do this?

1st - It is easier to let those we think are specially called/equipped do the work of evangelism, discipleship and meeting individual needs at the church, while we serve at the church where we feel comfortable. Who said we were to be comfortable following Christ?

2nd - It is scary to think of inviting others into your home as they may find out what you are really like! Isn't that the point?

3rd - Church leaders, like myself, are slow to risk doing damage to the church as it is now, by calling people to do what may be met with skepticism, indifference or outright hostility.

So what do we do? As, a church leader (Pastor/Elder), I say we go! I will call my congregation to go, because it is best for them and how God has designed His church! As to the fear of calling others to go or going myself, I was encouraged today by God through His word:

2 Cor. 12:15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. (NKJV)

I have never and I am sure Paul never regretted calling the church to do what God commanded and what was by definition also best for them, even if at times they did not respond in kind immediately!

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."