At this point, we have answered the question of what we are doing wrong in today’s church. I want to start to focus on what we can do to make it right, in a very specific sense. So I cast around for examples of successful churches and I realized the best example was right before my eyes – the first church, found in Acts.
In this church, there was no building. Scripture (the limited canon that existed at the time) was taught in very small groups that met in people’s homes. I imagine the groups did not hold their membership very long, because as they grew, people had to leave so as not to draw attention. The people that left started their own groups, which then grew and multiplied again into even more groups. Church members did not claim any possessions of their own. They gave freely and generously to those in need, whether the needy person was a member of the church or not. They went to any sick person they could find and gave them God’s healing in the spiritual and the physical sense.
Can you see this type of thing happening in our society? It’s a huge stretch for us to put a tenth of our earnings into the offering plate – can you imagine the reaction if the pastor suddenly asked you to give up all your money and possessions? What if he stood up one week and said the church would be disbanded into small groups which were never permitted to have more than five members?
Would that church work today?
-Diana C.
Through reading this and the previous comments I began to realize the importance of my own housing situation. My house is affiliated with Life Center’s college housing program, which is part of their college ministry, to give college aged people an opportunity to live in continual fellowship with other true believers. We as a house are the church and this has played a huge role in my spiritual growth! Thanks for this insight and I know there are many other ways to exemplify the original church idea found in Acts, so I encourage you to seek these out.
-Colten
It would be interesting experiment to see if a congregation could even feel comfortable in such small intimate environments. Part of the reason I think the large congregation churches “work” for us is because we enjoy the safety in numbers. However, in a smaller environment individuals would be forced to examine their own spiritual life much more carefully and, if the small groups were achieved, I think we would find more spiritually mature individuals. Maybe one day a church will be brave enough to try this experiment, but until then I guess we have to keep praying that the same spirit that filled the early church will dwell in us as well.
That’s a solid question Diana. Since the church was unable to congregate en-masse, the question that comes to my mind is: now that we are able to meet in large congregations, should we? Is it better to have a huge body of believers lifting up the praises of the king in a powerful concourse of saints, or are small congregations the better way to communally worship God so that all giftings and talents are actively employed in every gathering of the members? I don’t think anyone has a good answer for that right now, and I hope your able to continue on this thought.