John Chapter Three: Being Church Outside of the Confines of the Church

Documentation 27 October 2024

The Church as we know it was never a sustainable model

At the end of June 2022, I returned to my country, South Africa, after working as an expatriate for 13 years. A few months before we returned, I expressed to my wife my biggest concern about our return: How was I going to experience being in a church again, and how would the church have changed since the last time we were fulltime members. Just to understand what we had gone through up to this time, know that for all these years we worked on the desert oil fields of a Gulf country, in a Muslim society, with no church in sight, at least not one we could attend and understand.

Less than two months after our return, we started attending a church in our area. Now anyone who knows my story knows my name, and it will be fairly easy to connect the dots and find out which church we ended up joining. Initially, driven mostly by a desperate desire to be part of the Body again, we tried to experience everything in a positive way. However, as time went by, it became clear that my initial concern was realised – for all practical purposes, our church was no more than a business, driven the same way as any other business, to make money. [ See the article It's All About Money ] Fellowship and discipleship were very far down the list of activities. While the list looked inviting, on closer inspection it was clear that any activities that you did not have to pay for to attend, were not entertained. One such was a weekly prayer meeting, which I was told the church could not accommodate in its programme because there was no time for it. Clearly then, prayer as part of fellowship is not deemed important.

After just under two years, being committed to contribute positively, we left this church. How the church operates is driven by an exclusive group from within the protection of the church office, not by real-life challenges of average people in day-to-day living. God clearly showed me that this is not the way the church should operate, and Jesus’s words as recorded by John came to me loudly and clearly (All references are taken from the 1611 King James Version and verses may differ by one back or forward depending on the translation you use. Always read before and after the quoted text for better context.):

¹⁵I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. ¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. – Revelation 3:15-16

This is the current situation with most churches in the world. They have become complacent, lukewarm. Then again, maybe this Scripture speaks directly to me. Maybe I am the one who has become complacent. I have the required theological and didactical background and spent a few years in the ministry. I have been involved with homecells for a period of 34 years. I am convinced that home churches are still God’s original design for the church, and this is the way it should be run. Am I saying you should leave your church? No. What I am saying, as the title of this writing, is that we must be the church outside of the confines of the modern church. Home churches are the only way a number of aspects of the first century church can be lived out again:

Doctrine

In Acts 2:42 we read that the newly converted continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine. This doctrine was not taught to them by a church, but by Jesus Christ Himself. The apostles were the first recipients of the doctrine of Christ when they were still His disciples, and He set the example. Thus, there was no watered down doctrine, or one that could have changed in time due to people’s opinions.

You need to rightly divide the Word, according to Paul’s instruction to Timothy in 2 Tim 3:14-16, to identify the doctrine of Christ and separate it out from the false doctrine of the world that has infiltrated Christ’s teaching. The problem is that our modern churches focus so much on shows that pure doctrine is not taught anymore. In fact, it is not only not taught, but also not endured anymore. See 2 Timothy 4:3. It requires spiritually mature believers to teach others sound doctrine (2 Timothy 2:2-3). Proper application and understanding of Biblical doctrine are critical for anyone who strives to become a home church leader, and they must learn this from those who are already experienced home church leaders. This takes time to develop. Nevertheless, doctrine can only be taught in smaller groups where the environment allows for proper teaching to take place. In a large church, it is a lecture at best. Teaching requires two-way communication or dialogue. Lecturing (church preaching) is a monologue.

Fellowship

The second aspect of Acts 2:42 and 46 after doctrine is fellowship. Man was never designed to live in isolation, and this is even more true for the church. Fellowship is deemed essential, and it entails spending real, quality time with other believers. Many people attend a church service, and then leave without spending any notable time with anyone else. This is not fellowship. “I come, I hear, I leave” may be your attitude to survive an hour of “church”, but it was not meant to be this way. Fellowship involves a much closer and intimate quality time spent with other believers.

The large church setup makes this difficult to live out practically. The home church on the other hand, is much better equipped to do this. Fellowship is shared along with the other activities.

Breaking of bread

Do not try to make this one overly complicated. Breaking of bread simply means to share a meal together. This is part of the fellowship mentioned above. In the first century church this may or may not have included communion but based on the example Jesus set in Matthew 26:26 communion was a natural part of the meal. In our home cell, communion is part of the meal or snacks we enjoy.

Even with the best of intentions, communion held in a church building with many people present becomes impersonal; even impractical. The home church on the other hand, probably already has what is required – suitable sitting and eating arrangements – and it is central in the planning. We do not know what the exact size of the upper room was where the disciples were instructed to prepare the meal, but we can assume it was comfortable and large enough to accommodate 13 people.

Prayer

Prayer is a vital part of a Christian’s life and every meeting we have, should be dedicated to this. The people who assembled no doubt prayed together. We see in our modern churches that prayer is at best restricted to an opening or closing prayer. Praying together with the same people we have just received doctrine, had fellowship with, and ate with, is the standard how home churches must operate.

Conclusion

The church as we know it may not exist for long. Whether you think I am a fear monger is for you to decide, but there will be a day when the formal Christian church will be banned as it is seen as a public menace. Those who are then not part of established house churches will be left isolated or will have to quickly find a spiritual refuge. I am not saying you must leave your church. What I urge you to do is to join a home church or home cell, irrespective of what church you belong to, so that you can learn (or teach) proper doctrine, experience fellowship, and learn to pray together effectively.

We want to equip individuals as cell leaders. Contact us on info@johnchapterthree.com to find out how you can become part of the way church was intended to be, and lead others on their path to meet Jesus.