House Church

2013-03-23

For about six months, we had the privilege of being a part of a house church. I am a proponent of house churches for a number of reasons, and I want to share these convictions with you.

House Churches are Not Inferior or Superior

Before I begin, I want state that I do not believe it is wrong to be a part of a church that meets in separate buildings. The building is not the important element of meeting together as a body. Consider this example:

“Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:21-24)

Jesus specifically tells the woman at the well that the location, which was once important in Old Testament times, was changing in this new age of the local church. As long as people meet and worship in spirit and in truth, then they do well, no matter the environment.

Biblical Instances of Churches in Homes

Here are four instances of people meeting in a home for church.

Romans 16:5: “Likewise greet the church that is in their house.”

1 Corinthians 16:19: “The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.”

Colossians 4:15: “Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.”

Philemon 1:2: “And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house:”

This alone seems to suggest that this sort of church was somewhat common. Since the first century was a period where Christians were persecuted, it only makes sense that people neither engaged in expensive building projects nor had public signs saying that a building was expressly used as a church.

Leadership

Trained clergy are not necessary. The clergy class within the church is something more borrowed from the high denominations in Christendom. Anybody that has the Scriptural qualifications found in 1 Timothy 3 can be a Bible teacher in the church.

Likewise, you do not need paid preachers. Every leader or Bible teacher is not paid, but does their own preparation in their own time.

Plurality of Leadership and Accountability

Many traditional churches do have multiple pastors and leaders. In a house church, it is more important to have multiple leaders because more than one man carries the burden of teaching. Leadership plurality also provides accountability among the men.

A house church also has nobody else as head of the church, either directly or implied. There are no denominational leaders in some distant state somewhere deciding on how you should function or what to believe. The elders are those who seek the Lord to guide the church, for the Lord Jesus is the head of the church. There also is no 501(c)(3) status which gives the government implied control over the church.

Finances

We already considered that a house church does not have paid teachers. This is a major perk for a house church because every man supports themselves and their families with their own tentmaking vocation (Acts 18:3). However, you do not need to have finances involved at all. If you eat together, everyone brings something to the table. You are already paying your property taxes, insurance, electricity, etc., so there are no extra bills.

So what about giving, tithing, and the like? If people in your church are in need, you support them out of your own money. If you want to support missionaries, every family can sponsor someone’s work. This simplifies giving money to a church “organization” that has to keep financial records and so forth. Tithe money is not wasted going to a church building’s electric bill and other such mundane things.

How many churches go into debt over buildings? That problem is gone if you have a house church.

In short, there are no finances outside the regular bills of owning a home. Families also can meet in different homes so no one family carries any burden.

Friendship in an Intimate Environment

No matter how friendly churches can be, nothing is as relaxed as meeting in a home. Meeting times can change; you are never pigeon-holed into a certain time or day. You can stay later after church and get to know people as long as you want. This was certainly the case in our group, and the time was invaluable. There is no other inviting atmosphere like someone’s home.

Forced to Keep the Size Small

Often churches want to expand and grow. It is good to have more people interested in coming to church! However, there is a point when a church is so big, you do not know everybody’s name. If you get to the point where the church is too big so that the house is too full, you break the group up into more than one group. You want to keep it close-knit among all the people, but you also want there to be more churches to spread out your Christian testimony. The early church got huge, and the people eventually were scattered abroad (Acts 8:1). However, this was a part of God’s plan, because he wanted them to spread out and preach the Gospel (Acts 1:8).

About My Experience

Our group at its peak had five families. For various reasons, a few of the families left. The last family to leave left because they were moving far away; otherwise, we would still be meeting.

We would meet twice a week, on Tuesday nights and Saturday nights. We would eat together each time. On Tuesdays, we would have an interactive Bible study in Acts. On Saturdays, each of us men would take a turn giving a message. We also would sing together and pray together. The one family had a bunch of hymnals we used. The music was a cappella.

One distinctive was that all of us were together. We did not break apart for separate Sunday school-style classes or have a nursery. We believe that families should remain together when hearing the teaching and singing.

Because we met at a home, we often stayed late talking and getting to know each other. There was an authentic community built--the best I had seen in church. It is my intention to start a house church again some day, finding others willing to have an authentic church community in simplicity. Pray for us as we go about this journey.