Simple Church
What is church? The word “church” comes from the Greek word “ecclesia,” which means a calling out or gathering of the saints. In the 107 times this word is used in scripture, it never once refers to a building, place you go to, or something you “do.” It always refers to people! We can’t go to church or do church–we are the Church!
Being the Church should be simple. One of the problems with the American church today is that we have tried to complicate everything. Jesus’ approach to ministry and discipleship was brilliantly simple. The New Testament approach to church was amazingly simple. So, why should we do it any different? If the early church grew from 25,000 total in AD 100 to over 20 million in AD 310 before the “institutionalization” of the church, shouldn’t that tell us something?! When you pour over what Jesus said about His body, His bride, it becomes apparent that the church should be like a living plant. Everything that’s true about planting, growing, harvesting plants is true of His church. In light of this, our church has transitioned from a conventional approach to a network of house churches!
What is Simple Church?
We all recognize that it would be ludicrous to think nailing a steeple to the roof of a house would make it a simple church. However, many of us take what we’ve seen happen in church buildings our whole lives and duplicate it in our living room and call it a church. Simple church is about a change in the way we do church. As you look through this issue, here are some of the key components to keep in mind.
FOOD
When we get together, we eat! It provides a great atmosphere for people to have honest, open communication with each other.
OPEN PARTICIPATION
“What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.” 1 Corinthians 14:26
The key is “everyone has…” Everybody should be able to participate.
FAMILY WORSHIP
In Matthew 19:14 Jesus said “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Children don’t have a “mini-Me” version of the Holy Spirit! They’ve got the same Holy Spirit living inside them as we do! The best atmosphere for children to learn about God and how to live the Christian life is with their parents in worship who are called by God to disciple them!
BIBLE STUDY
We keep it simple and interactive. A great technique is to look over a few verses together and then share what each person has learned. See the scripture below about being devoted to God’s word!
PRAYER
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42
Find out what is happening in each other’s lives and take time to pray for each other. Expect God to move powerfully and to speak to the group as you pray.
MISSION
“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 20:21
Simple church meets somewhere in the community rather than asking people from the community to “come to church!” The church should be on mission at all times!
SIMPLICITY
Make sure that whatever you do can be duplicated. If the church is going to multiply rapidly, it must be kept simple. Church is not about the weekly gathering, it’s about a different way of life.
“Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” Acts 5:42