8th September 2024
When we examine the church in the New Testament and in the early years, we find that Christians met in each other’s homes. It was only much later that they met in public buildings and purpose-built buildings. And when we examine the way that the early church was organised and the way they worshiped it could only work properly when they met informally in small groups in private homes. If we are serious about obeying the scriptures and following the church model that the Apostles taught, we have to do as they did and meet in private homes.
In the Apostolic model of the church there is no hierarchy, no division between the so-called clergy and the laity. There are no special garments worn by those in leadership and those taking part in worship. All that exists in the Apostolic model (which is the biblical model) are roles. There are no titles or divisions. And yet the modern-day churches have got hierarchies, clergy and laity, special garments and titles. All of these practices are Pharisaic and of the world and Jesus taught against them.
In the biblical model of the church everyone is meant to contribute towards the life and mission of the church through various roles, ministries and gifts. But in the modern church with its purpose-built buildings this doesn’t happen. Our modern church buildings are designed like theatres with a stage at the front on which a small, select group of people perform and the rest of the church sits in rows facing towards the stage. A combination of the design of the building, the size of the building and the size of the congregation makes it impossible for everyone to contribute to the worship in the way that the Apostle Paul instructed.
The much-needed Protestant Reformation was flawed. It dealt with the false teaching with regard to salvation and it re-established the final authority of the scriptures. But it failed to address the wrong practices and structures of the church which were unbiblical and which were hindering God’s people from living the Christian life to the full. However, this is finally being addressed but not by the leaders of the institutional churches. Instead, God is addressing it Himself through ordinary Christians devoting themselves to taking the scriptures seriously. Small groups of Christians are coming together to study the scriptures and as they do so they are seeing that the institutional churches are not functioning as God intended. At the same time, most of the institutional churches have become so apostate and corrupt that they are now in rapid decline under God’s judgement.
These small groups of remnant Christians who want to obey God are now forming house churches which function biblically. And they are doing this because that is what God wants to do in these end times. He is bringing down the institutional churches and raising up house churches ready for what is to come. If you would like to know more about house churches why not click here and you will be taken to a page on the website of the house church that I belong to.