Is Small / Simple Gathering Mandated by the New Testament? 

Many ask us, "Why is it that you emphasize the small and simple gathering as though the larger and building oriented gatherings were wrong?"

I’d like to address that in this article.

In a nut shell it comes down to this, throughout the ancient world, in the times of the apostles, all religions, other than the early believers in Christ, gathered in religious buildings, built to house the believers of the various ancient religious beliefs. Jews, throughout the Roman empire, were allowed to build synagogues, and every other religious group had their temples and places of formal meeting. Until 200 AD, persecution of early believers was minimal, more so from Jews, than from Roman citizens. Believers in Christ were seen as a subset of the Jewish faith, and as such, if they had desired to build their own synagogues, they could easily have done so, without much, if any, opposition by the Roman government or citizenry, but they never did it.

Therefore, we see in this a clear indication of the "Foundational Principles," the apostles were working with. While they could have encouraged building religious establishments, they didn’t. And, everything about what they did encourage appears to be done with a strong sense of purposed pattern, towards something "other" than religious buildings.

What was that "other," they seemed to be pursuing? It appears the Lord Jesus had impressed upon them a concept of relational community, over religious organization. They were families, joined together to know and love each other and the Lord Jesus. They were not another religious group placed alongside all other organizations, but they were an entirely "New Creation" in the earth. They were "The Family of God" gathering, not religious organizations, but were called to know the Lord Jesus in a "Strong Relational Together" environment.

Their gatherings were formed to express their knowing Him, and their desire to know one another "In Him." Everything about their gathering seemed to point away from a religious organization, and toward intimacy, care, love, and knowing Christ in one another. Where better to express that than in the home. Families meet in homes. We are the family of God, therefore we meet in homes. Not just homes, but certainly home is the logical location for families to gather. This creates a very different emphasis and purpose, than forming religious organizations.

Not until around 300 AD, and the interaction with the Emperor Constantine, did anything develop by way of buildings for believer’s in Christ. At his direction, the pagan temples were converted into Christian Cathedrals, and he authorized the building of many others as well. Leadership shifted from simply being older and wise brethren overseeing in a caring way, for the needs natural and spiritual, among to the body of Christ, towards strong hierarchical leadership, deeply connected to the agenda of the State, and towards a heavy control orientation of the local fellowships of believers. Church made a very radical detour from the original foundation and traditions of the apostles.

When Paul spoke the following three passages, I think we must pay far greater attention to them than Church history has:

These verses tell us some very important things:

1. Jesus Christ, through direct revelation (per 2 Timothy 3:16), gave the apostolic traditions the early Church walked in, and when we consider how radical a departure from the religious organizational norm of the day, that the house churches were, we simply cannot ignore the reality that, of all the traditions they established, the house gathering had to have been a direct tradition given by the Lord Himself, and one of the most significant of all of them. It was the prevailing pattern during the entire time of apostolic writing.

2. They were taught to "stand fast, hold, and keep" the traditions, not let them drift away over time. These seem to be strong admonitions, not to be ignored or changed.

3. Each epistle describes the gathering of saints, in ways that simply function best in a relational and participatory open environment, where all the believers are encouraged to contribute to the gathering, in song, testimony, prophecy, teaching, exhortation, encouragement, admonishment, conviction, love, and encouragement.

4. These things form the very "Foundation of Christ," among the early believers. Everything Paul wrote, intimately connected with the small simple gathering approach, works together to maintain the headship of Christ in leadership and practice. If these principles had been maintained, Jesus would have remained the functional and true Head of His body, with all the members joined to Him to listen to and follow His every direction. As it turned out, because these simple foundations were abandoned, men usurped His authority, developed a concept of leadership and authority, entirely foreign to the clear teaching of the New Testament, and caused the Church to lose much of its direct connection to its Head - The Lord Jesus.

What things function far better in the small home setting than the larger building orientation?

1. The centrality of Christ. Eph. 1:17,18

An emphasis on Jesus, not entertainment, not programs, not a single individuals plan for the service, not by professional Christians, etc.

2. Open Participation. 1 Cor. 14

Where every believer comes to the gathering knowing and believing that Jesus may well call upon them to communicate His heart and mind to those gathered, and that there will be an opportunity for that to take place, because that is a clearly stated priority of the gathering.

3. Knowing intimately, those who lead. 1 Thess. 5:12

Whereas in the larger and mega Church, where the flock rarely get to know the one leading them very well, the smaller house gathering encourages a depth of relational knowing, personalized care, and genuine transparency in those who lead.

4. Development of family connections. 1 Tim. 5:1,2; 1 Pet. 5:5

We are brothers, and sisters, with mothers and fathers, as sons and daughters of the Lord. Through the process of getting to know one another, after the Spirit, in small and intimate settings, our familial relationships are strengthened.

5. A Leadership that functions more like fathers in a family, than CEOs of a corporation. 1 Thess. 2:11,12; 1 Cor. 4:15

Paul’s approach to leadership has no indications of a developing "Boss over a company, CEO over a corporation, Despot over a controlled region, or Manager of a business." Leaders are older brothers and sisters in Christ, with proven godly character, wisdom, servant’s hearts, and spiritual graces.

6. Multiple expressions of the Holy Spirit in the Gathering. Eph. 5:19, 1 Cor. 14

Each believer is encouraged to see their part in gathering as essential, rather than as passive pew sitters who listen to the primary or exclusive communicator.

7. Interconnectivity of the entire body, with the ministry of the Spirit in Gathering. Eph. 4:16

There is to be a clear sense of connectedness. However we gather there must be certain sense of the importance of each member, all contributing to the increase of the whole. Everyone is needed, far beyond their tithe check or Sunday school teaching.

Therefore, while we certainly recognize the legacy of the "Church in a Building," approach to Church, has not been all bad, we very much believe the Lord Jesus is transitioning His Church back towards the Traditions of the apostles, which He Himself gave them, and the Foundations of life in Christ.

Will the "Church in a Building," approach prevail? I suspect it will continue, perhaps even until the return of the Lord, and for those who do not see the New Testament pattern, their involvement in the approach they have always known is certainly preferable to no involvement with the Church. But, will it "Prevail?" I don’t think so. If prevail means dominate the Church scene, then "No," I don’t think this will happen. I believe it will continue to lose its membership, in some cases dramatically, and in other places slowly but surely. It seems very obvious that God is speaking to the hearts of millions of believers, worldwide, about coming into small and simple environments, where Jesus’ Lordship is more fully expressed, and gathering "Unto Him," is their focus.

Comments (3) >>

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written by corman, May 13, 2008

We are all brothers in Christ. Large group or small. In the beloved of God. We all will be judged someday for our actions but we are not the ones called to Judge other believers. Just love them. We all need close relationships . That is the way God designed us . Any healthy and growing christian knows by God's leading to join himself with fellow believers for accountability, strength, community, transparency, love, fellowship, carrying each others burdens and praying for one another. and on and on it goes. We don't have to throw the baby out with the bathwater because some believers are not as enlightened as we are and we are not called to judge but to love. We are called to follow Jesus and if we feel that small groups is his leading and Mandate then we can do that while being at peace with those who believe differently but our still genuinely saved and our brothers and sisters. I place a high value on Unity in the body. Perhaps John should open his home to other believers or humble himself and join believers of a different mindset until he is able to establish a small group at another time. I dont think it is God's will for us not to have any fellowship locally just because we have a critical spirit toward others who believe differently then us> this blog more in response to brother John than Brother Tom. blessings..

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written by tomsparks7, April 02, 2008

Greetings John,
Sorry to take so long to respond to your comment. From January 24th through March 20th I was in the Philippines, Myanmar, and Malaysia, on ministry, and when I returned home I had 10 days of computer headaches to deal with. I've finally surfaced again, and am able to reply to your comment.
I hear your very real concerns, and certainly echo each of them. While I was gone on those two months of ministry I felt deeply prompted by the Lord to return home and address just the issue you mention. I love the phrase "Shared Life Community." I believe it calls us to an aspect of Church life that is nearly impossible in the traditional model church.
One of the reasons I think it is, is because relationship is more than just obedience to love people. It has very real psychological elements to it. One of those elements is triggered the moment a person walks into a large congregation, looks around, realizes he knows no one there, feels the inward spiritual call to community, but is simply overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.
So, what does he do? If he is like most Christians, he comes in, sits down, and over a period of several weeks gives up on the notion of community. He's lucky if he can connect to one or two folks, given the distance that most folks surround themselves by.
Why do folks give up? Why do folks present an "aloof" attitude, in the larger churches? I don't think it is just because they desire to disobey Jesus' call to love. I think they are overwhelmed by the environment. How on earth are they going to effectively and truly relate at an intimate and loving level with all those people? It is just too much for them.
So they learn to come in, like most folks, sing a few songs, listen to a good sermon, and go home. The love they have been called to never gets a chance to blossom because they are so overwhelmed.
Now, I completely agree with you...we are called to love, but I suspect that commandment is never going to flourish in the typical traditional church. They are going to need to find a far smaller (living room size) group of people they can imagine getting to know, and begin to transparently share their life, listen to the life stories of others, and begin to develop relationships. It is possible in such an environment. It still requires obedience to do so, but at least it is an attainable goal.
Then, let's take this one step further. I believe the body of Christ that is coming out of the traditional environment must transition into a commitment to relationships, and then move a step beyond that into true community. Community exceeds relationship in that relationships tend to be more based on relational preferences rather than commitments of love. It is one thing to relate to someone you have an affinity for and find it easy to love, but the nature of Church community the New Testament espouses calls us to love and relate closely to even those we would not normally be drawn to. It is a commitment to relationship based on the Agape love you mention. In a small Church environment it is possible.
I intend to write more on this theme because it is an area God is really challenging me on, and I know I'm called to teach those I oversee on the local level.
If you want to share more here consider yourself invited to do so.
On a personal note, it grieves me to hear you are finding it so difficult to find a group of people similarly burdened for true New Testament Church. I will be praying for His guidance and provision for you.

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written by BrotherJohn, March 24, 2008

Tom, I often hear an argument from ICers that labels this as impractical in today's mobile American society. After all, the norm for almost all ICers is to gather once or twice a week at a church building, with people whom they barely know, people who have gathered from homes spread out over many, many square miles. In many of these gatherings, it is not unusual to know the names of only a very few present, to never ever have visited in the homes of even the ones whose names you know, to never have been invited over for a meal or given a personal cell phone number, or anything. These people do not have a CLUE about the blessings, the edification, strengthening and growth that await their participation in the simple love feasts that the Lord ordained. Not only so, but they seem oblivious to the fact that we have one very important new commandment that is foundational in the new covenant relationship we have entered with our Lord--to (agape) LOVE ONE ANOTHER! Agape love: in the Greek, a deeper love than familial love. This commandment is NOT fulfilled by hugging the person who happens to be sitting on the pew next to you and telling them you love them at the pastor's prompting, when you may not even know their name and have no intention to interact with them outside of the church building! How many of these people are going to hear the Lord say at judgment day, "I gave you ONE new commandment to obey in order to remain faithful to the covenant that I called you into, and why have you not obeyed it?" There are so very few who are hearing these truths from the Holy Spirit that I cannot find fellowship with like-minded brethren in a metropolitan area of over six million people (Atlanta), and I simply cannot find edifying fellowship among the spiritually deaf and blind captives in Babylon (the IC). I believe that it will take a combination of great tribulation, persecution and powerful Elias/John the Baptist preaching of REPENTANCE before hardly ANY of these people will wake up. I am ready to move just about anywhere I can find my place in a real working ekklesia, but it will take a lot of confirmation and proof of genuineness before I would commit to it. I feel like an abandoned child! Pray for me.

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