Unfortunately, many people today are turned off by a lot of churches. What’s worse is that some of their reasons are justified. Some churches are more like social clubs or athletic clubs. Some only focus on being entertaining, seeing how many members they can obtain. Some are greedy of money. Some are uncaring, or even prejudiced.
So what is the solution? How can we return to the NT pattern given to us by God? We would like to share some principles from the Bible to answer these questions.
Most people have never thought about some of the things we will share. Many people want to obey the scriptures, and are just waiting for someone to come along and show them these things. We want to be that kind of help. Please be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 and search the Scriptures in order to receive what they teach.
What is the NT church? For starters, it’s made up of people who really believe in Jesus. Their lives have been crucified with Christ. They are not living for this world, but rather for the kingdom of God. The Lord Jesus has paid for their sins. They have received, by faith, the grace of God by calling upon Jesus to be the Lord (boss) of their lives. The Word of God has become the authority of their lives.
But God has a lot more to say about what the NT church should be. If a person read the NT without any bias, he would not recognize the average church of today.
People are looking for reasons not to follow the NT pattern, because they don’t want to “rock the boat". They will find excuses if they want to. But if you really want to know God’s perspective, please read on. Let’s look at 5 observations someone would see reading the Scriptures.
I) Homes
They would notice that Christians in the NT met in homes. In the Old Testament, they met in a large, central building; but in the NT, they usually met in homes. It’s shocking, but it’s man who changed the Biblical pattern of meeting in homes.
II) Biblical Service
We will understand why houses are usually the best place to meet when we follow God’s commands for how to meet.
1 Cor. 14:26-40 describes the NT church service. It is expected for all the men to exercise their God given roles as leaders and share their spiritual gift. These gifts should be the fruit from walking with the Lord Jesus that week. At least two or three men should speak, orderly and in turn, so that everyone can be built up in the faith. This method helps everyone to grow more, because all are participating, instead of being spectators and watching one man.
God tells us clearly in 1 Cor. 14 that it is not Biblical for one man to control the service and do all the speaking. Most Charismatics and non-Charismatics have never seen a truly Biblical service like this.
Each person has to decide if he will follow God’s commands for meeting together. Remember, it’s not your church, my church, or the pastor’s church. It’s God’s church.
III) Biblical Fellowship
This interactive home format also provides better fellowship, where individual members become close enough to be of practical help. People can be real with each other. They can confess their sins (James 5:16), and encourage each other to live godly lives. This close-knit love will be an evangelistic tool in and of itself, helping fulfill the Great Commission to reach the world for Christ. John 13:35; 17:23.
IV) Headship of Christ
Instead of allowing the pastor’s prearranged bulletin to control the service, let’s allow the Holy Spirit to have His rightful place. He wants to direct the service through the individual members of His body, as He sees fit. This is made clear in 1 Cor. 12-14. We are told to permit any man, who is led of the Spirit, to share the message that God has given him for us. Don’t quench the Spirit!
The others in the meeting are to take responsibility, and test what is being said. They should speak up, as God leads, to either agree or else to show the speaker where he is missing the Word of God.
Many denominations admit in their accounts of church history that the first century church practiced the interactive home format of 1 Cor. 14:26-40. They don’t practice it, but at least they admit it. How sad it is when people from these same denominations react negatively to us for defending the New Testament pattern, when their historians admit that this was how the NT church functioned.
Following God’s pattern is the best way to produce “fired-up" Christians, who not only have sound doctrine, but who are also able to communicate it more effectively. God wants everyone to evangelize with love, handling the Scriptures with maturity, and living holy lives.
V) Plurality of Leadership
Yes, the NT had church leaders. But it wasn’t run by one man at the top. Look up Acts 14:23 and you will see they appointed church leaders (plural) in every church (singular).
In the Scriptures, Pastors are also referred to as Elders, Bishops, and Overseers. These words are all synonyms, describing just one position in the NT church. In Acts 20 we see the same group of church leaders being called elders (mature men in the faith), overseers (or Bishops), and being told to pastor (or shepherd, feed) the flock with correct doctrine. The only time we see reference to “the Pastor" or “the Shepherd" (singular) in the NT it is referring to Christ.
Where does the one-man pastor and the pulpit ministry come from? The Protestant Reformation never completely broke away from Roman Catholicism. Ideas like church buildings, and a one-man leader, still linger.
There shouldn’t be more people under the care of the leaders than they can realistically look after. They should be close enough to the individuals to be of practical help in their day to day lives. Your leaders should be accessible to you and be a part of your life throughout the week.
Biblical leaders are not to lord authority over others; but they are to lead by example, opening their lives and their homes up to others.
When we return to these Scriptural methods, we will see more blessings from God. Men will develop into godly leaders, instead of apathetic, lethargic, pew sitters, who are not excited or knowledgeable enough to lead their families spiritually. Every man, woman and child will be blessed. And the world will be evangelized instead of being turned off by the hypocrisy of the church.
If you would like more proof than what we are sharing in this little pamphlet, we would be glad to get together with you, your pastor, or anybody else who cares about truth. The nice thing about truth is that there is nothing to fear. There is no need to hide. Truth can be examined under the brightest light and it will still be true. It can be seen by anyone who really believes that God’s ways are higher than ours. His ways are even higher than religious traditions, no matter how spiritual they seem to be.
Don’t think God doesn’t care how we meet. God cared about everything being done exactly right in the service of the OT. He wrote chapter after chapter of instructions. So why wouldn’t He care about the NT church, which He purchased with the blood of His own Son? Who are we to ignore the pattern set forth for the NT church?
Religious traditions are dangerous in every generation, and can make the word of God ineffective in our lives. Mat. 15; Mark 7. The problem is that we can see everyone’s religious traditions but our own. When our life doesn’t line up with the Word, let’s run to the Word, rather than making excuses to not obey its simple meaning.
Charles Spurgeon said it correctly, “Excessive aversion to controversy may be an indication that a Church has no keen sense of possessing truth which is of any great worth, and that it has lost appreciation for the infinite difference in value between truth and error."
Martin Luther made the following powerful statement, “If I profess with loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at the moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is merely flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point."
Many churchgoers are passive spectators, rather than the NT revolutionaries we see in the Scriptures. For those who care about following the truth, we wish to help.
We are not trying to start something new. We are only interested in going back to God’s Written Blueprint, because His ways are higher than our ways!
We are excited to share these principles with you. Following them has helped us in more ways than we could have imagined. God gives us great, in-depth teachings, with different men bringing gifts to edify the church. People walk away built up in their faith, and equipped to serve God.
Of course, we don’t know everything, but we don’t let that stop us from being a doer of the Word as we gain understanding. One big way God wants to protect us from error is by following his blueprint for the church. We enjoy the input of all the members of our local body, and we would love yours too. We would be honored to talk about any differences you might have, and are glad to receive any help from the Word of God. We have learned a lot from others sharing things with us. We just want to understand and follow the Word, and we desire as much for you.
People want the power of the NT church in their lives, but they don’t think it’s important to be involved in a church following the NT church pattern.
People would rather go to performer – spectator church services, with its more elaborate music, programs, and its more passive priesthood; but the real blessing comes from obeying God’s commands for gathering together.
Unfortunately, most people find it is easier to avoid responsibility, and hide in the institutional church. They are not serious enough about God to have face to face interactions with other Christians concerning the Word of God. They would rather hear the Word from the pulpit and take what they like, than to have the responsibility of responding, and being accountable for what they hear.
We long to meet others who want all that God has for them. We hope this describes you, and we look forward to getting to know you. Please contact us to discuss these things more. If you are meeting in a New Testament church we would like to know about your group and where you are located, as we know people in different parts of the country looking for this kind of church. We wish you God's grace and peace through the Lord Jesus Christ.