Clarifications

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Clarifications

Forum: Theological Expressions
Re:

House Church (again!) (Christopher Yip)
Date: 2001, Apr 27
From: RTC

1. Is meeting in a place other than homes against the NT model? ++No. But the usual places of meeting were the homes of believers. 2. Is employing full time pastors against the NT model? ++The idea of employment of church workers is foreign to the NT model. 3. Is partaking the Lord's supper apart from a full meal against the NT model? ++The NT church certainly did not partake it apart from the full meal. 4. Is having a headquarter church (like say the Methodists) plus branches against the NT model? ++The NT church practiced no such organisational setup. 5. Is the Sunday Service liturgy and order in churches against the NT model? ++It certainly violates the 1 Cor 14:26 principle of church meetings. 6. Is collecting offering to maintain the meeting place against the NT model? ++No such offering collected in the NT church was aimed towards such purpose. I'll give my answers too. My answer to all is no because the bible neither forbids nor promulgates any of these. ++You are arguing from a negative. I argue from positive examples as given in Scripture. If you say no to any of the above, then it would not be right to say that such is based on NT model. You are only justified in saying that it is an argument from silence. What the bible says is that that is what the early disciples did but it doesn't say that is what Christians of all ages must do. ++I agree. The “must do’s and don’ts” are usually those of a moral nature. Any reference to the way they meet are usually to correct certain excesses and abuses and not to stop the practice. The NT as letters addressing church issues and problems are not therefore a manual detailing the steps of how churches should meet. But it will be certainly significant to remember that all the NT letters were written to house churches. Neither does the NT contemplate any other form of expression of the church. In fact, many of the NT writings make better sense if understood within the context of non-institutional house churches. It's really a matter of prudence and expediency. ++Disagree. There is always a theology behind practice, and sheer pragmatism certainly wasn’t one of them. But if you want to talk prudence and expediency, then what can be more simple, economical and expedient than the house churches? As you pointed out, the public churches were permitted and built after Constantine but there is another reason also. These were to guard against heresies. Schismatics were always suspect during those days and the canon of Scripture was still in flux although it is forming. ++The NT never envisage institutionalizing the church as a combat against heresies. False teachers are to be refuted, and in some cases, ignored. Church buildings do not do that. The problem with the bishop thing was that people began to look to one man as the sole guardian of biblical doctrines. But it was never to be upon the shoulders of one man or one person and neither did any of the Apostles teach such a way. This is just one of fallen man’s tendency to set up kings to fight their battles, sounds like history repeating itself doesn’t it? Today we have the sure Word of God and so perhaps this is why the cell group works so well. It's all part of the evolution of the church. ++All the more then that we need to look at present church practices with the sure Word of God. The cell group works because it has some features of the house church. However, the cell groups are not able to achieve their full potential because they are limited by the organisational parameters set by the church. Many of these groups have their life curtailed because they need to meet organisational goals of multiplying in six months or some other set time. The Bible never portray house churches as under the controlling umbrella of a mother church, they are all autonomous in their operations and yet maintaining connections with other house churches. I believe with my whole heart that if cell churches really go the way of decentralising the cell groups into full-fledged house churches, more blessings will pour forth.