Recently I responded to a question, "What is church?" This person suggested that perhaps church would be better if it were smaller. I got a little carried away with my answer, so I thought I'd blog it.
Church is where imperfect people congregate to worship a perfect God. Christian worship takes many forms as you know, but I just wanted to remind you (and anyone that will read) that church first and foremost is the "body" of Christ. It's an organism that has many God-intended purposes, the least of which is being entertained. The "body" has to have all its parts to function properly. It's very tempting to think that a small group of people would be ideal for "doing church", but this simply isn't true. Is there a perfect size for a church? I don't know. Maybe. But the book of Acts certainly doesn't give us specific instruction on this nor does it intend to. Many have erred trying to pull "church normatives" from this book of the bible. It's a historical narrative that shows what was, not necessarily what "should be". That's certainly an issue for debate, but here's the thing. If a church is too small, it can't function in the way God intended, simply because the organism will be lacking body parts (I'm talking about spiritual gifts here).
There's also the wisdom vacuum that occurs when similarly aged folks (usually young people) get together and form a small church. Where ya gonna get elders? Think of church as God's intended way to bring 'believers' together for equipping and fellowship, where Christians can be trained in doctrine and receive encouragement and accountability from fellow Christians. It's my belief that we should look at church like headquarters, where most of the evangelism is happening when we leave the church walls. Small groups are a vital way of getting real with each other. I think it's best to have both corporate worship and small group intimacy and accountability. Discipleship should be happening inside the homes of families whenever this is possible. I'm all for mentor-type discipleship groups as well.
People are always going to mess up church, no matter how big or small. I've participated in many different kinds of churches, including a small home church. It was neat for a while and then...you guessed it! people messed it up. There is no "perfect" church or church style. It's God's will that the "church" be a light to the world. This calling motivates us as Christians to work together in unity and peace so that we can be a testimony to God's power to change lives.
Church is where imperfect people congregate to worship a perfect God. Christian worship takes many forms as you know, but I just wanted to remind you (and anyone that will read) that church first and foremost is the "body" of Christ. It's an organism that has many God-intended purposes, the least of which is being entertained. The "body" has to have all its parts to function properly. It's very tempting to think that a small group of people would be ideal for "doing church", but this simply isn't true. Is there a perfect size for a church? I don't know. Maybe. But the book of Acts certainly doesn't give us specific instruction on this nor does it intend to. Many have erred trying to pull "church normatives" from this book of the bible. It's a historical narrative that shows what was, not necessarily what "should be". That's certainly an issue for debate, but here's the thing. If a church is too small, it can't function in the way God intended, simply because the organism will be lacking body parts (I'm talking about spiritual gifts here).
There's also the wisdom vacuum that occurs when similarly aged folks (usually young people) get together and form a small church. Where ya gonna get elders? Think of church as God's intended way to bring 'believers' together for equipping and fellowship, where Christians can be trained in doctrine and receive encouragement and accountability from fellow Christians. It's my belief that we should look at church like headquarters, where most of the evangelism is happening when we leave the church walls. Small groups are a vital way of getting real with each other. I think it's best to have both corporate worship and small group intimacy and accountability. Discipleship should be happening inside the homes of families whenever this is possible. I'm all for mentor-type discipleship groups as well.
People are always going to mess up church, no matter how big or small. I've participated in many different kinds of churches, including a small home church. It was neat for a while and then...you guessed it! people messed it up. There is no "perfect" church or church style. It's God's will that the "church" be a light to the world. This calling motivates us as Christians to work together in unity and peace so that we can be a testimony to God's power to change lives.
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