The shared community life
What does shared community life entail?
Who then does all the work? Who is responsible for all the activities and functions within the congregation? Who is responsible for pastoral care? Who handles teaching and dogmatic teachings? Who is responsible for ministry? Who is responsible for counseling? Who cares for the needy? Who looks after the widows and orphans in the congregation?
These functions are undoubtedly the responsibility of every member of the entire congregation. Everyone makes “furniture”. The congregation is not slavishly dependent on the fivefold ministers.
All these church activities fall under the “shared community life” of the children of the Lord. It is all the outgrowth of the indwelling Christ within us. Everything is born of Him. The ministry has its origin in Christ. He intervenes with every needy person through all his children. He addresses every need through his children. We are his hands and feet. “He loves people through us. He cares for people through us. He touches people through us”. We are the body through which He works. Every part of the body has a function. This includes not only the fivefold ministry but also every believing child of God. This is the “ministry” of the saints. The ministry of the saints is to serve Jesus Christ and the community.
1 Peter 4:10
As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
From the following Scriptures, it is obvious that all spiritual ministry and care of congregation members in the New Testament church were carried out by the congregation members themselves. All the members of the body supported each other, ministered to each other, established, encouraged, taught, counseled, exhorted, cared for each other, bore each other’s burdens, motivated each other, prayed for each other, visited the sick, helped each other, and assisted each other. Read very slowly and attentively through the Scriptures, and remember, the epistles from which these Scriptures come are addressed to the entire congregation.
They are also asked, as believers, to carry out these functions together:
Romans 12:10 – Be kind to one another with brotherly love; in honor, take the lead, one in showing others honor (Be kind to one another)
Romans 12:10 – Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love; in honor, take the lead one over another (Honor one another)
Romans 12:16 – Be of the same mind among yourselves; do not be conceited, but associate with the humble; do not be conceited (Be humble toward one another and be of the same mind)
Romans 13:8 – Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves another has fulfilled the law (Love one another)
Romans 14:19 – Let us therefore pursue the things which make for peace and for mutual edification (Have peace with one another)
Romans 14:19 – Let us therefore pursue the things which make for peace and for mutual edification (Build one another up)
Romans 15:7 – Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us, to the glory of God (Accept one another)
Romans 15:14 – But I myself am convinced about you, my brothers, that you yourselves also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able also to admonish one another (Admonish one another)
Romans 16:16 – Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you (Be kind and hospitable to one another)
1 Peter 1:22 – Since you have purified your souls by obeying the truth through the Spirit to love one another sincerely, love one another fervently from a pure heart (Love one another)
1 Peter 3:8 – Finally, all of you be like-minded, compassionate, full of brotherly love, tenderhearted, and kind (Be like-minded one toward another) (Have compassion for one another) (Have compassion for one another) (If one member weeps, weep with him; if one member rejoices, rejoice with him)
1 Peter 4:9 – Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. (Be hospitable to one another)
1 Peter 5:5 – Likewise, you younger men, be subject to your elders; and all of you, be clothed with humility toward one another, for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. (Be humble toward one another) (Be subject to one another)
1 Thessalonians 4:9 – But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that we write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another (Love one another)
1 Thessalonians 5:11 – Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you also are doing (Encourage one another)
1 Thessalonians 5:11 – Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you also are doing (Build one another up)
1 Thessalonians 5:14 – And we urge you, brothers, admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, and be patient with everyone (Encourage one another to do what is right)
1 Thessalonians 5:14 – And we urge you, brothers, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, and be patient with everyone (Encourage one another to stand firm)
1 Thessalonians 5:14 – And we urge you, brothers, admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, and be patient with everyone (Support one another so that you may stand firm)
1 Thessalonians 5:14 – And we urge you, brothers, admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, and be patient with everyone (Be patient with one another)
1 John 1:7 – But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin (Visit one another and be concerned with one another)
1 John 3:11 – For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another (Love one another in word and deed)
1 Corinthians 1:10 – Now I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree in the same mind and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same judgment (Be of one mind with one another)
1 Corinthians 5:3-5 – For I, being absent in body but present in spirit, have already decided, as if I were present, to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are assembled, and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (Discipline one another)
1 Corinthians 6:1-6 – Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more the small matters? If, therefore, ye have matters to judge, let those which are least esteemed in the church sit. I speak this to your shame. Is there not one wise man among you that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But shall a brother go to law with another, and that before unbelievers? (Discipline one another) (Resolve problems yourselves in the church with one another)
1 Corinthians 11:33-34 – Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another; and if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that you do not come together for judgment. The rest I will set in order when I come (Wait for one another and consider one another)
1 Corinthians 12:25 – so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another (Care for one another)
1 Corinthians 14:31 – For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be encouraged (Teach one another) (Encourage one another)
1 Corinthians 14:39-40 – Therefore, brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order (Be eager to serve one another)
1 Corinthians 15:58 – Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord, for you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord (Motivate one another to faithfully do the work of the Lord)
1 Corinthians 16:2-3 – On the first day of every week, each of you should put something aside and save it as he may prosper so that collections will not be made when I come. And when I arrive, those whom you approve, I will send by letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem (Take care of one another)
Galatians 5:13 – For you were called to freedom, brothers; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Serve one another)
Galatians 6:2 – Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Bear one another’s burdens)
Ephesians 4:2 – with all humility and gentleness, with patience, forbearing one another in love (Bear with one another)
Ephesians 4:32 – But be kind to one another, tenderhearted, and forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you (Be kind to one another) (Have compassion on one another) (Forgive one another)
Ephesians 5:19 – Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. (Speak to one another in praise of the Lord) (Sing to one another for encouragement and edification)
Ephesians 5:20-21 – always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and submitting to one another in the fear of God (Be content with what you have in one another) (Be subject to one another)
Colossians 3:13 – Bear with one another and forgive one another if anyone has a complaint against another; just as Christ forgave you, so you also must do (Bear with one another) (Forgive one another)
Colossians 3:16 – Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with gratitude in your hearts to the Lord (Teach one another) (Admonish one another) (Sing to one another)
Colossians 3:16 – Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with gratitude in your hearts to the Lord (Sing to one another)
Hebrews 3:13 – But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Exhort one another not to fall away into sin)
Hebrews 10:24 – and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works. (Consider one another and motivate one another to love and good works)
Hebrews 10:25 – and let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but let us exhort one another, and so much the more as ye see the day drawing near (Motivate one another to be active and not to neglect the assembling of ourselves together)
James 5:16 – Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (Confess your sins to one another)
James 5:16 – Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (Pray for one another)
Leaders do not carry out the above congregation activities. Every member of the congregation carries them out. Although the fivefold ministry does carry out these activities, it is usually among the church congregations for the purpose of demonstration or on-the-job training. They demonstrate how it is supposed to be done. So we cannot leave it to the elders or fivefold ministers. No, it is the work of all of us. It is the universal work of the ministry of the Christian church. Everyone brings their part, and in doing so, everyone makes the work much lighter.
With dramatic clarity, all of these “one-another” exhortations incarnate the fact that every member of the church is to share the responsibility for pastoral care. Leadership is a corporate affair, not a solo one. It’s to be shouldered by the entire body.
– Frank Viola
Ministry is not just for some people. Ministry is not just for those who are in the fivefold ministry. Ministry is not just for people who have the gifts of the Spirit in their lives. Ministry is not just for the elders. Ministry is not just for people who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. No, ministry is for every believing child of God. The Bible says to make disciples of all people, baptizing and teaching them to observe all that Jesus taught.
The function of the elders (but also everyone in the congregation), as a single-word description, is best expressed in Hebrews 13:24:
Greetings to all your predecessors…
Why does Paul call the elders “pastors”? The emphasis is, of course, on the word “pastor”. A pastor is someone who shows other people how things are done. He leads and demonstrates how it should be done. Anyone can be a pastor, not just the elders. They visit the sick, feed the hungry, teach the young, and help the needy.
Remember, the congregation is small. Usually, there are about 5 to 15 people. I believe the Biblical number of 12 is probably the divine number when it comes to the proper size of a Biblical house church. More than 12 members in a healthy house church starts causing some members in the congregation to become passive.
So the congregation members see how ministry is practically done, and they start doing it themselves. By doing it ourselves, we show others, and in the process, we motivate others by being a positive example, and this causes a domino effect. This is why house churches are so effective and why it is the fastest method to make effective disciples. This is truly the making of discipleship as Christ intended.
2 Thessalonians 3:7-9
For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, for we did not behave disorderly among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and toil we worked night and day, so as not to be a burden to any of you. Not because we do not have the right, but to make ourselves an example to you so that you might imitate us.
Paul does the work, and he shows others how.
The five steps of equipping people:
You do, you do with someone who watches you; you allow someone to do while you watch, someone else does, and someone else does with someone else.
-John Maxwell
Basically, John Maxwell says that people are equipped or taught by following the following processes:
You first do the task yourself. If you can’t do the task yourself, you can’t teach others to do it.
Then you do the task in front of someone so they can see how it is done.
The next step is to allow that person to now do the task while you watch.
That person now goes out and does the task himself.
The person now does the task in front of someone else so that a third person can see how he does it.
This is truly “divine Biblical equipping” exactly as Jesus Christ did.
If all five of these steps are carried out, then healthy “equipping” of people takes place. The cycle is fully complete because everyone who has been taught is now teaching others.
We are not talking about a giant burden on the shoulders of the congregation members. Remember, house church congregations are small. Someone’s car broke down, and someone goes to help him fix it. Someone is sick, and everyone or some of them go to pray for him. Someone has no food in the house, and the others gather some food for them. The others offer him some encouragement when he is feeling a little down.
Everyone interferes with everyone else. With fewer people to care for and more people to do it, everyone makes the work easier.
In the church, everyone has a gift, everyone is a minister, and everyone is responsible for one another (Romans 12:6, 1 Corinthians 12:1, Ephesians 4:7, 1 Peter 4:10). The idea that the church’s elders or pastor are responsible for these tasks is not Scriptural. This is why there is actually nothing going on in the church. The pastors in many churches do not really perform these tasks, and the members of the church do even less. Everyone is passive. The activities primarily consist of preaching and listening, which is insufficient for fulfilling our true calling.
We are not called to preach and listen. Jesus personally showed us what we should do by demonstrating to us a way of life, or the “Jesus ministry.” He showed us exactly what we should do and how we should do it. Read 2 Thessalonians 3:7-9 again. Is this what today’s leaders are doing or not? If we all had to do what the fivefold ministers do today, then we would all preach. However, there would be no one sitting in the pews for us to preach to.
Someone in the institutional church once said the following: “We equipped people for our world, the church world, and not for their world, the everyday life”. This statement is completely true, but there is also something that does not make sense in this statement: The church world is supposed to be exactly that: “the everyday life”!
Church life has become “the place between the four walls of the church building.” The world outside is, in fact, an unknown place for the institutional church. Why? Because they do not know the shared community life of the family of God. It is completely foreign to them.
The devil is so happy when believers don’t come out of the four walls of the church. He revels in the fact that most of us don’t yet know who we are… People have said, “Come to church with us”, but that builds the wrong image. We are not going to church. We are the church!… We have brought people to the church building to get everything: to get saved, to get healed, and so forth. But the kingdom is in us to take salvation, healing, and every heavenly provision to the world. We don’t have to bring the people to the church building.
-Bill Winston
We will never learn who we are within the four walls of the church building. We will never learn who we are while being held down by structures. We must break out!
The New Testament church was in the hands of the people, the brothers, and the sisters. There were no organized shepherd-led structures that we know today.
The main reason for this is that the church or congregation is actually a family. The interaction between the members of the congregation is familial. There is not the stiffness of half-strangers or total strangers. Everyone knows each other, and they know each other well. Close family ties are forged, and everyone becomes very fond of each other. This process is very easy when the congregation is small and intimate. Large churches can not make such connections. It has to be cultivated and allowed to happen organically. This aspect of being a Christian is of utmost importance.
Christian community is indispensable for proper spiritual formation and development. The church that’s living as a family will produce transformation in its members. The church that isn’t won’t.
– Frank Viola
Family-type community life is therefore not optional. It is a command.
Galatians 6:10
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, but especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Romans 8:29
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Ephesians 2:19
So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household (family) of God.
1 Timothy 5:1-2
Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with all purity.
The entire New Testament is drenched with terms like “family,” “children of God,” “brothers,” “sisters,” “fathers,” “new birth,” “sons of God,” and “households.” The local church is the family of God. The house churches in the town are the family of God. The children of God within the institutional church are the family of God. But we are to live like a family. We should not behave like a group of employees in a large corporation.
In a large corporation, everyone lives for themselves. It doesn’t work that way in God’s family. There they take care of each other. They spend time with each other; they grow and mature together; they share responsibility in the “house”; they show love and devotion to each other, just like in a natural family.
They live exactly like a natural family even though they live in different homes. Just as the natural family helps and supports each other, so does the spiritual family. Because they spend time with each other, they know about problems, events, and circumstances in each other’s lives. It is an attitude. If they don’t do this and not sharing live together, don’t know what is going on in each other’s lives, don’t accept and consider each other’s children as their own, what kind of family is that?
James 2:14-17
What does it profit, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and lacking daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them what is needed for the body, what does it profit? Even so, faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself.
This faith in action is what James calls “true faith.” Faith is a way of life that involves caring for others. You provide for your needs but also for the needs of others. Others also provide for your needs. This reflects an attitude and actions of mutual care. We may not sell all our property and possessions as the New Testament church did, but we do care for one another.
Philippians 2:4
Look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others.
Notice the important word: Each also the other’s. The well-being of your spiritual brothers and sisters is your problem too. Not just theirs. This is true “agape” love in action.
By nature, people whose behavior is out of line are also dealt with as in a natural family. In the natural family, the brothers and sisters see the inappropriate behavior or action; it causes them concern or sadness, and they address it. The spiritual family, like the natural family, cannot tolerate such behavior. The right method must be used to address the problem in both the natural and spiritual families.
There is no shouting and hurling accusations at each other. No, the problem is handled calmly and orderly so that there are no hard feelings later and unnecessary hurt. Everyone is involved in disciplining brothers and sisters in the house church, not just some people or the elders. 1 Corinthians 5:1-7 provides guidance on how the church should respond to disorderly behavior. Such behavior should not be ignored or just overlooked. It must be addressed.
The people are to carry out the work of the ministry, and the fivefold ministry prepares the saints to carry out their ministries.
Ephesians 4:11-13 is very clear about this:
And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…
Who is being equipped? Who must work? Who has a ministry? The answer is very clear: The saints, and the fivefold ministry must equip them to do their work. The institutional church has it completely wrong: The fivefold ministry is working, but in the wrong setting and doing the wrong work. The reality is undeniable: it is the fivefold ministry that is actively working, while the saints remain completely passive. So this is a complete disaster. Those who are working are busy with work that they should not do, and those who are passive have no idea what they are supposed to do. This, unfortunately, has bad consequences: a constant state of passivity.
This was not God’s eternal plan for the saints. Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God on earth. He needs every person for this purpose.
We are kings and priests in the kingdom of God. We are ordained to rule in his kingdom. We are to subject everything in the natural world to the spiritual kingdom of God and rule over the handiwork of God. We are to continue the redemptive work of Christ in this kingdom. We are to expand his kingdom and dispel the kingdom of darkness until the glory of God fills the earth. The church is the light that dispels darkness because the light of Jesus Christ shines in us.
Jesus continues his redemptive work in us. He redeems through us, He saves through us, He heals through us, and He sets free through us. We are to learn and practice his kingdom principles. However, this kingdom is a family. It is the only kingdom in the history of mankind where the entire population consists of family members. It is also the only kingdom where every individual is socially, positionally, and in all other aspects of life, exactly the same.
No one is higher or better than others. Everyone has the same grace, privileges, and access to the same resources and benefits in the kingdom of God.
There are no slaves in the kingdom of God. Everyone is a king and priest of God. The playing field is absolutely level for everyone. In this kingdom, everyone is expected to work. A better word, of course, is to “serve” one another. We must be like Jesus Christ; everyone must imitate the “servant” attitude of our Lord and Master. This attitude makes it possible for God to develop not only His character and nature in us but also to develop His miracle-working power in us.
Paul says we all are supposed to measure up to the full stature of Christ. So we grow together until we all reach maturity as one man. Jesus was our “default” example. We must do what He did. On the contrary, Jesus Himself states that we must follow His example.
This is the church’s service. This is the saints’ service! Yet we must understand this teaching correctly. It is in reality Jesus Christ who grows up in us to be a mature man as we allow Him to live in us and rule in us.
The ministry of the saints is to live a shared community life with their brothers and sisters just as Jesus did. Jesus lived with the disciples as a family because they were his family. When the crowd told him that his natural mother and brothers were waiting for him outside, he replied:
Matthew 12:48-49
But he answered and said to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? And who are my brothers?” And he pointed out his Acts to his disciples and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.”
Jesus lived the shared community life with his disciples, and this is the first and fundamental service of the saints in the church that he showed or taught us. It is one of the two pillars on which the church is founded.
Jesus went through the land, there in the town where He was, in the community, on the streets, on the market square, on the sports fields, on the main routes, in houses, at sea, in a boat, in the field, yes everywhere He and His “family” walked and found themselves. There was His ministry of healing, acceptance, encouragement, help, care, intervention, deliverance from demons, deliverance from traditions, deliverance from religion, release from prison, good news, giving food, care, announcing the acceptable year of the Lord, and the proclamation of the kingdom of God here on earth. He still wants to accomplish this through us.
He preached the kingdom of God in spirit and in power. He showed us what we should do and how to do it. He does not require us to do anything apart from what He did. His command to us is therefore to do the same. “The works that I do, you shall also do”. On the contrary, “you will do greater works than I do because I go to the Father. Just as the Father has sent me, I am also sending you.
You will heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, proclaim my Name to the unbelievers, freely you have received, freely give”. Where? On the streets, in market squares, in houses, on the main routes, on the sports fields, on the school grounds, and in the store. This is your ministry. You do it by functioning in My gifts (the gifts of the Spirit). Do not try to do it on your own. On your own, you will have no power.
This is what the gifts of the Spirit are for. This “ministry of the saints” is the “redemptive work of Jesus” that He carries out through His children. For these purposes we need the baptism in the Spirit; for this we must function in the gifts of the Spirit, and for this we must manifest the fruits of the Spirit in our daily walk. These three “elements” explain the existence, character, and will of the living God.
For this we need the right equipment. We need the right environment. We need the right atmosphere. Like little plants and like babies, we need exposure to the right food, raw materials, sunlight, interaction, water, fertilization, and all the other elements to grow. We call it spiritual growth, but we actually grow in Christ when He grows in us. Without Christ in us, we will never reach spiritual maturity. Without Christ in us, the kingdom of God suffers, and we struggle to completely expel the kingdom of darkness from our society.
Jesus was not a professional preacher. On the contrary, He “preached” very little. Preaching does not change lives. Preaching is mental knowledge. Preaching is the letter, and preaching is dead. No, if you want to learn to ride a bicycle, you must ride a bicycle.
You fall, but you get up and try again. If you swing back and forth across the road, then you bite the bullet. You apply the principles and rules of the natural laws that govern balance, and you push through until you get it right. Allow Jesus Christ to minister in you and through you. Allow Him to flow from you to a lost and needy humanity.
Do not attend a theoretical conference. It is only mental knowledge, and if you sit there your whole life, you will go to the grave without riding a bicycle. It’s that straightforward.
Our “work of the ministry” is not to listen to sermons, and the fivefold ministry’s “function” is not to preach. If we want to grow spiritually into the full stature of Christ, we must all, fivefold ministers and saints, do exactly what Jesus did. Sell the church buildings. Allow Jesus Christ in you to show the saints how to minister. The real church is not in a building; it walks around in the streets.
In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream we saw that the kingdom of God came down from Heaven without human hands, destroyed all other kingdoms, and grew and grew until it filled the whole earth. Take a look at what Dan 2:44 and verse 35 say:
But in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
…but the stone that struck the image became a great rock that filled the whole earth.
This is now God’s purpose and His plan for us. He now wants to fill the earth with us. He needs us to bring this prophecy into total fulfillment. Yes, those physical kingdoms referred to in the book of Daniel have already been defeated (Babylon, Media, Persia, the Greek empire, and the Roman empire). But the church must bring about the physical realization of what Christ has achieved. We need to expel the kingdom of darkness from our communities and society, which has also been defeated.
To achieve this, God needs mature sons of God. Babies and children cannot accomplish this. Servants cannot accomplish this task. Paul pertinently mentioned that the whole creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God (Romans 8:19). The word “children” of God in the original Greek in this verse is “uióς” (pronounced “hwee-os”), which actually means mature “sons” of God and not “children”. The victory that the Son achieved in the spirit world must now materialize through the sons of God in the natural world. We must come to the full stature of Christ to accomplish this task. Yes, billions of people will reject the Gospel of Christ and will go astray, but the church will embrace, contain, and mirror the awesome and wonderful glory of God here on earth before and during the final judgment that will hit this world.
When the world sees the family kingdom of God functioning in its full glory in love, in grace, and in power, many will be “drawn” to it and become part of it. The church must first function in a loving relationship and in a family setting before this will happen. The religion of the organized church is dead and is not attractive at all. It does not attract people. It repels people. The saints must first become a family. A family speaks of unity, love, and informal, joyful, celebratory, intimate interaction. A family also speaks of acceptance, security, sympathy, and togetherness. It is the shared community life of the family of God that will demonstrate the glory of God.
It is not professional preachers but every functioning member of the body of Christ who promotes spiritual growth. Scripture supports this idea, as seen in Ephesians 4:15-16:
…that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
The Practical House Church Manual was written by ASR Martins
