By Dr. Michael Weis
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Dissatisfaction with “church”
The writer of the Book of Hebrews was speaking to Jewish Christians about entering into the “Holiest” (vs. 19), a reference to the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant was. He then wrote about holding to the confession we have in the New Covenant, exhorting, encouraging, and challenging us to stir up others to love and good deeds, and to come together as a group.
This is often used as a challenge for Christians to come together in a unified group or local assembly because many don’t want to attend church. Biblically, however, we are commanded to come together.
But, for too many years, sadly we in the West have equated the Church with the building in which we meet. This mindset has dwindled even further, to the point that more and more house churches are springing up.
Adherents of house churches believe that because this is how the Church began in the first century A.D., this is how it should be today. Others see house churches as a way of expressing their disapproval of the “institutionalization” of the Church – the modern Church’s emphasis on business meetings, events, programs, and attendance numbers.
This “institutionalization” has led to rather than a group of Christians coming together to worship God, most churches are but a mere formality, offering artificial worship and very little opportunity for spiritual growth. Those who favor house churches focus on the fact that the Church is “a people,” not an institution or a building.
This is true, but we must not go to the other extreme.
The Local Church
Christianity was illegal in the first few centuries after Christ. In countries today where Christianity is illegal, there is a strong home-church movement because sincere believers don’t want government to limit their worship.
However, most Christians in the West don’t understand the problems that can occur with house churches, problems spoken of in the New Testament. One of those problems is false doctrine. Most of the letters in the New Testament were written to correct wrong teachings or practices which arose in those small house churches.
In the West, we have the freedom to come together in “organized churches,” and this is what we should do. Don’t forget, God gave Israel the Tabernacle and the Temple for the purpose of having His people come together to worship Him. The Tabernacle, and then the Temple, was the central location for the entire nation. Church buildings today, in a similar way, serve as community meeting grounds for Christians.
Obey God
Do changes need to be made in the Church? Absolutely. But we must not be foolish enough to think the solution in imperfect congregations is to reject church buildings for house churches.
Small groups can be rewarding, but there must be accountability, solid biblical doctrine, and guidance from leadership within a larger church body. That’s the way it was in the New Testament. There were small groups, or home churches, but they were accountable to the Church in Jerusalem (Acts 15). We must follow the biblical outline.
The Church of Jesus Christ is a people, not a place. We come together to pray, fellowship, praise, learn, grow spiritually, and be accountable to others. While the Church is an organism, not an organization, there is organization to the organism. When we obey God’s command to worship together, it won’t matter what the size of the group is, because we will encourage each other to love and good works.
May God give us discernment for these challenging days.Dr. Michael Weis is a pastor, video operator, editor, and social media manager at Zion’s Hope.
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