I recently wrote a post about why I'm a house church proponent. While that's true, I'm actually very much in favor of Christians meeting with other Christians in a multitude of ways, places, times, groupings, etc.
Different believers are edified in different ways. That makes sense since we're all different people. Although we are one in Christ, we all have various characteristics that make us unique. In light of that, it is beneficial for Christians to get together with others in a variety of settings to do a variety of things.
Mutual edification is the purpose of meeting as Christ-followers. It matters much more that edification takes place than where and how the body convenes.
When we look in the bible, we see much concern by the writers that the body carry out the one-anothers with each other. The focus is the building up of the church much more than it is where and how this occurs. Additionally, there is no sense that the scripture writers only have in mind some sort of weekly gathering among a specific subset of Christians within a particular city. Rather, Paul (for example) thought of the entire Christian population in Corinth, Philippi, Rome, etc. as the church there. The apostle envisioned them gathering frequently wherever, whenever, and with whoever could be present. While together, the goal was body edification through whatever one-another types of activities were taking place.
I admit that I struggle to gather with other believers very often. With working 65 hours per week, I often do not meet with brothers and sisters more than once per seven days (if that). However, my desire is to be with fellow Christians more frequently in a variety of places, groups, and times.
Summing up, the church benefits when it breaks beyond the bounds of "The Sunday Gathering." Since we are the church 24-7, let's strive to gather as the church whenever and wherever we can. This will certainly take different forms based on the specifics of peoples' lives; however, in the end it acts to build up the church as a whole in Christ.
Different believers are edified in different ways. That makes sense since we're all different people. Although we are one in Christ, we all have various characteristics that make us unique. In light of that, it is beneficial for Christians to get together with others in a variety of settings to do a variety of things.
Mutual edification is the purpose of meeting as Christ-followers. It matters much more that edification takes place than where and how the body convenes.
When we look in the bible, we see much concern by the writers that the body carry out the one-anothers with each other. The focus is the building up of the church much more than it is where and how this occurs. Additionally, there is no sense that the scripture writers only have in mind some sort of weekly gathering among a specific subset of Christians within a particular city. Rather, Paul (for example) thought of the entire Christian population in Corinth, Philippi, Rome, etc. as the church there. The apostle envisioned them gathering frequently wherever, whenever, and with whoever could be present. While together, the goal was body edification through whatever one-another types of activities were taking place.
I admit that I struggle to gather with other believers very often. With working 65 hours per week, I often do not meet with brothers and sisters more than once per seven days (if that). However, my desire is to be with fellow Christians more frequently in a variety of places, groups, and times.
Summing up, the church benefits when it breaks beyond the bounds of "The Sunday Gathering." Since we are the church 24-7, let's strive to gather as the church whenever and wherever we can. This will certainly take different forms based on the specifics of peoples' lives; however, in the end it acts to build up the church as a whole in Christ.
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