Informal Gatherings Are Such a Relief

Did you grow up getting dressed up for church in your Sunday best?

I did.

I also did most of the other stuff that goes along with institutional Christianity. The normal Sunday included getting dressed up in uncomfortable clothes, attending a Sunday School class, attending a worship service (ceremony), going home for a few hours to hurry up and relax, then returning to the church building to do much of the same all over again.

I do not fault my parents in this; it's just the tradition that had been handed down to them. Even after I became an adult I kept doing this same stuff for many years. I even went to seminary, and then became an institutional church pastor for a few years. I was at the core of institutional church activities.

What a relief simple gatherings are! Sundays are now something I genuinely look forward to. On most Sundays we get together informally with some friends. Sometimes it's at our house, sometimes not. I can wear shorts and a T-shirt if I want to. We almost always study the bible and pray. We also do a lot of hanging out and eating. Sometimes we even watch some football. It is so relaxing. What a relief from institutional trappings!

When you meet with other believers, is it a relief? Is it a Christ-centered get together? Are you relaxed? Do you look forward to it? I hope so.

If You Knew Nothing of Christianity, But Then Found a Bible and Read It, What Would You Expect Church Gatherings to Be Like?

In this particular post I'm simply asking a question of you. Please put your answers in the comments section. Maybe we can begin an interesting and edifying discussion. My purpose in this is not to discuss what's wrong with the institutional church, but rather to focus on what can be right when we follow the Biblical pattern for meeting.

QUESTION: As much as you can, pretend that you know absolutely nothing of Christianity. You find a Bible and begin to read it. Based on what you see instructed to us and modeled for us in scripture, what would you expect church gatherings to be like?

A Bad Reason for Returning to the Institution: It's Where Your Extended Family Attends

It's completely normal for Christians to hope to meet with extended family members for church. After all, church gatherings should be much like family gatherings. A friend recently told me that when the church comes together it should be much like Thanksgiving afternoon, but with Christ as the central focus. I concur.

But what happens if your extended family attends an institutional church or churches? That is likely the case for most of us. I'm blessed that the vast majority of my extended family follows Jesus. This gives me great joy. However, all of them go to institutional churches of one flavor or another. None of them (zero) agree with me on what the model of church should be.

Should I, therefore, return to the institution to be with extended family? Should you?

In a word: NO!

If you do so you will be miserable. Worse, you may even end up resenting your family because of it.

You will be miserable because all of the reasons you departed the institution remain valid. It is a man-made framework that has no place in the bible. It is based far more in Rome than scripture. It is humans' ideas about "what works" as opposed to God's plan for His people. How do we know what God's plan is? Simple: look in the bible, especially the New Testament.

Please make time to see your extended family. Get together here, there, and everywhere. Don't try to recruit them to simple church life, but certainly discuss it if they are interested. Above all, do not surrender your convictions just so you can see them on Sunday mornings.

It's better to be a little lonely and be following God's path than it is to be with the crowd headed in the wrong direction.

Meme Sunday

I Attended a Ceremony This Past Weekend

My family and I attended a ceremony a few days ago.

We met with a hundred or so other people in a church building. We all sat in long rows. Most everybody there was quiet the majority of the time. The exception was the couple of hymns we were invited to sing. The pastor did almost all the talking. We followed a specific order of ceremony, outlined for us in a bulletin. The pastor preached/spoke to us in monologue form. It felt like we were watching a show.

What we attended was a wedding.

My family and I enjoyed it very much. We love the folks who were married, which made the wedding a happy occasion. Additionally, we don't usually go to more than one wedding per year. Due to the infrequency, it was special.

You probably see where I'm going with this post. The above ceremony I described could also be an accurate picture of most worship services. This is problematic for a couple of reasons. First, worship services are frequent. Nobody needs to attend frequent ceremonies. Ceremonies by definition are supposed to be special in part because of their infrequency. When they happen weekly (or more) they lose a lot of luster. Second, church meetings should be family get-togethers. These are, almost by definition, informal. Families hang out, simply spending time together. They participate in each others' lives. This cannot happen during ceremonies.

Weddings ought to be ceremonies. Church gatherings not so much. Let's make sure that when we come together we generally do so informally. This is when family life truly happens.

Positive Acts - Gathered Together to Break Bread

This post is a continuation of my series Positive Acts.

Why does the church get together? Is it for "worship," as much of the American church believes today? No, it is not. Rather, the bible tells us that the body of Christ comes together for edification. I Corinthians 14:26 says, "What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up" (ESV).

One key method the church uses to bring about mutual edification is the Lord's Supper. I'm not referring to the typical funeral-like ceremony held by institutional churches. Rather, I'm talking about what we see in scripture: a joyful and full meal in which the church family has a great time. In Acts 20 this is what we see in Troas.

Paul was passing through town. He got together with his friends. They were meeting that night for a specific purpose. Luke writes in 20:7, "On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight." They gathered to break bread. As they ate together, Paul talked with them. He likely told them all about the many things God was doing through him and his companions while they were traveling about Asia and Greece.

God wants his people to gather. He also wants them to gather for the right reason. Worship is a 24/7 exercise. The church comes together not specifically for worship, but for edification. One primary means of edification is the Lord's Supper.

If we do not know why God wants his body to gather, then how can we ever accomplish what our Lord desires through our meetings?

Linking: Doubling Up At Church – Filling Our Week With Extra Programs Because Sunday Isn’t Meeting Our Spiritual Needs

A few years ago Kathleen Ward wrote an excellent, short post that happens to have a long title: Doubling Up At Church – Filling Our Week With Extra Programs Because Sunday Isn’t Meeting Our Spiritual Needs. I highly encourage you to read it.

Kathleen points out that many churches are becoming increasingly busy because the folks desire community but aren't getting it on Sundays. The shape of the Sunday ceremony, pews and all, keeps the body from truly being together. This in turn forces increased meetings during the week just to be able to fellowship.

The Sunday form is the problem.

Linking: "Contemporary Church Worship: A Liturgy of Entertainment?"

Read some excellent thoughts from Jeff Clarke on both the problem of church entertainment and the benefits of a superior way of gathering. He discusses these in his post entitled "Contemporary Church Worship: A Liturgy of Entertainment?"

Meme Sunday

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Positive Acts - It Pleased the Whole Gathering

How many times have you seen church leaders make significant decisions without communicating with the church body?

We've probably all seen it.

We also know that wise leaders of any type and in any situation get the group involved. Not only does this give the leadership much valuable information, but it also helps the group feel invested in the decision.

When we look in the book of Acts, chapter six shows us a potentially dangerous situation to the unity of the church. Some of the Gentiles were complaining about how food was being handed out to the Gentile widows. Verses 1-7 show us that the apostles made a wise decision that averted any sort of split within this early church body. We also see that the entire church was a part of it and bought into it.

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith (Acts 6:1-7, ESV, emphasis mine).

Interestingly, we never hear about this potentially problematic situation again in the New Testament. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the solution had staying power. Not only was it wise, but it also involved the whole body. Luke tells us specifically that "...what they said pleased the whole gathering." Although we do not have all the small details of the decision making process, we do know that the body was involved and pleased.

We as the church today can and should learn much from this passage about how to go about making critical decisions. Get everybody involved and invested!

Positive Acts - Some Sweet Fellowship

I try not to get jealous. Really, I do.

I try not to get jealous when I read Acts 2:42-47. However, the picture that Luke paints of the sweet fellowship in the early church is almost irresistible. Quite frankly, it is exactly what I want but cannot seem to find.

The early church had its problems (see here for example). Despite those difficulties, the believers managed to spend a great deal of time together as a large family. We see this:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-47, ESV).

What a beautiful portrait of what church life can be!

When I read this passage several things jump out at me:

1. The church gathered simply. They got together, learned from and with the apostles, ate meals, and prayed.
2. The church met frequently.
3. The church experienced signs and wonders.
4. The church gladly shared all they had with each other.
5. The church was viewed positively by those around them.
6. The church grew significantly.

When I take all this in one more thing strikes me: there is nothing in scripture to suggest that this same thing cannot happen today. The only difference is that we do not have the apostles with us. However, this does not matter because we have the Holy Spirit to empower us and the scriptures to instruct us. Each and every aspect of this fabulous passage in Acts 2 is a possibility today. We can experience this!

Instead of moping around feeling jealous of the early church, I am more determined than ever to do two things. First, I'm going to pray that God will use me to edify other believers whenever and wherever. Second, I'll be praying more earnestly than ever that God will bless me to be part of a fellowship something like what we see in Acts 2. I encourage you to do the same.

Unavoidable: the Importance of Eating

I'm going to end this series on an enjoyable topic: eating. Almost everybody likes to eat.

Eating was very important to the life of the early church. When they gathered they often shared a full meal together: the Lord's Supper. I'm referring to a literal complete meal, not a ritual ceremony with tiny glass of juice and tasteless cracker.

In Acts 2:42 we read, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." The breaking of bread describes a full meal Lord's Supper.

Later in Acts (20:7) we see this, "On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight." This verse actually gives a purpose statement for why they got together (at least on that occasion): to break bread. They met to eat.

Why is eating important to church gatherings? Four reasons come to mind. In no particular order:

1. Eating keeps the atmosphere informal.

2. Eating meets a basic need (nutrition).

3. Eating keeps everyone equal.

4. Eating is enjoyable.


Sharing the Lord's Supper together as a full meal is a wonderful experience. I hope it is something that you get to do frequently. Not only is it a great time, but it is also an unavoidable principle provided to us in scripture.

Unavoidable: Mutual Edification

According to scripture, why does the church come together?

I challenge you to ask your Christian friends the above question. How do you think they will answer? My guess is that the vast majority will answer with the same response: to worship. This is fascinating and disheartening because their answer is wrong.

Why, then, does the body meet? According to the bible the purpose is mutual edification.

In I Corinthians 14:26 Paul writes,"How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification."

As the church comes together as a family, meeting simply, the goal is the edification (some translations use the term "building up") of the entire church. The end goal is the maturation in Christ of the whole group. Everyone benefits through interaction with everyone else.

The I Corinthians 14 passage as a whole deals with the issue of spiritual gifts (actually, that is the topic of chapters 12-14). In chapter 14, one of Paul's main points is that use of spiritual gifts is specifically for the purpose of the upbuilding of the body. Gifts are not for personal aggrandizement; rather, they exist to help others grow closer to Christ.

So then, why does the church gather? What's the point? It's an unavoidable truth that according to the bible the purpose is mutual edification. It's a sad thing that so few Christians know this.

Unavoidable: Kids Present!

The bible never hints that families should be segregated by age when the church comes together. Separation, even with good intentions, is a modern and foreign concept for the church. It is also harmful. Just take a look at the droves of teenagers who are leaving the church today.

God has given us the unavoidable principle of families remaining together. Fathers, in particular, are charged with training their children with a knowledge of the Lord. When we read about the body of Christ coming together we see everyone together. The young learn from the old. The old gain as well from modeling for the young. The old can also learn from the young.

Churches did not segregate by age until the last 150 or so years. It is a modern idea that has no basis in anything effective. Quite frankly, it needs to go away.

Children need to be with their parents. They also need to be with the entire body. This is unavoidable.

Unvoidable: Home Get-Togethers

The early church met in homes. They met simply. They met cheaply. They met for edification.

Does today's church have to meet in homes? I don't think so. However, God has given us in scripture a model for gathering simply as his body for the purpose of edification. This can likely occur just as easily in a coffee shop, park, or store front as it does in a home.

What we do not see in the bible is churches coming together in large groups on Sundays for the purpose of worship in large, expensive buildings. What happens today is foreign to scripture.

When we think about the family of God, we must ask ourselves whether or not we have any sort of road map to follow. Has God provided us with any sort of directions, or have we been left to simply figure things out on our own? While we are to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, it seems as if today more and more Christians are blaming increasingly odd, bizarre, and just plain stupid behavior on the Spirit. What, therefore, are we to do?

We look in the bible. We see a model of church life. We follow the principles we see. It's that simple.

It is unavoidable that the early believers met simply. When they gathered, it was a family meeting. It was usually in homes. It was unstructured. It was for edification.

Home get-togethers is what we read about. The question is, "Will we follow the principle we see in scripture?"

Meme Sunday

Why Do Many Christians Segregate by Age?

God has given parents a massive joy and duty: care of their children. In light of this why do many Christians segregate by age when the church gets together? (This post comes from Sorry, But I Can't Stop Asking Questions.)

Most institutional churches have age segregated Sunday School classes. Then, during worship services, the kids depart for Children's Church. In many other churches the kids don't even enter the worship services at all; they simply go from Sunday School straight to an entirely kid-directed worship time. Regardless of specifics, most Christian parents depend upon other adults to influence their children during church gatherings. Why is this the case?

My guess is that answers vary to my question. Some parents are just going with the flow of tradition. It is simply a matter of copying the secular school system in this country. Other parents probably do it because they want a break from their kids. Other parents actually believe that age segregation benefits the children. Still others are happy that their children will enjoy "kid appropriate" lessons. The list goes on.

The fact is that young people are departing from the church institution at a frightening rate. Thus, something is wrong. Could that thing be a failure on the part of parents to properly evangelize and disciple their children? Could this have anything to do with parents handing their kids off to others during church meetings?

Age segregation goes largely unchallenged within institutional Christianity. This is so much the case that, for example, family-integrated Sunday School classes are frequently looked upon with suspicion. I'm not joking. This is because so many parents have bought into the faulty idea that splitting up by age grouping is a good thing. They believe this despite all evidence to the contrary.

So, why do many Christians segregate by age? The primary answer is, "Because we've always done it that way."

Why Do So Many Christians Gather for "Worship"?

If you ask most Christians why they gather together (usually on Sundays), they will tell you that it's for worship. If you then ask them why they get together for the purpose of worship you will likely receive a blank stare. This is because most Christians have never pondered this before. It's also because the bible gives no indication that the body of Christ comes together for worship.

In the New Testament we see the church meet for a different purpose: edification. I Corinthians 14:26 says, "How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification." The point of the gathering was the building up of the members. No confusion there.

However, there is plenty of confusion today. How did we get into this mess? In order to find out we must look back at church history (in fact, we'll find many of the answers to these fifteen church-related questions by searching through church history).

Not long after the first century a clergy system began to form. Specialists emerged who did the bulk of the stuff as the church gathered. This gradually morphed into the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church. The priests led the Mass, which became the primary gathering of the people of God.

Enter the Reformers. Men like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, etc. rejected the Mass for the heresy that it was (and still is). They recognized that when churches came together something other than "another sacrifice of Christ" must occur. The Reformers did a good thing by jettisoning the Mass. However, they failed to follow the biblical model when they replaced it. The Reformation saw the rise of preaching as the center point of body meetings.

Fast forward to today. The Catholic Church still performs its Mass. Protestant churches focus their gatherings on music (now known to many as "worship") and preaching. Neither group gathers specifically for edification. Over the years the Protestant versions have become known as "worship services." This is fascinating because the worship is poorly defined and no actual service takes place. Regardless, because the gatherings are known as worship services, many of the people think that they gather for worship.

The biggest problem with this situation is that it leaves the church largely unedified and spiritually immature. Gatherings are supposed to build up the body. However, in worship service ceremonies very little communication occurs or is encouraged among the people present. Edification happens mainly through the carrying out of the one anothers; this cannot happen during a ceremony. Thus, the body does not grow spiritually.

Many, many Christians think they gather for worship because they know little else. It's what they have always done. It does not stem from scriptural teachings, but rather church history. The church suffers because of it.

We do well to challenge this way of thinking.

Let's tell and show our brothers and sisters in Christ that edification occurs best in simple gatherings.

Sermon Avoidance Does Not Make You "Lukewarm"

A couple of years ago a young Christian man told me that I was "lukewarm." He was referring to this passage:

14 And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. 15 "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (Revelation 3:14-22, emphasis mine)

Let me provide a bit of context. At the time our family was gathering regularly with a few others families each Sunday in homes. We would sometimes see each other during the week, but for the most part our Sunday get together was the main time of fellowship. We shared in bible study, prayer, eating, and much conversation. It was almost always an edifying experience for me. We enjoyed being together.

One Sunday a young couple visited with us; they were invited by one of the other families in our group. I'm not sure why this couple came (maybe curiosity?) because the man clearly did not believe the way we were "doing church" was the right way. He was a very big supporter of sermons. He liked to discuss what preachers had said and written as part of their messages. Our church family had no need or desire for sermons.

Did I mention that this young man was only twenty-five-years-old at the time?

What I still do not understand is why this couple kept returning to our gatherings. It makes no sense to me. They were nice enough, but the way we functioned continued to bother them. One day it came to a head. The young man asked if he could meet with the elders of our church family. Several of us men (the older men of the body; nothing more than that) came together one evening in a home. The young man basically complained to us that the elders in our body needed to have more authority and that we should have sermons. We did not agree. I hope you see the irony here. The young man was saying that we should have authority, but he had no interest in our authority when it came to not having sermons. While making his case he kept referring back to one specific sermon he had heard and told us that we really needed to listen to it.

We kept asking him to support his assertions with scripture. He failed to do so. Eventually he told us that the real reason he wanted to meet with us was to tell us that we were "lukewarm." However, his only reason for saying this was because we did not preach and teach the bible the way he thought we should. He wanted someone to stand up front and give a typical monologue style sermon as in traditional churches. He equated this with caring for what the bible had to say. We disagreed.

It was clear to me that he saw himself as doing some sort of duty for God by rebuking us. He would not listen to what we had to say. We elders (all in our forties) were being rebuked by a twenty-five-year-old for not grabbing more authority. This encounter was both fascinating and disturbing.

This young man, while well-intentioned, was far off track. It was not long before they moved on. Last I knew they had moved near Houston, Texas to be part of Voddie Baucham's church.

I wish things could have turned out differently, but this young man would not listen. His error is in how he thinks of church life. In his mind zeal for God and ceremonial preaching go together. He believes that love for the Lord is most clearly shown by sitting and listening to a speech.

He is wrong.

None of us has to adhere to the typical traditional, institutional style of gathering in order to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. In fact, I would argue that taking part in church meetings that seek to edify the body through mutuality is a sign of great care for Christ. According to the bible, that is to be the purpose of gatherings.

If you read this blog regularly then you probably have no use for sermons. Don't worry, that's fine. Sermon avoidance does not make you "lukewarm." Rather, it might just be a sign that you care about how God wants his church to live. As far as I'm concerned that is evidence of being just the opposite of lukewarm.