If you’re interested in starting/trying a New Testament style fellowship here are some foundational keys to help you get you started. Some of the NT practices have already been outlined in the earlier Reformation articles and you will have noticed they vary greatly to current “church” practice. The format and structure of the NT assembly is fundamentally different to a church service model – hence the need to shift to a “home based” model. Trying to force these New Testament style changes onto an existing “church” will only degenerate into arguments and chaos – the assembly needs a completely new wineskin totally divorced from “churchianity”.
Who is your Covering?
Sometimes when someone leaves an established church they are accused of “not being under a covering” implying they are in rebellion or proud. But what exactly does being “under someone’s covering” mean? Well this is quite difficult to determine as the concept of covering does not exist in the New Testament! It usually means you are not under someone’s control, i.e. you are “in rebellion” to their imposed power or some other equally loaded moniker. It runs along the lines that there is some mystical power given to those “in authority” that can protect you and others and that if you are not under their “covering” you are somehow vulnerable to spiritual attack. The next question is “Who gives them this power to protect?” If you follow this logically it goes that you are covered by your pastor/vicar who is in turn covered by their denomination etc. The challenge is to find where in the bible any one person let alone a denomination is given this magical power to protect others. The only One given this power is Yeshua, so the whole concept of “covering” collapses when challenged biblically. So who protects you? the same person who protects your pastor/vicar/elder – Yeshua.
If a believer asks “Who is your covering?” you can biblically reply, “The same person who covers you, Yeshua.” He is our head and has all authority, He is the sole authority we answer to. Anything else is control and manipulation.
But wait a minute, what about loose cannons? People need to be accountable for their actions don’t they? And to that I agree whole heartedly, however “covering” and “accountability” are totally separate subjects.
Accountability
In a home based fellowship where you connect relatively closely with other believers, you will get to know each other quite well. This is the perfect environment for accountability, for confessing of sins one to another, repentance and seeking forgiveness. This is not some sort of cultish practice where people gather every week to salivate over each other’s sins, but rather a place of mutual accountability with trusted believers who are helping each other along the discipleship road. It is an act of mutual humility.
Culturally transferable, safe and relevant environment
Because this form of fellowship happens in homes with families, it is culturally transferrable eg people from other nations living in your town can do it in their home. It can happen on a marae as easily as in a home. It is in the relaxed non-threatening atmosphere of someone’s home that people can come, be loved on and ministered to. There is no “going to church” – we are the assembly!
Connecting you into a Community where you can get involved and grow
It is about people getting together and sharing Christian love and community on an authentic day in and day out basis, not just showing up once a week and having the potential of not even being noticed.
In home based fellowships, everyone is known, has a voice, a ministry and something to contribute. People engage in authentic loving relationships with each other and truly “do life together.” It is the perfect breeding ground for discipleship, there is no room for passengers, all the saints are armed and dangerous. Even in decision making all members are expected to hear from the Lord and participate in the decision.
It is the shift from going to church to being the assembly.
What happens when we hit a membership of 20?
One of the challenges is what to do when membership rises to 20 adults (plus kids)? If this is not addressed, continued growth will be limited. Once you get over 20 members, people can’t participate as much (there’s not enough time for everyone to contribute) so they can start getting lost in the background. Unfettered numerical growth will eventually require a larger building for meetings and the atmosphere of intimacy, fellowship and participation will start to break down – we will be headed back to Babylon (church). So the trick is to agree that once membership rises to say 20 adults, the assembly multiplies into two groups.
This does not mean that you suddenly cut the other group off. You will still have contact with each other. You may even gather in larger numbers (as the assembly of your town) on occasion. It’s just that the fellowship, accountability and opportunity to minister to each other will get lost as your group grows larger.
A key feature of multiplying fellowships is that they are built for exponential growth and under the right conditions will naturally produce the myriad leaders required to maintain and feed the many believers. If we continue to grow just “one” fellowship we will limit growth to addition (as opposed to multiplication) and stunt the supply of new leaders because of the loss of intimacy, fellowship and participation which affects the required discipleship training.
Can’t we just send them off to bible school for leadership training? Well no, because firstly they don’t teach this stuff there and secondly if you have an exponentially growing assembly, you need exponentially growing training organisations and that’s not physically possible so your growth will grind to a halt and/or go off the rails through bad doctrine/poor leadership. The true training ground of the future leaders is in the very fellowships they will one day lead (as they multiply).
The trick is to multiply the fellowship into two and keep on growing and multiplying so now your town has two “fellowships.” This doesn’t have to happen at a magical number of members, however as numbers increase, the opportunities for intimacy and participation will decrease and the need for multiplication will become obvious. It is likely that growth will not be just in ones and twos but in whole families at a time. Growth is organic, indigenous, messy and won’t necessarily happen in a nice tidy planned way.
As with all other activities of the assembly, any change must be led by Yeshua through His Holy Spirit and not at the whim of man seeking to force multiplicative growth according to some formula. If you decide to try a New Testament style fellowship, do not be fooled into thinking you are God’s true anointed. All believers in Yeshua make up the assembly whether they gather in homes or churches. We are called to love all our brothers and sisters. Any large corporate gathering should be open to all who name Christ because we are bound together by love (John 17:20-26).