7 Reasons for House Church

by Peter John Brooks

1. House church is Biblical.

Jesus said that he would build his church (Matt. 16:18). Like any builder, Jesus has a plan for how his church is to be built. He revealed this plan to his apostles.

After his resurrection, Jesus gave instructions to his apostles for 40 days (Acts 1:1-3). He also revealed many things to them by the Holy Spirit. After the Day of Pentecost, through divine inspiration, the apostles began building church according to the will of God.

The apostles expected that the divine model of church would continue after their deaths. They recorded many instructions about church throughout the New Testament. These instructions reveal the will of God. They are not optional (1 Cor. 11:2, 2 Thess. 2:15). We need to follow them (1 John 2:24-26, 1 Cor. 11:2, 2 Thess. 3:14). As these instructions are obeyed, church is built according to God’s plan.

In the New Testament, church buildings were not built. Neither Jesus nor his apostles told anyone to build a church building. The first church buildings were built 200 years after the apostles died.

In the New Testament Christians met for church in houses (Acts 2:46, Col. 4:15, Philemon 1:2, 1 Cor. 16:19, Rom. 16:5). Sometimes they met in other places like the temple. They also met at the school of Tyranus. However, the Bible never calls these meetings churches. Not every gathering or group of Christians is automatically a church. When the early believers met for church, it was invariably in homes.

House church is Biblical. It was the only model of church practiced throughout in the New Testament.

2. House church can be participative.

Jesus wants every Christian to be involved in church. He doesn’t want spectators, he wants participants. Spectators watch actors act in a theater or athletes play on a field. In church, spectators sit in pews while religious professionals do things on a stage. This often does not promote spiritual growth.

Sometimes fans of sporting events are very knowledgeable about the games they watch. They may know more about the game than many of the players do. However, they are often so out of shape that if they try to play the game, they might have a heart attack. Sometimes Christians are very knowledgeable about the Bible. They know many verses and have some parts memorized. But when it comes to living out their faith, they fall short.

This is often because the church structure they have been a part of does not encourage growth by doing. The New Testament model of house church makes meaningful participation in church possible, and this sparks real discipleship. The contemporary church model often stifles meaningful participation in the church meeting. It is geared for spectators rather than participants.

Christianity is to be practical – lived out. Otherwise it’s empty. Faith must have works, otherwise it’s dead (James 2:17). We need to do God’s word, and not just hear it (James 1:22).

We need Christian action, not just knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up (1 Cor. 8:1).

The house church model makes meaningful participation in church possible.

Body Ministry

The church is the body of Christ. In a body, each part has a vital role to play. As each member of the body functions, the body is healthy and fulfills its purpose. In the body of Christ, each believer has a spiritual gift, and each one has the responsibility to minister that gift to others (1 Pet. 4:10, 1 Cor 12:11). As each believer ministers, the church grows (Eph. 4:16).

The church must grow like a child grows into a man, with all the body parts growing together. The church grows like stones built into a temple or into a house (Eph. 2:20-22). One stone must be built on top of another.

In the New Testament, each person one has the opportunity to minister if God leads them to (1 Cor. 14:26).

Sitting on sofas in a house or around a dining table encourages meaningful participation in church. It is more engaging than sitting in a pew staring at a stage.

Developing Leaders

Participation allows leaders to develop. People can learn to hear from God and minister in his power. They can learn how to be led by the Holy Spirit. As they are led by the Spirit they can speak and edify the church.

Participative meetings provide an opportunity for people to partake of a diversity of ministries. They are not just fed by the ministry of one person.

3. House church can be Spirit-led.

The church can only function by the Holy Spirit. He must lead and empower our service to God.

Sometimes church is done in a way that the Holy Spirit is grieved or hindered. When this happens, the Holy Spirit does not operate strongly in the church. People the. often substitute the work of the Holy Spirit with man-made religious props.

In the Dark Ages, the church did many things that were contrary to God including torturing and killing people. The Holy Spirit was grieved by such things and did not bless the church. Deluded priests replaced the working of the Holy Spirit with architecture, incense, vestments, gold, and icons. When worshipers encountered these things, they thought they encountered God. In reality, these artificial religious props substituted for the working of the Holy Spirit and made people think that God was there when he wasn’t.

Today, churches use lights, music, video presentations, and even fog machines in order to set the mood and usher in the presence of God. When these things are operating well, people think the Holy Spirit is moving. But if they malfunction, people may think the Spirit is not working. These things can become hindrances rather than helps to our devotion when they stir our emotions apart from the Holy Spirit.

House churches generally strip these things away. They don’t have gold, fancy architecture, fog machines, or expensive lighting. Without these things, believers must rely on God. Either we have the Holy Spirit, or we have nothing. It is better to recognize a lack of the Holy Spirit rather than replace him with empty religious activity.

Spiritual Gifts are Spontaneous

The operation of spiritual gifts is spontaneous. Prophecy, tongues, interpretation, word of wisdom, word of knowledge, and miracles were all part of the New Testament church, and they all happen by the leading of the Holy Spirit. We can’t force them. We need to wait for God to work. In the house church model there can be room to wait on God and be spiritually spontaneous.

Open-ended Meetings

Church meetings don’t have to end at the dot of 11:00. In Acts 20:7 at the church meeting Paul kept discussing and teaching until midnight. The meeting went on so long that a young man fell asleep and fell down from a window to the ground and died. Paul raised him back to life and the meeting continued. House church makes open-ended meetings like this possible.

Frequent Meetings

House churches can meet daily if they want to. Somehow it’s easier to meet often in a house than a religious building. There’s food, comfortable chairs, and a more relaxed atmosphere. The early church met together daily (Acts 2:46). Frequent meetings are normal for the family of God, and they provide an environment for people to love and serve each other.

4. House church is closer to regular life.

Jesus came to bring God into our regular lives. He didn’t come to set up a religion with holy places, holy days, and special priests. He came to bring God into all aspects of our lives. For Christians, there ought to be no division between secular and sacred. Every aspect of our lives is to be under the authority and control of Almighty God. Whatever we do, we are to do for God’s glory (1 Cor. 10:31). We aren’t to leave “normal life” in our homes and at our jobs and then go to a “holy building” for a couple hours a week for a holy interlude. Instead, we need to invite God in to completely take over our daily lives.

Eliminating Hypocrisy

We’re not to be actors on a religious stage. We shouldn’t come together in church to put on a religious show to impress each other. We need to learn how to live regular life by the power of the Holy Spirit. House church is a real environment where we can see each other as we really are, and hypocritical masks can be stripped off. We grow when we are real.

Testing Ministries

We have a responsibility to test Christian ministers. How? By examining their fruits. It’s often impossible to do when our only access to them is through books, TV shows, or on a stage.

We can often only see a person’s fruits when we are close to that person, when we see how he reacts when he is hungry, tired, or frustrated. Is he still bearing fruit when he has a conflict with another person? How does he treat his wife and children? What about when a baby is crying and he gets interrupted in the middle of a sermon? House church encourages real spirituality, for it’s closer to real life.

5. House church can facilitate genuine community.

Church is about real relationships, not anonymity. Community is possible when there are close relationships. Church is to be a living and vibrant community of the redeemed – a sum whose total is much greater than its individual parts. Genuine community is organic, and it cannot be forced or manufactured.

If we don’t know other people in a church, then we are not part of that church.

Online church is not substitute for real church. It’s easy to be a hypocrite online, just as it’s possible to fake things on a stage or pretend to be holy as an anonymous member of a crowd. We need real community, not online substitutes.

In community, we can confess sin to each other if we are struggling in a specific area (James 5:16). Specific issues can be addressed. Counsel and wisdom can be given that is appropriate to the situation and person. Needs can be more easily met. We can pray for each others’ burdens and ease them.

The house church model makes radical Christian community possible. Believers can even take steps to live together in holy community. In early Acts all who believed were together (Acts 2:42), probably living together in houses. They shared their stuff. In Romans 16:14-15, two house church communities in Rome are mentioned, each with 7 believers probably living together.

Even if our house churches don’t express community in such a radical ways, they can still make genuine community possible.

6. House church can enable common meals.

Early church meetings happened against the backdrop of a shared meal. These common meals followed the example of the Last Supper, in which Christ shared a meal with his disciples and partook of the bread and juice. These common meals were called love feasts (Jude 7).

The early church met every single day to share a meal (Acts 2:46). 

Eating together is spiritually powerful, and it creates intimate fellowship.

In early church meetings, believers shared the spiritual food of God’s word while they ate their actual food. Communion (the Lord’s Supper) happened in middle of this meal (Matt. 26:26).

Eating together on Sunday morning is impossible in many church buildings today. But in house church, common meals are normal.

7. House church can enable sharing.

In a house church, where believers know each other, they can help each other. They can meet each others’ needs, support the ministry, bless other believers, and help the poor.

The house church model is wise stewardship. Instead of spending money on expensive buildings, video systems, sound systems, and the professional staff that goes with these things, money can be spent to help people.

Conclusion

God chose house church as the basic model for his church not primarily to avoid persecution or save money – although those are important – but to build up his body in ways that would be otherwise impossible. House church is a place where real discipleship can happen and spiritual growth can be maximized.

Not all house churches are functioning in these ways, but the house church model makes these things possible. Other models of church often prevent these things from happening.