Making A Place For "God Among Us"

Exhortations To Those Who "Home Church" (Part 2)

by Matthew Chapman

 

In Part One of this article, we spent a good deal of time looking at how the Lord views His church. This is an extremely relevant subject matter, especially for those of you who are exploring and/or pursuing the "home church option" because, unfortunately, in terms of both real discernment and practice, so many Christians today walk in so little of the substance of what the church really is. We know the scripture, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it" (Ps. 127:1). So unless we ourselves are specifically cooperating with the Lord Himself in the building of His house among us according to His ways, we too are engaged in futile pursuits that will only yield more "wood, hay, and stubble" (Heb. 3:1-19, 1 Cor. 3:5-4:6). Do you want to "be careful" to build upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus something that is of eternal value and worth, or do you want to ooze along with the traditions of men and add yet another layer of worthless religious sediment to what has been accumulating over the last 1800 years?

Having a good foundation for viewing and relating to the spiritual and practical essence of the church in our locality, as well as the entire body of Christ, is the basis for much of what we will be looking at here in Part Two. The essential importance of a proper foundation cannot be understated. If you do the things I am about to suggest upon a flawed foundation, whatever good things of the Lord you may be experiencing at the beginning will run aground, wilt, and become a lifeless routine in only be a short matter of time. Why? Because the effects of the prevalent lack of discernment among Christians about the true nature of the church and its resulting allowance for continuing in man's ways and hardness of heart, will cause sterility, darkness, and death to be woven into the fabric of whatever you are doing. It will be the new wine/old wineskin experiment conducted for the billionth time with the same inevitable result, just as the Lord said (Matt. 9:14-17, Mark 2:18-22). So if you have not read Part One of this article, I would encourage you to do so before reading further.

"Empty hands"

Many of the Lord's people who have chosen to meet together with other believers in their homes are doing so because they have become convinced that the present christianized religious system, which bears little, if any, resemblance to the accounts of church life in the New Testament scriptures, is something inherently flawed and well off the mark for what the Lord intends for His people. I believe such a conclusion is correct. This is not to say that the Lord cannot touch His lambs in institutional settings or that He cannot bring about some genuine spiritual growth in that context-He certainly can and does (He did so for me!). But we many times mistake the Lord's mercy and compassion to visit us in our captivity [for the purpose of calling us out and drawing us deeper into Himself] as His validation for what we are presently doing. As a "container" or "wineskin" for Jesus having fresh, daily, abundant life interaction with His people (as opposed to merely having it with an individual believer here and there), today's christianized religious system with all of its government-approved tax-exempt nonprofit religious organizations that men mistakenly call "churches" is, as Jeremiah put it, "broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jer. 2:13). Yet recognizing this reality is not an end in itself.

Just because we may be correct in our assessment of what the church is not, it does not at all mean that we are partaking of the substance of what the church in Jesus actually is. Genuine church life in Jesus, which is an aspect of "the narrow way" He referred to in Matthew 7, is something very simple to walk in once you are on that way, yet it is costly and difficult to find and enter into. You can be absolutely faithful to empty your hands of the bad, which is a good and necessary beginning step, but all you then have is empty hands. We sometimes fool ourselves into thinking that letting go of the bad is synonymous with laying hold of the good. But laying hold of the true goods and building upon the foundation of Jesus Himself with gold, precious stones, and pearls, is a wholly separate matter (1 Cor. 3:7-15). In other words, discovering and learning to abide and participate in the glorious commodities of life together in Jesus with the saints where you live is an entirely different step, action, and process, from laying aside worthless traditions, lies that hinder, and joining together in the flesh.

One of the gravest mistakes folks can make when they are beginning their journey of discovering truer church life in Jesus is to assume they know what they are doing. If everyone involved is pursuing something they have never lived before on an ongoing basis, then how can they be "wise master builders" and well-equipped workers to begin "God's building" (1 Cor. 3:9-15, Ps. 127:1)? You need [outside] help and a tremendous amount of grace. There is nothing wrong with needing help and grace, but it is arrogant folly to assume you know what you are doing when you are trying to fill a void and deal with a "blind side" in your life. You wouldn't have the lack in the first place if you saw it accurately and knew what to do. And if there aren't any qualified workers around to give you some personal help, then that means the Lord may have to use some of you! That's okay too, for we all have to begin somewhere, and the Lord is well pleased to be strong in and through weak and foolish vessels like you and me (1 Cor. 1:26-31, 2 Cor. 12:1-10). But the key to this equation is that we must really and truly know we are "weak and foolish vessels" and proceed in humility "with fear and trembling," and not run off "half-cocked" acting like we are experts when we are not. I say this because the Lord's grace can cover and even work through so many of our mistakes made in ignorance, but He only gives grace to the humble (James 4:6, Rom. 8:28). If you do not have His grace flowing through what you are doing then you are setting yourself up to fall down flat from the outset.

Typically, people who are beginning to gather together in their homes are primarily focused on one or two things they didn't like or bear witness to at the religious organization they previously attended before endeavoring to "home church." So those things are a significant focus at the start, and they tend to think that their diligence to not do those things coupled with a commitment to do these other things instead will finally make everything wonderful. But they fail to recognize that the real issue is that they must learn to live in a whole new paradigm (for lack of a better word) as far as church life together in Jesus is concerned. The problem is not that these "Eskimos," so to speak, need to tweak life in the igloo in these one or two ways, the problem is that they need to become proficient swimmers in tropical waters! So you need to venture out together very humbly as learners (disciples) of Jesus who have given up everything to follow Him (Luke 14:26-27, 33), otherwise you will soon discover that you have unwittingly recreated the monster all over again in the comfort of your own living room. Much like many new homeschoolers who simply try to recreate a traditional government school classroom and curriculum in their home, you too will bring home the institutional format and end up having "services," albeit in "your own image," instead of discovering genuine church life.

I cannot tell you how many precious people I have met who are doing their sincere best to respond to the Lord and facilitate church life in a way that is "more scriptural" or "more first century" (or however they would describe their aspirations). But because they either did not know what else to do or they wrongly assumed they did, they ended up singing 3-4 songs, passing a basket around for "offerings," and having someone teach (usually the same guy) each time they met. Others tried adding a meal and/or the Lord's supper to this basic format, but the effect of it was still having a very predictable "service" with "dinner on the grounds." Then there are those tragic instances where, in an attempt to have unity and be "like-minded," all they knew to do was debate theology and try to delineate common positions on various issues, which inevitably only led to heaviness, lifeless tension, strife, and division (more on this later).

Saints, the Lord has called us to "a new and living way," and we really can learn to have genuine, real, edifying, life-giving, ongoing, daily fellowship with the Lord and one another (Heb. 10:19-25). It is just going to require us to sacrifice and stretch a whole lot more of than we realized-dying to our agendas and quests for control, letting go of lies we don't yet even realize are lies, believing the truth with a heart that is actively engaged in faith and not passive, and, most importantly, learning to truly correspond to the Bridegroom together rather than constantly asking/expecting Him to bless what we are doing. Will there be trials, disappointments, and pain in the process? Yes, but you also get to share a life together that is so rich and fulfilling you would not trade a day of it for 10 years of Sunday "services" and oratories. If we will embrace our weaknesses and humble ourselves and cry out to God as those who have never been this way before, and thus as those who have no idea what we're doing, yet as those who want to "go all the way" with Him no matter the cost, He will not turn a deaf ear to us but will tend to us and lead us on.

Experiencing "God among us"

"What are we supposed to do when we're together?!" This is the number one question so many precious lambs are asking. They hunger for the goods of the kingdom of God and they deeply desire to touch the Lord in a real way, but how? This is obviously a very legitimate question, and the answer, if your pursuit is true church life and not merely "having church" at home or "establishing a home church," is one that will take some time to learn. It requires doing something that can only be done with other saints-you cannot do it alone-and it requires a lot of patience because you will be "hit and miss" for a good while before becoming adept at doing it together. The activity I am referring to is our learning to make a place for God among us or in our midst, and our becoming more and more proficient and consistent in doing so.

The Lord Jesus said, "For where two or three have gathered together in My Name, there I am in their midst" (Matt. 18:20). Though He was saying this in the context of how to deal with a brother who has sinned, He nevertheless touched on a spiritual reality. When those of us who are born of His Spirit "gather together in His Name," as opposed to gathering together in some other name, it makes a place for Him to personally come be among those of us who are so gathered. And when the Author of Life is in our midst and we are submissively corresponding to Him as the Head of His body, as members of the bride in relation to the Bridegroom, then the real "love feast" begins! The natural result of this is edification-the word of the Lord coming forth, effectual ministry to one another and the world around us, and so many other anointed issues of life from Him. It is really a very simple thing, yet we stumble over the simplicity of it.

The Lord Jesus revealed Himself to John, and, in turn, to us, as the One who "is in the midst" of the churches (i.e., the seven golden lampstands) and "walks among" them (Rev. 1:12-13, 2:1). The angel of the Lord told Joseph that what Isaiah prophesied would be fulfilled in Jesus, and He would be called Immanuel, which means "God with us" (not "God with me" but "God with us," Matt. 1:18-25). When giving the church some basic guidelines for what to do while gathering together in Jesus' Name, what was it Paul said "ungifted men or unbelievers" who happened to be present with them would "fall on their face" and declare upon experiencing "each one" of the saints bringing forth things of edification under the leadership and direction of the Holy Sprit? They would declare, "God is certainly among you!" (1 Cor. 14:23-26). When the bride of Christ is revealed in Revelation 21, what does "the loud voice from the throne" proclaim about her? "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them." (Rev. 21:1-4). If "God among us" is the bride's eternal situation, and Him being among the saints is also the scripture's testimony of church life to us, should we not also be about the ongoing business of making such a place for Him in our midst? Not only does this allow for the Lord to work in our particular time and locality, but it also allows those participating to prepare themselves for the Bridegroom in eternity.

If the church in a locale has no abiding testimony and experience of the presence and life of the Lord Jesus in their midst, and there is little or no visible demonstration of genuine love for one another in His Name, then there is no way they can be a "lampstand" in that place. By virtue of the new birth, those people may technically still be "the church" in that particular locality, but they are disallowed or "removed" from being a lampstand there (cf. Rev. 1:12-2:5; John 13:34-35, 17:21-23). Did the Lord call for scattered and disconnected Christians to periodically get together and commemorate "the great I WAS" or to share a real, ongoing, daily, living experience of the great I AM together? Jesus said, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:20). Yet if we do not abide in any real and substantive experience of Him being with/among us, then what do we really have? The Lord has more than adequately equipped and provided for us in the Spirit to walk in this reality, but we must cooperate with His ways in His church and stop "putting the ark on our own ox carts" (i.e., trying to make Him conform to what we have designed) and expecting Him to bless what we think is a better way (see 1 Chron. 13:1-14, 15:1-15; Eph. 1:3-4, 2 Pet. 1:1-4).

So what does it mean to "gather together in His Name" and how do we do it? First and foremost, the focal point has to be Jesus Himself. If He, the very Person of the Lord Jesus, is not the basis for your gathering together, you are making a place for some form of [religious] darkness and death. I do not know if you realize just how often Christians, perhaps you, "gather together" in other names and mistakenly think they are gathering together in His Name simply because they all happen to be Christians or because the scriptures are being talked about or a prayer is said or it has some Christian theme or noble cause or whatever. But even so, they are often times joining together around something/someone other than Jesus Himself. Tragically, this happens all the time. Some of the common substitutes for Jesus being the basis or focal point of Christians gathering together can include gathering together around:

• A particular truth or doctrine (end times teaching, Calvinism/predestination, spiritual gifts, modesty, issues surrounding the women's place in the church, evangelism etc.)

• Common interests or pursuits (homeschooling, gardening/farming, sports, political activism, nutrition, being debt-free, etc.)

• Common enemies (other Christian groups, opposing political parties, abortion, feminism, "enemies of the family," occult/new age influences, etc.)

• What you believe about the family (headship of the husband/father, submission of the wife/mother, birth control, discipline, sheltering, education, parenting styles, standards, etc.)

• Organizations and institutions (nonprofit entities, denominations, causes, political action committees, etc.)

These are just a few examples of such substitutes. It's not that some of these are not valid truths, issues, interests, pursuits, enemies, and marriage/family matters (while others I have listed are really off)-some of them certainly are valid and are even things of the Lord. But if we make these things the basis for our gathering together rather than the Person of Lord Jesus Himself, we have missed the mark and are offering the Lord another "ox cart" to ride in. He will not fill such places. We may work up some "warm fuzzies" or get all revved up and outwardly look like we're really going places with the Lord, but His presence will be distinctly absent. It will be [to the discerning] shallow, heavy, tiring, draining, and dead.

The Lord, whose Name is Jealous, is particular and specific about the way we gather together, and all things-including the basis for our gathering-are open and laid bare to His eyes (Heb. 4:13, Rev. 2:18, 23; Ex. 34:10-17, Deut. 4:23-24). We are to "gather together in His name," with our hearts wholly given to Him-focused on Him, seeking Him, gazing at Him, waiting upon Him, welcoming Him, listening for Him, worshipping Him, feeding on Him, drinking of Him, expressing our love to Him, responding to Him, etc. He, the Person of the Lord Jesus, is to be the focal point and basis for our gathering together. He personally is to be the center, the preeminent and prominent One. Only then will He come and be personally present in our midst with all of the fullness of who He is flowing in, among, and through the members of His body (Eph. 1:22-23).

The other aspect of what it means to "gather together in His Name," as has already been implied, is that we must "gather together." It is not just that we gather, but that we gather together and do so in His Name. This requires an added step beyond merely gathering at the same place at the same time. We have to be together with one another on a heart level in love, embracing one another as fellow members of the one body of Christ, as brothers and sisters with the same Father, as partakers of the same Holy Spirit, as seekers of the same Lord who desperately need Him and His grace-and do this while joining together around the Lord Jesus. Such an environment is fertile ground for Him to fill, inhabit, and be among us, and such a heart condition is necessary for the saints to be able to receive from, respond to, and interact with Him together as one.

So where two or more are thus gathered together in His Name, there He is in their midst, among them, just as He promised. So what do you do then? Give Him your hearts and your worship, wait upon Him, see how He leads, and then move with Him together. What does this look like? Let me paint one picture by drawing from my own experience.

When I get together with other saints in the area where I live, whether planned or spontaneous, we, for the most part, consciously and deliberately join together around the Lord and look to Him to come among us and direct our time together according to whatever is on His heart for that time. Or to state it more accurately, we actively see and embrace one another in love and, together, simply yield/let go to the Lord and welcome Him into our midst, praising Him and pouring out our love upon Him in worship. While we are doing this, we are also waiting, watching, and listening for anything He may speak or lead for us to do. Whatever He wants for that time is fine with us-we don't care, we just want to be with Him. Knowing the Lord's way is for the men to lead (1 Tim. 2:12 , 1 Cor. 11:3, et al.), we brothers are particularly looking to the Lord to see how He would lead out through any one of us at any given time. The ladies are right there waiting and watching with us too, ready to participate (though not lead or teach or ask questions-1 Tim. 2:11-12, 1 Cor. 14:34-40) within however the Lord would lead through the men.

Before I go on, let me point out that what drives our doing this is that most of us are convinced that Jesus alone is the source of life, and we hunger and thirst for Him. We spent a number of years making a lot of "trips around the mountain" by pursuing being together frequently as an end in itself. Though it took some time before we came to understand that we were doing this, we kept wondering why there wasn't more of the Lord's life being shared together. Besides having First Corinthian 14-style meetings together (which is primarily what I am in the process of describing here in this article), we would eat meals together, "talk shop," take camping trips, play games, help one another on work projects, run errands or go shopping together, etc., and fill our time with common activities, projects, and pursuits.

Now hear me, there is nothing necessarily wrong with any of these things, and some genuine fellowship in the Spirit may at times even be spawned as a result. But so many folks getting together every day and night in all these different types of settings can subtly create an illusion of a lot going on spiritually when that may not be the case. If much of our being together is missing the essential element of the Lord Jesus Himself being among us/in our midst, then our being together falls short of what real church life is. Jesus Himself must be given preeminence and centrality in everything, including whatever reason we happen to be getting together or whatever activity is taking place while we are with one another. Experiencing daily church life requires more than simply getting together a lot, we must be purposely gathering together in His Name when we do. And when we train our hearts to do this action and, together, stay purposed in doing so, then we can do [some of] the other things listed above and they can [potentially, depending on what we do with each opportunity] be daily contexts of sharing His life together that can ultimately serve to build up the church (Eph. 4:15-16).

So, coming back to my portrayal of what gathering together in His Name can look like. When we get together we [hopefully, usually] are purposely joining together in love around the Lord Jesus and looking to Him to be in our midst, and lead and direct our time together. With our agendas laid down and our hearts and ears inclined to our Beloved, we proceed slowly, waiting and watching for what He has. One may lead out in a song and we all go with it and end up spending a good deal of time simply worshipping our Lord Jesus. In the process of doing that, someone may teach us a new song the Lord gave them that day or week, and we sing it to Him too. We may then sit quietly for a while and another may begin praying and we join together in praying in concert with the Holy Spirit's leading. Another may read a scripture and give an exhortation. Then five others may share a revelation this spawned in them. Someone may then share a need, and we pray or physically/literally do something at that very time to meet it. Another may then share about something the Lord showed them or an experience they had that day, and we may rejoice, laugh, or weep with them. This may then evoke more prayer or praise to the Lord or singing songs to one another that are exhortative in nature. A brother who felt the Lord would have him prepare ahead of time for the Lord's supper may then come out with bread and wine and lead us in communion. We may then worship and sing to the Lord for a good while longer. Then a brother may proclaim a word from the Lord and a soberness falls upon everyone and it is time to respond to the Lord and "do business" with Him. Or we may sense the Lord is finished with the meeting and someone may bring out some cake and cookies and we all begin eating and fellowshipping until whenever we need to go home.

The atmosphere is informal, peaceful, and joyful, yet serious about meeting with the Lord together. Most parents have their children with/near them, and all the loving care, training, and discipline they need continues right along as we are gathering together in His Name. Also, a couple of saints may momentarily step outside or go to another room to talk for a moment due to a pressing need or an offense/misunderstanding that needs to be cleared up, etc. Before everyone leaves, any number of brothers may initiate providing a time for gathering together in their home and let everyone know when that will be, as is their responsibility to so follow how the Head of the body leads them (1 Cor. 11:3). Or they may lead out for brothers to meet in town for lunch on a certain day, or a sister may invite other ladies to bring their children and lunches over to her home/deck at a designated time. The point is not to try and come up with something everyone can do at a unanimous time (which is nearly impossible), but for each one to lead out with however the Lord is leading them, and whoever can come will be there. And these "everybody come" times do not preclude all the daily gathering together of two or more in the context of brothers with brothers, sister with sisters, those struggling getting counsel and help, working together, spontaneous visits and conversations, chance meetings during the day, families eating meals together, accompanying one another on [business] trips, etc. It all goes on all the time, and each individual and/or family can get in on however much they are hungry for at any given time. There are also saints who e-mail encouragements and exhortations to one another. Others use the phone. Recently, after looking at Ephesians 5:18-21 and taking it more seriously, a number of saints have begun calling or going by to sing to another as they recognize the Holy Spirit coming up in their heart to do so.

How will we know what is on His heart for each time until we meet together with Him there? And how will we "meet together with Him there" if we are not all first following Him in providing times, places, and contexts to do so? He is the Lord, the Master, the Head, the Husband, so it is not for any of us to lead out until we are so directed by Him. As He leads, then we can, in turn, serve the saints by following Him in leading out for others to participate and/or partake of that particular thing. And since we are all partakers of the same Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13), if He is in it, we will bear witness and move together in corresponding to Him. As we anticipate being together with the Lord and prepare for these times, He will likely give different ones something specific to bring. But even so, these too must be submitted back to Him and only shared with the other saints at the time He directs. Those of us who often teach and preach endeavor to be discerning of what is appropriate for us to share in the saints' time together where "each one has" something because if any of us get going for too long, it can hinder or even completely stop the flow of the Lord among us. If we sense the Lord would have us share a lengthy message or, say, teach a series on a subject matter, we then take responsibility to initiate a specific time to do this.

The point of all this is to daily make welcome places for Jesus to dwell among us and to "sup with" Him, and obey and follow however He leads, and to learn to do this all the time throughout the context of daily life and not merely in meetings. This is the invitation He gave to those "who hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches" (Rev. 3:20). This is how the church is called to live (Acts 2:41-47, 1 Cor. 14:26 , Heb. 3:12-13, 10:23-25). The Lord's call to His church is not one of scheduled attendance and passive pew-sitting, but to live and walk with Him everyday in the context of His body in which He has placed us as members "just as He desired" (1 Cor. 12:18). And in the process of it all, we have innumerable opportunities to grow, forgive, forebear, be patient, lay down our lives, love, allow love to cover " a multitude of sins," share the good news of the kingdom, confront, be confronted, comfort, be comforted, exhort, encourage, give money or possessions, help, pray, intercede, turn the other cheek, love and bless those who slander you because they think you're a cult because "that's not what a church is supposed to look like!", fellowship, baptize, counsel, disciple, and on and on I could go.

Consider the human body. I may be walking down the lane to the mailbox, but in the process of doing that, my heart is pumping blood throughout my body, my lungs are inhaling and exhaling the air, my eyes are looking ahead and around, my ears are hearing the sounds around me, my muscles are contracting in order to bring about the action of walking, my vocal cords are working if I am talking with someone or singing to the Lord, my hands may be carrying something, my mind is processing all sorts of information both consciously and subconsciously, my nose is smelling the various scents in my immediate environment, etc. Now all of this and much more is going on simultaneously during a simple walk to the mailbox. In like manner, while the body of Christ is walking toward eternity with Jesus in New Jerusalem, there is incredible movement going on among the members of His body in conjunction with the leadings and directives of our common Head. Is this not what Ephesians 4:15-16 and First Corinthians 14:26-33 are talking about?

Christians talk a lot about the Lord being the Head of the body and read in Ephesians 1:22-23 where Paul said ".the church, which is His body, [is] the fullness of Him who fills all in all," but where is the substance of it? Where is the practical outworking of it? Does the Lord delight in our paying lip service to a reality in Him while refusing to order our lives in such a way as to live in the substance of it? Is a place being made for the Lord to express Himself as Head of His body and direct His members, "distributing to each one individually just as He wills" (1 Cor. 12:11), when we go to a religious facility and are handed a piece of paper that tells us the agenda that "hirelings" have predetermined and the sequence in which it will all occur?! I think we all know the answer to that question, but what are we going to do about it? Go back to sleep? Recreate the same exercise in futility in our homes? Or will we pay the price to learn to "gather together in His Name" and joyfully and submissively, and yet soberly, correspond to our Bridegroom, our Head, the Lord Jesus?

Sometimes the Lord can use the most unusual means to encourage you that you are on the right track. One such affirmation came to those of us here where I live when we were told of a complaint made by someone who had visited several of the gatherings around here. This person expressed real frustration because "you can tell there are a number of strong brothers there, but you can't tell who the leader is!" Wow! Thank you, Lord! What a compliment to what You have managed to accomplish in, through, and among a bunch of weak and foolish people like us! Thank you for helping us to gain some real ground in learning to gather together and respond and move under Your Headship! Thank you for all You have done, and are doing, to purge us of "the teaching and deeds of the Nicolaitans, which You hate," and for patiently training your men to humbly lead in a context of freedom in You without "lording" (Rev. 2:6, 15; Matt. 20:25-28)! Purge us more, and take us deeper in You! For those of you who need the qualification: Yes, there is a place for mature leadership and God does have His order within His house, and it is recognizable, but it was refreshing to have someone sense that there was leadership present and yet not be able to tell who the head guy was (because there isn't one).

Folks, I cannot tell you how rich and edifying it is to live in such an environment as this is. Do we have a loooooong way to go in this journey? Most definitely. Are we a bunch of folks whose "feet are made of clay"? Yes, without a doubt. Do we make mistakes or periodically have times together that, for whatever reasons, unfortunately fall flat and are void of His sweet presence among us? Yep. Are we all being purified of fleshly baggage and growing in sanctification, grace, forgiveness, patience, and love? Yes, big time. But even so, if I ended my race here, I would still be able to say that I have experienced more of the reality of Ephesians 4:1-16 and First Corinthians 12-14 than I ever thought possible-and yet there is so much more in Him that we have yet to discover & recover.

Saints, what I am describing here does not have to be some isolated phenomena. We didn't wait around for "a revival," and then God, for some reason, decided to finally let it happen (such a notion, by the way, is a fallacy if you believe it). What we are endeavoring to do is simply live daily life awake to the Lord and His kingdom, together, and do those things that cooperate with this end. It is something saints anywhere on this planet can do, regardless of location, political circumstances, economy, etc. For those of you who are opening your hearts and homes to one another to gather together around the Lord and fellowship together in Him, you have a ripe opportunity to pursue this. But please aim higher than merely "having home church." Aim for gathering together in Jesus' Name, experiencing the Lord in your midst, acting in harmony with the leadings of the Head, and then allow this to permeate every aspect of your lives. Such is God's desire and design for all of His people. It is the reason He has given us the Holy Spirit and set us as members of His body to be joined together and benefited "by that which every joint [every joining of body members] supplies" (Eph. 4:16).

Understanding the nature of church life and the "quarry"

Simply stated, the church is God's home in the Spirit constructed of the building material of His people (Eph. 2:21-22, Heb. 3:6, et al.). Peter referred to us as the "living stones" who are "being built up as a spiritual house" (1 Pet. 2:4-6). The Lord, through John, provided a revelation of what this house will look like in eternity. In Revelation 21, we see His home, who is also called His bride and New Jerusalem, and everything she is and everything (everyone) that composes here is beautiful and completely pure and finished. Everything is made of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, and the like-the fruit of lives and daily choices built upon the foundation of Jesus that are of a quality worthy of His house and are thus able to pass through the testing of fire and into eternity (1 Cor. 3: 5-15). Zion in eternity is the expression of all the treasure-the righteous acts of the saints and faith in Jesus through all the trials and tribulations and difficulties of the former life-that was laid up in heaven (Matt. 6:19-21, Rev. 19:7-8, 1 Pet. 1:3-9, Rom. 8:18). She literally radiates the glory of God, and nothing of sin or death or uncleanness resides there (Rev. 21:10-11, 27). This is what I will call the eternity-side of church life, and this is the inheritance of all who overcome (Rev. 21:7).

But now, at the present time, we live in what I will call the earth-side experience of church life. In its essence, it is not to be unlike what we see/read of the eternity-side of church life. This is why the role of the Holy Spirit is so mandatory and critical, for He Himself is our foretaste, earnest, pledge, and deposit of this glorious inheritance (Eph. 1:13-14, Rev. 21:7). Through Him, we can now taste of what is in the age to come and thus be learning to so walk in and correspond to the Bridegroom, which, in turn, is what makes us ready for Him (1 Cor. 3:21-23, Rev. 19:7). This partaking of the Holy Spirit, foretasting of New Jerusalem, and preparing for the marriage during the earth-side betrothal is why the Holy Spirit and the bride are always linked together in the scriptures, resulting in an impassioned heart-cry of "Come, Lord Jesus!" (Rev. 22:17, 2 Cor. 11:2-4, et al.). This is also why the Lord Jesus so adamantly declared that it was to our advantage that He go away to the Father and send the Holy Spirit to us (John 16:7-15). Consequently, this is why "it is impossible to renew again to repentance... those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away," as warned about by the writer of the Hebrew letter (Heb. 6:4-12).

Now having said this, we all need to understand that the earth-side experience of church life can be very messy. Why? Because we still reside in bodies of flesh that are under the sentence of death and thus we still struggle with temptation and sin and the lusts of the flesh, all while we sight-oriented people must walk by faith (the "substance" of what is not seen-Heb. 11:1). It is in this context-with all of its trials, tribulations, limitations, grief, hurt, pain, stumbling, persecution, ridicule, being misunderstood and/or slandered, having to follow the Lord in ways that offend and provoke the world, etc.-that all the gold, silver, and precious stones that we read about in Revelation 21 are being brought forth and purified and deposited into Zion.

In the process of all this beauty coming forth, all kinds of ugly things get dealt with-impure and selfish motives, secret sins, judgments, pride, arrogance, self-pity, lust, depression, addictions, immorality, lying, deceit, strife, fighting, defensiveness, independence, rebellion, fear, self-protection, unfaithfulness, bitterness, unforgiveness, lack of love, etc. Such things are always coming up in and among all the relationships of all the saints in the church, and they continually test our resolve to gather together in His Name and partake of Him and walk in all that is true in Him and be sanctified (prepared for Him). In other words, we all have to choose every moment whether we will walk according to the Spirit or walk according to the flesh, whether we will embrace the light or run away from it, whether we will humble ourselves or somehow stiffen our necks and be defensive, whether we will love or be indifferent or hate, etc. And as we all know, we do not always choose so well.

Thus this "quarry" of earth-side church life, where we "living stones" are being fashioned and prepared for eternity by having our "rough edges" hammered and chiseled off in order to be shaped by Him, can be a very messy, painful place. Yet the work that the Holy Spirit accomplishes here is mandatory for being made ready for the eternal house of God, and we should welcome and cooperate with it with all of our hearts (cf. 1 Pet. 2:5 w/1 Kings 6:7; 1 John 4:16-21). The "quarry time" of earth-side church life is used by the Lord to produce two things: 1) the quality of each individual living stone's life and walk in God, and 2) their compatibility for fitting together with the other living stones in making a dwelling for Him in the Spirit (Heb. 12:14, 1 Pet. 2:2:4-6, Eph. 2:19-22, Col. 3:12-17, John 14:1-3). That said, it is so easy to undervalue daily church life and take it for granted, and not discern the weighty, eternal matters that are [hopefully] being accomplished in our very temporary local settings (2 Cor. 4:16-5:10, et al.).

In the process of living daily life and relating with the saints like I am describing here, all of our junk just naturally manages to get exposed or somehow be lived out in front of everyone else, and the saints get to see us "in all of our glory." You discover the reality that most everything anyone does affects all the other members of the body, and we all have continual opportunities to either make provision for the flesh or draw from the life of the Spirit and walk according to Him (1 Cor. 12:12-27, Gal. 5:13-25). But if we will submit to the "Quarry Master" (the Holy Spirit) and "be subject to one another in the fear of Christ" (Eph. 5:21), and allow Him to accomplish His work in us, both individually and together, He will not only bring about spiritual maturity and beauty in each individual "living stone," but He will also increase our capacity/ability for being His dwelling place and experiencing Him together in our midst. Isn't this what we are all hungry for? Well, He has His way for bringing it about-we just have to submissively cooperate with Him and offload all of our junk that gets in the way. This is why, in the end, we will all cast our crowns at His feet, for we will be so acutely aware that He alone pulled this thing off and our role was so little. It is beyond our ability to fully manage or comprehend all of the dynamics of church life, but, by His grace and Spirit, we can each do our part under His Headship and learn to respond to Him together and behold Him as He does great things in our midst.

Now the Lord's family, like any other family, is made up of children who are all at differing ages and levels of maturity. The Father will have the older siblings serve and help out with the younger siblings, but none of them would even think about trying to take over His role. He is the One who keeps everything running smoothly, has wisdom, knows what is needed in each and every situation, and provides direction and stability for His family. Their life together all orbits around Him.

"Like-Mindedness"

But like a lot of families, some siblings can also clash or get really tired of certain other siblings for a whole number of reasons. Even worse, these siblings usually allow this tiredness to fester into offenses, unforgiveness, impatience, resentment, and judgments. Instead of seeing how Father would have them deal with this weariness, some children come up with their own way-to withdraw from the siblings they are wearied and bothered by. Now I am not talking about how they relate to rebellious brethren who are continuing in sin and have left abiding in the Father's home. I am referring to siblings who are continuing with the Father in His house, who are saying "Yes!" to Him with all of their heart, and who, like the rest of us, have their own set of "baggage" and problems for which they need His redemption and sanctification.

What I am getting at here is that you hear a lot these days about Christians "seeking fellowship with like-minded brethren." If what they mean by this is that they are isolated/alone and trying to simply find other folks who are sold out to Jesus-others with whom to seek Him, worship Him, interact with Him, obey Him, respond to Him together, etc.-that is a valid need and quite understandable. But many times this quest for "fellowship with like-minded brethren" is a mask for a vile and fleshly agenda where what is really being sought after are people just like them, who share most/all of their standards, dress codes, and ways of doing things. In other words, people who talk like them, look like them, act like them, and adhere to their same laws and codes of conformity as them, etc. (cf. Gal. 6:12-16). It is rooted in selfishness, comparing, pride, and self-protection. They are tired of other people's messes. They are tired of the stress inherent in trying to love new believers with all of their "baggage" while protecting their children's hearts and minds from whatever worldly leaven these new babes in Christ may still exude. They are tired of being associated with people whom they view as substandard, an embarrassment, or whatever. All they want is "some peace and quiet" and a place to fellowship and worship the Lord without all the headaches.

Okay, we can sympathize with getting weary at times and we understand the temptation to go this direction, but let's ride that horse for awhile. Let's say there is a group of Christians who are tired of all the problems and the worldliness they still see in other brethren's lives (not their own, of course). Those people seem to always be saying and doing all sorts of things they shouldn't, they seem like they are taking forever to grow, and they always need help with something. Those people also always seem to have some new crisis going on, some emergency, some complex problem that is difficult to even understand. Those people are really holding the mature ones back, you know, and the Lord could do so much more if they weren't around.

So this group of Christians comes up with a solution: They are going to establish "a" perfect church. They are going to raise the bar so high that only the truly worthy who remain will be a part of this church, just like Jesus would want, right? So, in order to be a member, they must all get up every morning at 3am for a good 3 hours or so of prayer and Bible study-no lukewarmness here. In addition, everyone has to have at least 40 chapters of the scriptures memorized, have a working knowledge of either Greek or Hebrew, homeschool their children (who must also be perfectly obedient, by the way), dress with absolute discreteness and modesty, witness to at least 22 people a day, sing on tune when worshipping, be a fervent intercessor, never own a television set, practice impeccable hospitality when having any/all of the saints over to their home, and give no less than 35% of their income to help take care of any needs in the church. There is a LOT more that they do, but you get the picture.

So now they have successfully weeded out all of those people who were nothing but a hassle and they can really get on with church life. Now they can finally bask in pure and unadulterated worship and service to the Lord without all of the headaches and distractions. So they begin fervently and zealously serving the Lord with all of their like-minded companions, and because they are so streamlined with holiness, He blesses them and does a mighty work in their midst. In fact, the Lord so pours out His anointing upon them that one day, while they were having a picnic at the park out by the lake, the Lord so stirred one of the brothers that he stood up on a picnic table and began to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God to all of the heathen who were there at the park too. The more he preached, the more people crowded around to hear. The Holy Spirit soon began convicting the listeners of their sin. Cries of repentance could be heard everywhere. Finally one man threw down his can of beer and shouted, "What must we do to be saved?!" The brother responded with more anointed words from the Holy Spirit and before they knew it, 200 people had given their lives to Jesus. They then immediately went over to the lake and began baptizing these precious new believers.

Well now what do you think has just happened to this "perfect" church? Jesus has just given them 200 of His little lambs to tend to-lambs who know little more than the Lord has had mercy on them and changed their life, yet who also still have tattoos all over their bodies, stainless steel objects pierced through their skin in the most awful ways, broken marriages, children who are out of control, biases against the prudent use of spanking, drug/alcohol/tobacco addictions, immorality problems, profanity problems, modesty problems, abortion guilt, needs for many long hours of talking through things in order to sort out all of the confusion and lies they believe due to years of abuse and/or sinful indulgences, lust problems, entertainment addictions, and on and on. Suddenly a whole number of people with their seemingly endless stream of baggage has, by God's own design, found its way into this "perfect" church.

Do you get my point? The church's earth-side experience of life together in Jesus will always have its challenges. Just like a family has to "start all over" with each new baby, so also, as the Lord continually adds precious souls to the church, do we have to begin afresh with helping every new spiritual sibling whom our Lord Jesus laid His life down for. Will this bring up difficulties? Yes, most assuredly. But the Lord tells us that "love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Pet. 4:8). His love sure covered a multitude of our sins, didn't it? Other believers have had to patiently "cover" our sins while we have been growing and overcoming, haven't they? And they still do! Can we not give our new, younger, struggling siblings the same love and forbearance and patience while faithfully speaking the truth in love and walking alongside them (Col. 3:12-17, Eph. 4:15-16)?

But there's more! Coming back to our overall subject, if the church can incorporate these lambs into experiencing God among us, you will be amazed at how much faster growth in the Lord can occur in their lives. As they learn to "gather together in Jesus' Name" and eat and drink of Him in the midst of the saints and listen to, follow, and respond to Him, an amazing thing will happen: they will begin bearing the family resemblance (holiness, 1 Pet. 1:14-16)! Because the Lord Jesus is the focal point of what you are doing-not an institution, not a denomination, not a pet doctrine, but the Lord Himself-all of you will very naturally, like flowers growing up toward the sun, "grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the Head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love" (Eph. 4:15-16).

Consider the 12 apostles and the approximately 120 others people who followed Jesus around during His time upon the earth (Acts 1:12-23). What were their days and nights filled with? Experiencing the Lord personally and physically among them, in their midst (1 John 1:1-3, 2 Pet. 1:16-18; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)! Whether they were rising up, lying down, eating, walking along the way, sitting quietly and listening to Him teach, or whatever they were doing and wherever they happened to be doing it-they were constantly watching, listening to, seeking, enjoying, and interacting with Him. Do you think they stopped doing this just because the Lord ascended? Not for a moment. When Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, they continued right on gathering together in His Name and eating and drinking of Him in the midst and experiencing Him among them. The only difference was that they now had to do this same action by His Spirit in faith. So when Jesus told them to "go and make disciples.teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you [the "you" here in the Greek is plural] always, even to the end of the age," they knew exactly what to do-to continue living daily life together around Him, just as they had been doing all along, and to bring others into doing the same (1 John 1:3).

Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three pecks of meal, until it was all leavened" (Matt. 13:33). Well, consider that the 120 in Jerusalem were so potent with the leaven of the kingdom because of how they had walked and lived with Jesus and were then continuing to do so by the Holy Spirit, that the Lord was able to add 3,000 folks to them in a day (Acts 1:13-15, 2:1-47). And what is even more amazing is that what the 120 shared together of the Lord's life in the Spirit was able to "leaven" the 3,000 new believers rather than the 3,000 new believers' baggage diluting what they had. And as the leavening continued, and folks were growing in grace and sharing the Lord's life together daily, He continually added more and more. And daily-whether in the temple, listening to the apostles, gathering together from house to house, eating meals, etc.-they joined together around Jesus Himself, and grew "in all aspects into Him" (Eph. 4:15-16). The point here is not growth for growth's sake, but to recognize to natural process of LIFE in the Lord Jesus and His kingdom.

And some of the natural fruit that results from real life together in Him is the like-mindedness such as we read about in Acts 1:14, 2:46, and 4:24, 31-32. Here where I live, there is an amazing diversity of folks. Yet I am continually amazed to discover how like-minded we have become about so many things we have never or hardly even talked about and about certain subject matters no one has yet taught on. Such is the fruit of being with Jesus. Do matters still arise where there are disagreements or issues that we need wisdom on how to handle? Yes, all the time. Even so, we can gather together around Him, seek Him, feed on Him, see what He says, and respond to Him together, for "we [not "I" but we] have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:12-16).

The Lord is not some schizophrenic deity who has a diversity of opinion within Himself, where some parts of Him "agree to disagree" with other parts of Him. He clearly has His mind, His will, His wisdom, and His truth, and we, the members of His body, can be partakers if we will humble ourselves and genuinely seek Him together. And I am not talking about some humanistic, fleshly, truth-compromising "ecumenical movement." I am saying we can know the truth in Jesus and be set free in it together (John 8:31-32).

In closing

Well, I'm sure I have succeeded in these two articles of producing a most unusual set of "exhortations to those who [are beginning to] 'home church'" than what you would have ever expected. Volumes more could be written and so many other matters could be expounded upon and need to be expounded upon, but I pray you have been given a glimpse of a life together in Jesus that He desires for all His people. I encourage you and the saints you gather together with to aim with all your heart toward real and often experiences of Him in your midst, which is the very essence of church life. And I hope you have seen something far beyond a mere "home church" in which to pursue.

Be warned, however, that such a jewel will not be sold to you off the clearance rack-it will cost you full price. Some of you will have to allow the "wood, hay, and stubble" that you have built to collapse and fall away, and will have to start all over. Some of you will be accused of starting a cult because most people, and tragically even many real Christians, are so unfamiliar with what church life really is, they will not recognize it when they see it, and will therefore have no other grid to put what you are doing into. All of you who choose such a journey will have to face dark things in your flesh that really hinder what the Lord is wanting to do both in you individually and among the saints where you live as well. There will be disappointments, hurts, and misunderstandings along the way. There will likely be division. And you will learn that growth, even in the most fertile of settings, is nevertheless much slower than we would like for it to be.

Some of you folks will have to move and relocate in order to live closer to other saints so as to provide more opportunities for real fellowship and partaking of His life together. But you need to understand that living close together does not guarantee fellowship in the Spirit, but it does provide more frequent potential for it. The key is what you do with the opportunities that living closer to others provides. Living in proximity to other saints also makes encountering and being with one another more of a part of your daily diet in the Lord instead of an occasional event.

The one thing living closer together usually does guarantee, however, is trouble and difficulties, because instead of sweet periodic conversations in the hallway of the religious facility, you now see one another all the time, and as soon as "the new" wears off, the rough edges of the "living stones" will begin rubbing up against one another in both subtle and obvious ways. Whether or not you actually do share His life together depends upon what you choose (the Spirit or the flesh) and how well you take advantage of your opportunities. Every situation, every trial, every problem with the other's children, every difference in family and property and lifestyle preferences, etc. will be an opportunity for everyone involved to grow in the grace and life of Jesus.

I say these things because, speaking from nearly 18 years of personal experience (at the time of this writing), I want to be honest with you about what you are in for. But I also want to declare without hesitation that you stand to gain a life together in Jesus that you would not trade for ANYTHING. The blessings and benefits for you, your family, the church where you live, and the body of Christ, of sharing His life together far outweigh the difficulties along the way. Every time you travel, you will eagerly anticipate getting home and seeing the saints. Every time you encounter someone stuck in the routine of "going to church" who is weary of the superficiality and shallowness, you will feel compassion for them and thank the Lord for whatever shared life in Him you do have. And even though you may be aware that what you have is pitifully underdeveloped, you will also be aware that it is nevertheless drenched with life compared to what most people's experience of church life is, and you will feel intense gratefulness and humility.

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