Be a Community of Truth
The church, whether it be large or small, oblong or compact, is a vessel for the raw transformative substance of God’s Word.
Scripture is our source code. Our base content. God “breathes” it to us (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and we “speak the truth in love” to one another. It’s by this process we become mature and grow up into the full stature of Christ (Ephesians 4:15-16).
All forms of church, then, fall short when they fail to transmit knowledge of scripture and facilitate its application. A megachurch that delivers a killer show but a short and shallow sermon—cobbled of personal anecdotes, laced with a Psalm or two—is falling short. The house or micro-church that isn’t much more than a fellowship group—hot on community but cool on content—is really suffering the same basic problem.
These are caricatures, of course. But they demonstrate an important fact: the model often matters less than we’d like to think. Regardless in what rhythms a church meets or how it structures its services, there is little that matters more than helping people imbibe life-giving scripture. Teaching is necessary if we want to make true disciples. Jesus said as much in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).
But disciple-making is about more than knowledge transfer. We don’t just teach, but “teach them to obey.” It’s possible, of course, to be a church that is high on doctrine but low on love. But the real problem in said church wouldn’t be over-teaching the Bible, but the incomplete nature of what they teach. Learning, spiritual understanding, radical acts of love—all these roll up into the biblical notion of discipleship. Jesus said “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” (John 13:17).
It’s at this point that our church forms start to really matter. Wineskins, as Jesus called them (Luke 5:37-39), are both containers and delivery systems. Actual wine needs preserved. It also ought to be enjoyed. We can’t have merlot sloshing all over the floor. That would be tragic. But it’s also useless if completely sealed away.
Some church forms contain and deliver truth better than others. Often this depends on a variety of contextual factors. Missiology is all about adapting to culture without compromising the gospel. To “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 3), also means we work to make it comprehensible and beautiful for each new generation.
House churches (the primary form of church in which I pastor) can be powerful in both respects. When gathered locally and organically, what Paul describes in Colossians 3:16 suddenly becomes livable: “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”
In a larger and more anonymous environment, it’s just harder to achieve this dynamic. It makes sense why much of the first century church was organized this way (Colossians 4:15, Philemon 1:2, Romans 16:5, 1 Corinthians 16:19, Acts 5:42, Acts 20:20). Being in close community facilitates not only deeper learning, but also life-on-life expression.
But sometimes God surprises us.
I pastored for years at a church that studied other movements around the country. Once, we visited a well-known church in California. The group was much more traditional than us. From our point of view, they seemed antiquated—even culturally irrelevant.
But the fruit in their ministry was undeniable. Real disciples, close community, and growth that wasn’t fueled by Christians church hopping.
Frankly, it blew our minds.
As we searched for an explanation (special methods, key insights, pure luck?) one theme came up over and over again. This was a community saturated in God’s truth. They were best known, in fact, for their plain commitment to studying scripture, and teaching it at every opportunity.
We all could use a jolt like this from time to time: an insight which rocks our ministry sensibilities and makes us reconsider what we are doing. God is bigger than the church in any given place or time. It’s a privilege to stumble forward and see him use any of us in ways we can hardly understand.
Understanding this truth shouldn’t cut back innovation. When it comes to modern church planting, questions about strategy and forms are crucial. These need to be worked out contextually and with much prayer.
I have the privilege of getting to encourage emerging house and micro-church networks all over the country. Many of these groups are lurching away from what they see as stale forms limiting potential for movement. Certainly, we need more people willing to experiment and find new ways of reaching our complex culture for Jesus.
But let’s be clear on what matters most. Preaching the Word isn’t a prevailing church model thing. It is a Jesus thing. It is a Paul thing. It is an Ezra thing. It is God’s thing. We are to do it, in season and out (2 Timothy 2:1-4).
A good friend of mine used to only drink Gatorade, day and night—fruit punch flavor to be exact. He was incredulous as to why anyone would drink plain water. Then, one day he ended up at the doctor with a huge kidney stone.
Refreshing substitutes for water, flavorful as they may be, still aren’t the substance our bodies were made to run on. Gatorade is good. So are certain well-articulated, often biblically informed, thought systems that arise from the world of church planting. But those are not what we need to flourish spiritually; it’s the pure milk of God’s Word that brings life.
The Holy Spirit works dynamically, like electricity coursing through water, when we soak our communities in scripture. Our churches should be fun, energetic, humble, community-oriented, outreaching, stand for justice, praiseful, and much else besides.
We get to all these things and more by first being a community of truth.
About the Author
Josh Benadum is a disciple maker and community builder active in Orlando, Florida. He and his wife Meri serve a burgeoning network of house churches, and partner with Youth for Christ in reaching underserved youth. Josh has a MA degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and specializes in training and deploying lay ministry leaders. He also works with Brave Future: a collaboration of thought leaders, organizations, and church networks dedicated to R&D for the future of the church.