We are going to spend at least two weeks on these two verses. Oftentimes, it seems that the Lord manages to pack a lot of meaning into little space. Acts 2:46 is one of the first places we get any sort of hint about how the New Testament church was organized. If you notice, they had no programs. Instead, they lived and spent time together as disciples of Jesus in two different contexts. A church planter named Bill Beckham, calls these two contexts, the two “wings” of the church. The idea behind calling it a “wing” is this: a bird needs two wings to fly forward. A bird with only one wing may get off the ground, but probably will only be able to fly in a circle. In the same way, a church needs both of these contexts (wings) to move forward with the mission of Jesus, which is to make disciples who make disciples. If we only function in one context, we will tend to go around in circles.
The first context was in the temple courts. I call this the “large group wing,” because when they were in the temple, they were all together in a large group. It was probably there that they listened to the teaching of the apostles. They may have had some public worship there too. As faith in Jesus Christ spread to other parts of the world, we find that the believers in other places did not always have a building in which to meet as a large group. In fact, only in Ephesus do we know for sure that the believers had a public meeting place for a large group. Acts 19:9 tells us that they met in a lecture hall.
The second context that these first followers of Jesus had, was the “small group wing.” Acts 2:46 says they gathered from house to house to break bread and praise God. If we read the rest of Acts carefully, as well as Paul's letters, we find that all Christians met together in homes. Given that homes in those days were smaller than they are here in America today, it is obvious that each home group was relatively small. When Saul persecuted the church, he would enter “house after house” (Acts 8:3) to get Christians. In other words he was going from home group to home group. When Peter was released from prison, he went to the church that was gathered at Mary's house. Paul says to the Ephesian Christians:
I did not shrink back from proclaiming to you anything that was profitable, or from teaching it to you in public and from house to house. (Acts 20:20-21)
At the end of Colossians he writes:
Give my greetings to the brothers in Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. (Col 4:15)
At the beginning of Philemon he writes:
To Philemon, our dear friend and co-worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your house.
So, while there was a large group context to churches, the New Testament clearly recognizes that all Christians at that time met for church in homes. The core of their lives together as Christians took place in small home groups. When they really spent time praying, it was in a home group. They reached out to people who did not know Jesus through their home groups. They did works of service with their home groups. The children were trained and raised up in Jesus – in the context of their families and home groups. Many of the tasks and activities that these days we associate with “church” – took place in small groups that met in homes. Spiritual gifts were used in home groups and by home groups. Miracles happened in those houses. People were “saved” (that is, they came to know Jesus) in and through those home groups. Disciples grew in Jesus in those houses. They had potlucks there, and fun and tears and laughter. They didn't have programs – they had joyful communities of disciples who made disciples.
Now both contexts of church were important to them. Even when churches didn't have a regular large group meeting place, they still banded together for certain large group functions or tasks. For example, groups of home churches would join together to support an apostle or a pastor or evangelist – or a team of people like that – who would provide teaching, training, organization and leadership for all those home groups. The groups recognized that they belonged to one another, and they helped each other in doing things that one group alone couldn't do. When and where they could, they met as a large group for worship and teaching.
There is not one church in the New Testament period which owned its own building – other than those believers who owned their homes. And yet these churches, functioning in large group and small group contexts, changed the course of the history of the world. They survived social and political upheaval. They prospered even under persecution. We would not be here today without them.
Most churches in America these days have only the large group context that truly functions. Bill Beckham calls this a one-winged church. A creature which is supposed to have two wings, but uses only one of them, is destined to fly in circles. Churches need both wings.
At New Joy, I think we have a fairly healthy large group wing. The Lord seems to often be at work on Sunday mornings, which is when we do most our large group activity. There are things we can do to “tweak” our Sunday times, but overall, I think we are accomplishing the tasks that the large group mode should accomplish. So be at ease. Of course we are willing to listen to suggestions, but our leadership team has no plans to make big changes in what we do on Sunday mornings.
Our small group wing, is growing. We have about ten or twelve families who are a regular part of one of our home groups. I think we have enough interest to start more groups soon.
But it isn't just about “having” home groups. It is also about how we view church. I think we all recognize that what we do on Sunday morning is “church.” I want to encourage you to see home groups that way also. It is not just an extra. It is the essential second wing. Without it, we will fly in circles. Where other churches have programs for outreach and service and ministry training and education – we have home groups. Now we do need to make some adjustments in how our small groups function. Some of those changes are about what we do when we meet, and a lot of them are about our attitude toward the home-group wing. We need to be a bit more intentional about being “a real church” when we get together in homes. In our home groups, we can really devote ourselves to prayer – much more so than on Sunday mornings. In our home groups, we can really help each other apply the word of God. We can learn and practice spiritual gifts in home groups, far more effectively than in the large group context. In our home groups, we can encourage the downcast, and visit and care for the sick; we can discuss important questions in a way that we can't on Sunday morning.
Many times, I have been blessed to be there when someone gives her or his life to Jesus for the first time. Almost every single one of those times was either in a home group meeting, or because of a home group. I've seen people who would not come to Sunday morning worship in a gym – or anywhere else for that matter – walk into a home group meeting and happily be in church (the small group wing) for two hours. If we are looking for a proven, effective way to make new disciples, having church in the small group context (in addition to the large group) is it.
So what does this mean for us, practically? First, if you are in a small group already, I will be encouraging your group to make a few adjustments, especially adjustments in how you view the group. No group will be forced to do anything, however. Second, if you are not in a small group, I want to encourage you to get involved in one. We'll probably be starting a new one soon. Maybe we'll even have enough people to start two new home groups.
There are some great churches in Lebanon that have terrific programs. There are some awesome church buildings here too. But by having real and authentic home group church, our little New Joy Fellowship can offer our community something that it doesn't have, by and large, and something which all disciples really need, if we are going fly. The first disciples did it that way, and you simply can't argue with their results. Let's listen to the invitation of the Holy Spirit to imitate them.
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