In talking about practical Church life, let's briefly define what I
mean by it: it's about the best ways to interact with one another as
Christian believers outside of the existing, man made church systems.
The purpose in pursuing something like this is the inability for
Christians to fulfil their mandate to be priests unto God under what
are considered 'traditional' practice of the church. Such as sitting
in a chair or pew for your entire life receiving varying degrees of
input - many times not even biblical input - which does nothing
more than to turn you into meaningless and spiritually worthless
moss on a rock, as you eventually get socialized into your comfort
zone and lose all desire and inspiration to participate in the great
fellowship of the Father and His son Jesus Christ together.
For example, how does one experience being a practical part of the
body of Christ as far as functioning goes? How do you express
yourself as part of the body of Christ when the only opportunities
are to sit and listen to what have been named sermons? At what time,
as measured by the the church you're part of, are you given chances
to share what Christ has done in, to or for you? How often are you
allowed to do that? What has been practically put in place to offer
believers the biblical requirement to share with one another? When
is the last time some type of so-called clergy has shut up and you
and other believers were doing the talking and sharing?
For the vast majority of people the answers to these questions,
sadly, are never. This is one of the major reasons we have such a
low-quality of Christian today, as they're not given the opportunity
to stretch their spiritual muscles and grow as a result.
Although this begins with a way of looking at the body of Christ and
it's purpose, it ends with the implementing of practical steps which
ensure the chance to live this way as the people of Jesus Christ is
presented to all who want to know more of Him; both individually and
corporately.
With this in mind, I want to show you several ways I've practically
experienced living outside the institutional or organized church
that has worked well to varying degrees, and each has its own
strength and weaknesses. After over 50 years of living like this, I
think I've pretty much found the only ways this can be done, and
some times it takes a combination of more than one to make it really
work well.
Born into body life
My first experience in body life was from the day I was born, as it
was part of my dad's and mom's life far before I was a twinkle in
their eyes.
You have to understand that this was back in the 1950s, and before
the strong interest in body life as we would look at it today was
rediscovered, and also before the Jesus people movement, which
generated a lot of interest just because it was very organic in its
nature, even with some of the unfortunate excesses connected with
it, which unfairly painted everyone with the same brushstroke, even
though it was far from true.
Anyway, what the practicals involved with this were the church
decided years before I was born in 1956 to buy a piece of land in
the country for the purpose of having a type of weekend retreat in
the summer months (I was born and lived in northern Minnesota, so
winters made it impractical for families to be there during that
time of the year).
What eventually happened was we got so close to one another during
these times that to not go up there, even when the weather was bad,
would be unheard of. We didn't miss a weekend, and it forever
changed our lives with the light that we had at the time.
The land itself was both flat and hilly, so you could partake in
some group activities, which always added to relaxing us for the
purpose of opening up to one another more when we sat and talked and
shared.
There was also a building built for the purpose of people who didn't
have camping trailers and such to be able to stay in bedrooms which
were located upstairs.
Downstairs there was a square hall with a large fireplace which
created great atmosphere and place to sit back and relax as well. We
had chairs in racks we could take out to sit on whenever we wanted
to get together for a meeting or whatever. There was also a cooking
area off the front area you could go through a door to to make you
dinner if you didn't want to barbecue outside, etc.
On the other part of the downstairs was an outer area (surrounding
the square hall) where there were tables where people could gather
together to eat as family and friends.
The idea was there were several things set up for moments when we
just wanted recreational down time, while everything else was set
for the purpose of enjoying all the aspects of fellowship together.
Bear in mind, that while this sounds all upper class and stuff like
that, in reality it was built by the brothers long before who knew
and practiced carpentry and other needed skills, and was in fact
very sturdy but humble; not a type of place where people wanting
only the 'American Plan' would necessarily go to.
It was very functional and added needed privacy, but also build in a
way you had to fellowship unless you stayed in your room or campers
for the whole time you were there.
It would take a book to write about the experiences of this
fantastic place with all the people there, but the bottom line is it
was something that existed for the purpose of organic church life
far before the word was even being used, or we had ever heard it,
and it was extraordinary in that the children of my age were
basically born into the experience without knowing anything else
like it.
The strength of this type of practical setup is it gives you some
room to move and hang out with people in a very uncrowded sort of
way, while still always being together.
For many of you who struggle with figuring out ways to incorporate
children into your organic church life, I don't think there's
anything that could do better than this as the type of environment
conducive to bringing that forth.
Another extraordinary strength of this practical way of meeting and
living together (albeit temporarily in the summer and primarily on
weekends, although some stayed almost all summer or weeks at a
time), was the much-needed intergenerational fellowship and
friendship, which amazingly thrived at a time when the social fabric
of the world and America were being torn apart in the 1960s
rebellion (in the negative sense of the actions of the time).
There wasn't a sense at all of being afraid to hang out with older
people at that time by the younger, and in fact, there were strong
and healthy relational ties between many of the younger people and
older, without it always being natural parents and children alone.
It truly went beyond that to a very spontaneous way of living and
life that I'll never forget, and hopefully many will be able to
experience as well.
I don't look at that experience as necessarily the best way to
experience body life, but I do think it's a fantastic way to enhance
it a minimum, and could be a big part of it if you were to do it
right and have other means of getting together on a more consistent
basis.
Even so, I would highly recommend something like this for those
already in body life. It's something you probably need, and I think,
'feel' you need, although you may not be able to put it into words.
This doesn't mean you have to go out and buy a piece of land and
build a home-like type of place to enjoy (although it would be great
if you could), but you could find a place that was available on a
regular basis you could rent for yourselves and make it an important
part of body life you participate in.
Another valuable thing this could be would be to test out whether
you're truly part of a people who would want to live in this way.
Sharing live together in a setting like this is a good way to test
the waters and see if it's something you could do or not. While I
think the way the scriptures speak of these things there's really no
other choice in the sense of sharing our lives together on a
consist ant basis, for some of you reading this is may be too much at
first, and so trying it out in this manner could be a great way to
see how you respond to it.
After all, reading about something his one thing, participating and
experiencing it is another.
For those of you already meeting outside of buildings, there are
many other tremendous lessons to learn from something like this, but
we'll leave that for another time.
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Meeting in Homes, living close together
Another experience I've had is to meet in homes as far as when the
church gets together to share Christ and to live close together.
In my years as an adult, when I met a group of people that were
doing this, it was a natural an easy extension and practice to move
into it after what I mentioned above while I was growing up.
This was a little different than living in a neighborhood together,
as while we lived close together, we didn't get real close until
some church planters from Britain who had built churches in that
manner helped us see the value of that.
So what we did in the beginning of being planted by a church planter
(outside the institutional church), was to meet in homes and get
together all the time outside of meetings as well.
As we grew in size, we eventually had to multiply into four groups
because there were too many people to practice church in the way we
had at the beginning.
Some people who have been seeing and doing this today have been a
little put off by this, saying it had broken up some close
relationships they've had with other people. While that may be true,
it really isn't the point when you come down to it. The church is
for Christ, and many people need to be able to experience the beauty
of fellowship with one another in Christ.
While close relationships in Christ are great and a worthy goal,
they are not the end of the purpose of Christ. In reality what can
happen in these types of relationships are the development of what I
would call 'soul ties.' Relationships built on the people we get
along the easiest with, or possibly may have very similar personal
goals and ways of looking at things.
I don't mean by that that you haven't struggled together, just that
it could have resulted in ties that are no longer only spiritual,
but soulical as well. If that's the case, you could strongly resist
change, even if it comes from the Holy Spirit, and end up being
pretty much a dead sea, with input coming in all the time, but no
place for an outlet, where that life you share goes beyond yourself
and the close group of brothers and sisters surrounding you.
What in fact is probably happening is a fear of losing what you've
worked so hard to build, or rather, what the Lord has worked so hard
to build.
If you've been together long enough to feel these things, be
cautious as to how you respond, because if the Lord is trying to
expand Himself and add to your number, if you resist it, ultimately
you will probably divide, as you can willingly multiply or
unwillingly divide. While the results may be the same as far as no
longer being around the same people you've grown so fond of, the
consequences are obviously worse if things are torn apart in a
negative way.
But I'm speaking in these last words to those of you who have been
around for a number of years together, not those who haven't been
around enough to truly be tested over a period of years.
The obvious strength of living like this is we had all the benefits
of meeting in a home in a very organic and spontaneous meeting
setting. The negative was we would have to make extra effort to get
together. That was negative because when it takes extra effort, the
result is you get together with those who you consider worth the
effort, and will miss out on getting to know and fellowship with
people you don't see very often.
While this isn't a bad thing as far as being in you, it's a
practical problem from living apart from one another.
Either way, it's far superior to going to a building and listening
to sermons all your life.
One final thing, in this type of setting, there are those that live
close together and those that are scattered. Without exception in my
experience in a number of different places and churches, those that
live scattered and not close to the core group of people, always
feel left out, and many times complain that they aren't included in
what's going on in contrast to those who live closer together and
have an easy task of getting together spontaneously.
In this type of circumstance, I've never found an answer to this, as
the one's who are living scattered, will never be able to live in
the way those living closer together do. To have everybody stop
living and doing things spontaneously together so those farther away
feel better about themselves isn't something I could ask those
churches I've planted to do. The only answer is to move closer
together, which leads me to the next practical way to live life as
the church outside the institutional church system.
Living in a neighborhood
I've lived in church life as a regular brother for a number of years
in a neighborhood, as well as planted churches that way.
Living in a neighborhood is extraordinary in that you eliminate any
practical barriers to fellowship, other than going about your daily
responsibilities.
But as far as getting together and sharing life together, it
probably beats anything else.
One way this is superior to only meeting in homes and having a lot
of people traveling, is the inevitable complaints from neighbors if
you have to drive to get to the home you're going to meet in. You
know neighbors will rightfully ask you to not park in the spots they
park in, which can create a lot of animosity, especially if they
find out you're meeting as a church in the home.
Some I've known have asked those doing this to travel in cars or
vehicles together in order to minimize the space they take up. This
can help in those cases.
Anyway, the point is, living in a neighborhood together eliminates
this type of problem because you simply have to walk to go to the
home you meet in.
But more than this little practical benefit, having the ability to
get together whenever you want to is something that can't be
explained and only can be lived. To share the life of Christ on an
everyday basis with other believers is something we all should be
able to experience.
Sure, you have the struggles that always come when human beings
interact with one another, but those edges can be knocked off in
time and patience, and eventually a great experience of sharing in
the life of Christ among a corporate people is unleashed.
While there is no doubt to me that living in a neighborhood is the
best way to experience church life together, I would say that with
one caveat after decades of doing that personally in a number of
corporate settings: you need a release valve off and on so you don't
become too suffocated from the experience.
This is why I mentioned above about the first practical body life
setting I experienced, and said it was a great way to enhance body
life. I'm referring to having that as part of your experience, as
living in a neighborhood can end up giving you a dead sea experience
if you're not going outside of it to do other things.
I think a setting out in the country, or a place you can rent,
really helps to solve many of the problems that come with living
close together. Having an open space like that really adds to your
quality of life in the Lord, and I think the two work together
better than the one.
Like I said, there is a ton more I could write on this as far as how
the experiences of these different types of body life are, but
overall, these are about the only legitimate alternatives you have
if you live in the western or emerging nations.
Obviously there are all sorts of secondary things you can do, like
planning all types of special events to enjoy and express the Lord
toward one another, but these are the foundations you have to
practically work from.
The only other option is to go to the building and sit.
Buying a home to meet in
One last thing connected to all of this is something I've seen some
of the brethren in Britain do years ago, and that was not to just
meet in homes, but to buy a home for the group to meet in or do
other things with.
I like this because it allows you to think of taking care of some
practical issues which can come up when meeting together as a group
in a home built for a family.
As with everything, there are pros and cons with this as well. For
example, one church bought a home like this, but also set it up for
brothers and sisters who visited them from other areas and
countries.
The problem was some brothers and sisters liked to be in a home and
not alone while visiting them. I'm not sure, but possibly a lot of
people came to visit, and so the home may have been an escape valve
for the church itself as far as stress on the believers in offering
hospitality to the point of collapsing. I don't know that for a
fact, but it's possible.
There is also a sense of having a home like this so people can stay
and hang out as long as they want, especially if some have children
you need to go to be at an early time.
I know some control freaks get frightened at the prospects of others
hanging out together if everyone's not there, but I think that's not
something to be overly concerned about.
If someone is going to gossip or talk about things, eventually that
will happen whether you try to stamp it out or not. Usually the
attempt and fear over things like that can end up with the solution
being worse than the original concern.
A proper foundation will help fight against that, and if someone
isn't founded in the Lord properly, they'll end up being influenced
somewhere down the road by somebody, so we shouldn't be too
concerned about people hanging out together in that sense.
The point is that for the most part a home bought by the church to
meet in and use will primarily be for those living in the
neighborhood anyway, so there's not that much to be worried about.
Final words on practical church issues
One final thing I wanted to say here, is that all of this won't
matter if you aren't doing these things unto the Lord and because of
the revelation of Jesus Christ which moves within you and drives you
to want to live in this way together.
No matter what practical steps you take, If Christ isn't the purpose
in it, it will fail no matter how right you get the practicals.
What the practicals do is give you the environment for the types
things and life the Lord Jesus Christ likes to live out among His
people; that and nothing else.
So doing all of this will do nothing if you don't see that Jesus
Christ wants to live and walk among His people, and that taking away
all the props and crutches allows that to happen in the most
efficient way this side of paradise.
Don't get me wrong, sharing in the life of Christ is best done in
the ways mentioned above, but if you don't center on and look to
Christ as your life and recognize that these are His ways, you can
have a fun and interesting experience, like you could anywhere, but
if it's devoid of Christ, it won't make any difference.
In the end, I think the best way to experience Christ corporately is
to live as close together as you can and then to have a place
somewhere which you either own or rent, which you can have various
activities and interactions in ways which allow you to let off
steam, and to offer up intergenerational fellowship across all age
groups in a way that goes beyond simply meeting together.
After all, meetings should simply be a culmination of the life we
life together with Christ on a daily basis. All sorts of fellowship
and life should be happening outside of meetings as well. Having a
place outside the neighborhood adds something to that which I think
answers a lot of questions for those who have lived in body life for
a long time but don't understand why they're feeling limited or
sufficated.
The reason is more practical than it is negative, and those trying
these types of things will find a new release that they've been
searching for for a long time.
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