Unlimited: The Church that Meets at Their House
Dec 26, 2023 297
Greet also the church that meets at their house (Romans 16:5a).
There are many examples of house churches in the New Testament (1 Cor. 16:19; Acts 12:12; Col. 4:15; Phil. 1:1–2; Rom. 16:14–15.) This is because this is the only Biblical model for church in the New Testament.
For at least the first century and a half of Christianity, all churches were house churches. The idea of having a church building as such was unknown. The church was never seen as a “building” but as the people, wherever they may have met.
The church was never seen as a “building” but as the people, wherever they may have met.
In this way, the first generations of Christians were able to focus on the real meaning of what it means to be the church, as the community of believers, unrelated to buildings. There is much behind this statement, and it impacts every aspect of how you see yourself, your purpose, your church, and even your God.
With a building you have four walls within which to worship and practice your faith, instead of exercising it in the world around you. As soon as you have a church building, you need an institution to own it and control it. It becomes easy to think of the building as the “church,” rather than the spiritual community of believers, wherever they may be, and wherever they may gather. These things can all work against the purpose and message of Christianity.
Spiritual Application
How do you relate to the idea of church? What emotions does it evoke for you? Do you think your church would grow if you had no church building?
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