Meeting as a New Testament Church
He leads me …
In New Zealand's first ever census in 1853, 7 percent of New Zealanders classified themselves as non-Christian.[1] More recently, 29.6 percent in the 2001 Census, 34.6 percent in the 2006 Census, 41.9 percent in the 2013 Census, and 48.2 percent in the 2018 Census, had no connection to religion at all.[2]
What has caused this to happen? Maybe we should look at how Scripture taught the New Testament church to meet to get some idea? What was done in those meetings? The basic answers can be found in 1 Corinthians 14:26 –
“Well, my brothers, let’s add up what I am saying. When you meet together some will sing, another will teach, or tell some special information God has given him, or speak in an unknown language, or tell what someone else is saying who is speaking in the unknown language, but everything that is done must be useful to all, and build them up in the Lord..” (1 Corinthians 14:26 TLB)
If we remove the list of what makes up a meeting, the passage would read like this: “When you meet together… everything that is done must be useful to all, and build them up in the Lord.” Now we can clearly see that the reason for having meetings in New Testament times was for the instruction, or building up, of the believers and for their discipleship as a congregation.
Being a Christian today, among those who reject our way of life will take its toll, and we should therefore meet together to repair any damage that has been caused by building each other up. This happens through the mutual ministry throughout the church body.
There was no fixed way that the New Testament church was directed to meet. We can, however, observe these facts about their church meetings:
1. The church never identified itself by where or when it met.
2. Believers met as often as they could, sometimes it was daily, and sometimes it was weekly. The point is they met regularly.
3. As we have seen, the church met for the purpose of discipleship, mutual development, and maturity towards Christ.
4. As time allowed, each believer contributed within recognised scriptural parameters (1 Corinthians 14:26-33), as he/she had been gifted.
5. When the early church met they celebrated the Lord’s Supper, or Love Feast (which was a full meal rather than our standard communion today – 1 Cor. 11:17; Jude 12).
Today church services are generally become a spectator event. In today’s church there is little or no mutual participation in the church meetings. For the most part, the congregation is instructed, and the custom is to sit in the pews and watch the “professionals” provide the ministry.
This type of uninvolved spectator meeting would be unknown to the church of the New Testament. Paul clearly said that when the church came together everyone would have something to share for the building up of the others present.
Each Christian had the opportunity to share. This is called the priesthood of the believer. Each believer is a priest unto God (1 Pet. 2:5,9; Rev. 5:10). While this title is verbally affirmed by most modern churches, it is rarely practiced. As a result, countless believers are growing cold and uninterested to spiritual things because they are not allowed, or are too frightened, to participate in the church meetings.[3]
To help churches that have lost their vision to save and disciple the lost, there are some excellent resources to help them get back on track.
One is Pushpay (https://pushpay.com/about-us/) who build world-class giving and engagement solutions to help organisations grow their communities. The Co-Founder – Chris Heaslip says, “Everything we do is driven by our purpose to bring people together by strengthening community, connection, and belonging.” They have extensive practical solutions and resources based on the surveys and interviews of pastors from 100 of America’s fastest-growing churches to help those churches looking for some guidance.
Some of their findings include –
1. Church growth requires all hands on deck. If only the pastor and a few families are dedicated to the process, it is a difficult, uphill climb.
2. Having a mission statement is important. A mission statement like “Love God, love others, serve many.” makes the mission easy to remember, understand, and support.
3. Determine the church’s ideal section of the community for outreach and church growth. It might be young professionals, university students, single parents, unchurched, or families with young children. It will most likely be determined by finding an existing unreached group in the district that the church is in.
4. Invest in small groups. As Andy Stanley says, ‘Life change happens in circles, not rows.’ When building a healthy and motivated community that attracts visitors, church small groups are key.
5. When people visit your church, they are asking themselves, ‘Is there a place for me here?’ The sooner they can be assured that there is, the better.
6. Promote church life on social media. Social media provides a wonderful opportunity for friends and family to share in the stories of the church’s life, and thereby expose them to God’s work, and the church’s involvement in the community and beyond.
7. Implement church software. There are tools specifically made to help churches grow and support that new growth by using the software to make everyone feel connected and welcomed. Maybe a church app specifically for the church which has on it - notification alerts to all users, a church contacts list, a website links page, home group locations, an events page, a PDF newsletter page, and a service timetable and a resources page.[4]
If any of these ideas cause a stirring in your heart, maybe it would be worth having a chat with your church leadership to see whether they have considered these types of action which will add quality to making the church a welcoming and uplifting environment for new visitors, as well as being a place where people feel that they belong to a vibrant congregation.
[1] Losing faith: Why fewer New Zealanders are attending church, Chris Reed, NZ Herald:
[2] Losing our religion, Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa; https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/losing-our-religion
[3] Meeting as a New Testament Church, Roger Upton, WordPress; https://rogerupton.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/meeting-as-a-new-testament-church/
[4] Church App suppliers include - https://churchapps.co.nz/; https://lifenz.org/app/; https://www.getapp.co.nz/directory/166/church-management/software?page=2;
