By Wayne Hawley
If you asked the typical person on the street to define “church,” you would likely receive an answer that had something to do with a building, maybe one with a steeple. You might hear about a specific religious organization, like “The Catholic Church” or “The Baptist Church.” You might hear about a place where people go to worship God. If we are going to talk about growing and renewing New Testament churches in the Midwest, it is important to clearly define what it is that we are attempting to renew.
We understand that the church universal is comprised of all those individuals who belong to Christ because they have responded to his holy act of grace with faith. However, when we are talking about “helping churches grow,” we are usually talking about individual congregations of Christians in a local environment. How do we define the function of those churches so we can prioritize our objectives?
It is notable that in the gospels, Jesus rarely talks about “church.” Instead, he taught about being a “disciple,” a dedicated learner of the godly way of life, a student who would give his life in complete trust to the Savior. These disciples made their own independent decisions to follow Jesus and only later grouped together in “ekklesia,” or “church.” Jesus gave no instructions for forming an organization. That came later, organically.
Let’s consider the earliest scriptural record of church in the second chapter of Acts. It was Pentecost and Jesus had already ascended when the Spirit came upon the disciples, causing a stir among the festival crowd gathered in Jerusalem. Peter raised his voice and announced that God had acted among them by sending Jesus as the redeemer of mankind! When he got to the part about the crucifixion, he, in effect, said, “You just killed God!” Appalled, they cried out, “What shall we do?” Peter replied to repent and be baptized, bringing a solution of forgiveness and the Holy Spirit. Three thousand immediately responded. Then what?
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:42, NASV)
I suggest to you that the “apostles’ teaching” was not about church organization or how a worship service should look. These new disciples were needing to hear about Jesus! They had just signed on to his crew and needed to hear about their new captain. What was he like and what did he say? These “apostles” had the answers. In addition, this group was all about finding commonality (koinonia) in Jesus as they ate together and together reached toward the Lord in prayer. This was no planned out formal organization, no proscribed gathering. This was a support group! These people needed each other as, together, they learned about Jesus and His ways. I can imagine one new disciple saying to another, “Have you heard this one about Jesus?” Each of these new disciples had begun a relationship with Jesus and, because they had koinonia with him, they had koinonia with each other. In the remaining verses of Acts 2, we see that fellowship lived out as they tried to take care of each other the way Jesus had taken care of them.
As we seek to enrich our local congregations, let us focus on the church as a support group. There are many good ideas about how to accomplish that goal. Church buildings, supported preachers, youth groups, food banks, praise groups, and potlucks can all be helpful but they are not the point. As a matter of fact, if one of those does become the point, then we have drawn away from the Savior’s mission for us to have relationship with the One Who Matters and his people. Sometimes I am asked to evaluate whether or not a church is strong. I say to look at the weakest, most needy member and see how they are treated by the others. If that person, who may have nothing to give, is treated with respect and love, then that church is strong. Let the hallmark of church growth be relationship with Jesus and, because of that, with each other.
Wayne Hawley attended York University, Harding University, and earned his master's in New Testament Text at Wheaton College. He served Chicago area churches in a supported way in his early years until he made a faith decision to enter the business community and be self-supporting in order to serve churches, primarily in Illinois and Wisconsin, without expense to them. Hawley authored "Jesus, By John.” He has served as a preacher, an elder, and an adjunct instructor. He and his wife, Gayle, have been married for 54 years and are the parents of 3 children: Shannon, Lance, and Erika.