An Open Letter To Church Leaders

Dear church pastor or elder: 

First of all, please don't take my strong words personally. They are used for emphasis and in this area of doctrine, emphasis is very necessary - to show people how to differentiate the forest from the trees - "will worship" (Colossians 2:23) from true worship (John 4:24).

If you are a leader in a conventional institutional church you are not alone, you are not a minority.  Institutional churches share - amongst themselves - the same errors with respect to ecclesiology, or "how to do church".  And I admit I was a part of that "form of godliness" for many years, until, by God's grace, I was taught correctly by those who left "the system" after determining that it is unbibical in many, many ways.

Most Christians (myself at one time) have a commonly held and commonly accepted but seriously wrong understanding of how to do church. Most true believers in Christ have been so much a part of the institutional church "system" that we don't realize that we have learned an improper and extremely unbiblical view of ecclesiology. If we did a proper study we would learn that New Testament churches met in homes and where highly interactive. They did not have a grievously unbiblical clergy/laity caste system. Neither did they have elders who played "Simon Says" every Sunday, forbidding the rest of the local body from participating (except in a limited way "on command", much like trained dogs who bark or sit on command). 

Believers in the New Testament churches were very involved in their meetings as can be seen in 1 Corinthians chapters 11 through 14, and Paul did not condemn that interactiveness... he only specified that things be done decently in order. There is no way that Paul would have been pleased with the ritual and pomp (or coldness and deadness) of today's church meetings. And neither is God, who said:

John 4:20 "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 YE WORSHIP YE KNOW NOT WHAT: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the TRUE WORSHIPPERS SHALL WORSHIP THE FATHER IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he."

This man-centered human invention called a "worship service" surely is not what the saints are supposed to do when they gather together in Christ's name. It is nothing more that a carry over from Catholicism, the queen mother of ritual religion, masquerading as Christianity. We see the biblical pattern of house churches in more than one place: 

Rom 16:3 - "Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: 4 Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their HOUSE. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ." 

1Cor 16:19 - "The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their HOUSE."

Col 4:15 - "Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his HOUSE."

Phm 1:2 - "And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy HOUSE"

Here are some other Bible references to houses in relation to church meeting places:

Acts 2:46 - "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from HOUSE to HOUSE, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart," Acts 12:12 - "And when he had considered the thing, he came to the HOUSE of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; ***where many were gathered together praying***." 

From the Gospel accounts, we know that the temple courts and synagogues provided an excellent public place for preaching the Gospel. However, they were not places suitable for intimate fellowship and so in Acts 2:46, just after mention is made of the believers meeting in the temple daily, it also mentions them breaking bread from house to house which is a biblical reference to communion - not only the bread and fruit of the vine, but also the meal (the "feast of charity" mentioned in Jude 12). 

Acts 20:20 - "And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from HOUSE to HOUSE"

We see from Acts 20:20 that houses were places where Paul taught believers. And if we bother to check the Gospels, we will see that that is where Christ had intimate fellowship with his disciples.

Obviously those who think barking and sitting on command is worshipping God in spirit and in truth, are going to continue to play Simon Says at their weekly "worship services". It will certainly provide a paying job for religious leaders and an opiate for the folks seeking to fulfill what they think is their "religious duty".

But those who wish to acknowledge that this "system" hinders them from bearing one another’s burdens (and so fulfill the law of Christ) are going to "come out" of that system. I suggest you seriously examine the way you are doing church. There are plenty of house church ministries on the internet. You are without excuse.

Since there are MANY issues I have not even touched upon, here is a web page that has a lot of information on biblical patterns for doing church:
http://comingintheclouds.org/church/basics/basics.htm

And I do hope and pray that you will take a SERIOUS look at those articles and studies before trying to correct me or defend what conventional churches do.  To whom much is given, much is required. I will not appreciate an unstudied response and I don't think the Lord will appreciate it either.

May God bless you with the wisdom and courage to take a good hard look at how you and those in your care are doing church.

In Christ's service,

Ray Kane
http://comingintheclouds.org
570-242-7364

For more articles related to the subject of "Doing Church", click HERE