Church based at home

Chapter 1. 

A look back at church history
The first Christian congregation/church was initially a community of people who, like Peter, had come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the son of the living God. They had received the Helper, the Holy Spirit, and this had brought them into a heartfelt fellowship with one another in everyday life, where no one any longer considered anything their own. When necessary, they sold their land (their savings), not to build cathedrals, but to meet the needs of their fellow believers. [1]

Cathedrals were not built until the 4th century [2]. But before that, the Christian faith, based in the home, had spread like wildfire across large parts of the world.

No religion of the masters
In the beginning, Christianity was not the religion of rulers and lords, but of ordinary people, the oppressed and slaves. The Christian faith did not give the powerful and learned of this world any privileges. The Master himself had taken on a servant’s role, washing his disciples’ feet and saying that whoever wanted to be the greatest among them should become the servant of the others. And on one occasion, he uttered the following words in a prayer to his heavenly Father: “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.” [3]

Originally a Jewish phenomenon
In its early days, “Christianity” was a phenomenon within the Jewish community. The Master himself was a Jew, sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But he had also said that there were other sheep that did not belong to Israel’s fold, and he would draw them to himself as well. Thus there would be one flock and one shepherd. [4]

But in the beginning, the congregation was a congregation of Jews with twelve Jewish leaders who had come to believe that Jesus, who was also a Jew, was the Messiah, the Son of God. The writings, the Law (Torah), the Prophets, and the Scriptures, which they studied and drew inspiration from in order to understand the future, were the holy Jewish writings that we today call the Old Testament.

The first congregation did not call itself Christian. The term “Christian” was born as a nickname for those in Antioch who had become disciples of the Jew Jesus, whom they believed to be the Messiah, “the anointed one,” which in Greek is called “Christ.” Thus, they were called Christians. [5]

Family-focused
Before the era of cathedrals, the papacy, and theological schools, Christianity was an everyday movement based in the home. It was in homes that people met, listened to the word of God, prayed, ate meals, etc. Sometimes there were also larger gatherings, usually of a more evangelical nature, in public places, and before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, believers also gathered there in the temple. Jewish Christians also visited their synagogues as was their custom, but conflicts between the new Christian faith and Rabbinic Judaism were common, which meant that Messianic Jews sometimes had to choose between the Jewish synagogue and Christian gatherings in homes. The apostle Paul reacted to Jewish believers giving in to social pressure and leaving Christian gatherings to attend only synagogue meetings, writing to the Hebrews: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.” [6] But for the most part, it was homes that served as meeting places for Christians during the first centuries.

As long as the twelve apostles, including Paul, were alive, there was a strong Jewish influence on the development of Christianity, something that slowed down after their death and after the destruction of Jerusalem. The Jewish view of society was strongly family-oriented. The family – the clan – the tribe – the nation. The most important holiday, the Sabbath, was strongly family-focused. It was celebrated every week in homes.

Change of leadership
When the Jewish leadership died out and Jerusalem ceased to be the center of the Christian movement, the initiative was taken over by Gentile Christian leaders who did not have their roots in Jewish culture and thinking. However, the most important writings and letters from the first Jewish apostles were collected and, together with the Jewish writings of the Old Testament, came to form a “canon,” a guide for the Christian faith. It is these collected writings that we today call the Bible, which still guides the Christian faith.

Christianity as a state religion 
When Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century, it went from being a reason for persecution to being politically correct to be a Christian. Business and careers could even benefit from it. Jesus’ teachings about serving and loving God and one’s neighbor were still alive in some groups, but at the same time there were many who saw the Christian faith as a means to their own gain. They saw an opportunity to use the Christian faith to achieve their own political, economic, and religious goals.

The tensions that had existed from the beginning between orthodox rabbinical Judaism and the new messianic movement gradually increased and gave rise to outright anti-Semitic sentiments within parts of the pagan Christian community. Some believe that Emperor Constantine’s introduction of Sunday as a day of rest was a strategic move to definitively sever Christianity’s roots in Judaism. At this time, replacement theology developed, which is still strongly rooted in some Christian contexts today. [7]

At this time, parts of the Christian movement had also changed from being a lay movement in everyday life, based in the home, to becoming a clerical church with a distinct clergy and special buildings for worship. Jesus’ words to the woman at the well in Sychar, that the time had come when true worshippers would not worship in any particular place, but would worship the Father in truth and spirit, were downplayed in favor of liturgical worship in consecrated church buildings.

Institutionalization and renewal movements 
Since then, development has been characterized by an institutional church, sometimes allied with the political power apparatus, and a constant stream of renewal movements that have broken away from or been expelled from the institutional church. After a while, these renewal movements themselves became institutionalized, which led to new renewal movements, and so it has continued up to our own time. [8]

Our own time, if we count from at least the latter half of the 20th century, has experienced a renewal movement that in many ways differs from previous revival movements. The charismatic renewal that has spread across the world during this time has not only led to the formation of new congregations. It has also penetrated and brought the Pentecostal message of the Holy Spirit into many established denominations, including the Catholic Church. As a result, Christians can now be found in virtually all denominations who share the same spiritual experiences, which has led to the emergence of a unity among Christians that is unprecedented in church history.

The emerging Messianic movement within the Jewish community is another revival movement that runs parallel to, or perhaps should even be seen as part of, the charismatic renewal. [9] In the growing fellowship between Messianic Jews and born-again Christians, we can begin to glimpse Jesus’ words about one flock and one shepherd.

Christian values under attack 
The revolutionary developments that took place in all areas during the 20th century put the Christian church to the test, not least the Christian, biblical ideal of the family.

The rejection of Christian values by the modern project has led large parts of Western society into a state of flux, where the millennia-old institution of the family is capsizing with devastating results for both individuals and society. [10]

From a Christian, biblical perspective, the family is the most fundamental institution that exists for human community, for building society, and for understanding the nature of God, who God is, and, as a consequence, who we ourselves are.

Christians in the 21st century
Since the industrial revolution in the 19th and 20th centuries changed the playing field compared to the old farming society, the Christian congregation today must work on the basis of these new conditions. People are not born and die in the same place to the same extent as before. And people do not have their natural family around them as they did before. In many areas, the state has taken over the social responsibility that the family and relatives used to have. But the state is impersonal and limited in its ability to meet people’s needs.

One model that has proven valuable and that works in Christian contexts in many nations is the house church and cell church model. There are different versions of this concept, which basically stems from Jesus’ idea of discipleship and the first Christians’ gatherings in their homes.

In a cell group or house church, people meet in their homes for fellowship, prayer, Bible study, etc. And they help each other in various ways to present the gospel to friends, co-workers, neighbors, and relatives. They also help each other practically in everyday life, supporting each other when problems arise, etc.

Cell groups can be formed within the framework of existing churches. There are already some such groups in our country. There are also Christians who, together with others, want to work more definitively with their homes as a base for reaching out with the gospel in their neighborhood.

Many of the most expansive church ministries in the world work according to a cell church model, for example, in Korea and South America. And the incredible explosion that has taken place in China has, for political reasons, grown exclusively through small house churches without access to everything that the Western church considers necessary for church growth.

Among other things, the charismatic renewal has shown us that God is interested in helping all who believe in him and that no particular church model has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit. Church models can be seen as scaffolding that changes as the building is completed. They have their time, but the building itself, the Church, remains. Therefore, it is good for us as Christians to assist one another, regardless of church affiliation, and also to be open to new initiatives aimed at spreading the kingdom of God. If we are faithful to the visions God gives us, it may ultimately turn out that God, in His wisdom, makes us invaluable assets to one another in this way. The problem arises when groups of Christians claim exclusive ownership of the true doctrine that everyone else must also embrace.

In his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul says that our knowledge is fragmentary, as is our prophesying. We will probably never be able to agree completely on matters of knowledge such as the view of the church, etc. But if we can accept that we have different views on certain secondary issues, while agreeing on the primary issues, we can derive much joy from one another.[11] Most Christians probably agree that there is really only one church, where Jesus is the head and we, his disciples, are the body. Local churches are local expressions of this one church.

Chapter 2. The House Church

The Christian church that we find in the New Testament does not appear in different organizations and denominations as it does today. The New Testament church is presented as a unity, as the body of Christ, where Jesus is the head and the believers are members serving one another. The only limitation is geographical. The church is found on three different levels:

1. The universal church, which consists of all believers.
2. The local church, which consists of believers in a particular town or area.
3. The church that meets in a house/home or in a small group, what many today call a house church, home church, or similar.

The denominational church today
Most Christian denominations are the result of a break with the institutional church of their time. Today, however, partly due to the charismatic renewal, many Christians feel that they are very close to each other regardless of denomination. Recently, for example, the Catholic Church bishop Anders Aborelius and the leader of the Pentecostal movement Sten-Gunnar Hedin have written two books together. One about Jesus and one about the Holy Spirit. This would have been unthinkable 50 years ago. The dividing line in Christianity today is not between denominations. Rather, it runs right through the denominations and concerns issues of biblical faithfulness and Christian values. When I myself, as a 23-year-old, became a disciple of Jesus in the late 1960s, I found myself in the burgeoning charismatic renewal that was then beginning to reach Sweden. I engaged in street evangelism with some friends, which led us into a life of fellowship and communal living. Among other things, we moved into a run-down residential area in Malmö called Kroksbäck. There were many vacant apartments there because no one wanted to live there. In addition to giving us the opportunity to live close to each other, we also wanted to demonstrate the transformative power of the gospel. We were successful in this. When the housing company, MKB, realized that they had gained many new responsible tenants, they were prepared to invest money in renovating the area, a process in which we and other responsible tenants became involved. Many people came to faith during this period. I also started a Christian magazine with some friends, Logos, which was later renamed Exodus. Through the community called Kroksbäcksgemenskapen (Kroksbäck Community) and the magazine, we gained a broad network of contacts with the renewal movement in Sweden. We became involved in national conferences and participated in various types of leadership gatherings with participants from many denominations. We also had contact with many different types of renewal movements, house church movements, communities, and others abroad. Kroksbäcksgemenskapen never formed a legal church and did not build a church building. We saw ourselves as part of the church in Malmö. The community was made up of small house churches that met in different homes. We borrowed or rented larger premises when necessary. We had no register, only a telephone list. You were part of the community if you were part of a house church. We encouraged people in the community to also go to other churches for fellowship. Many were already members of other churches, ranging from the Pentecostal movement to the Catholic Church. 

During the 1970s, there was a strong focus on Christian unity. Forming new congregations was seen as a threat to this unity. Renewal had to grow within the existing denominational congregations, it was believed. Loyalty to the denominations could not be shaken. However, for many, this loyalty felt more and more like a straitjacket. In one issue of our magazine, we published a feature article by preacher Sven Nilsson entitled “Can one body have two heads?” Is the denomination the head of the Christian, or is it Jesus? The article caused quite a stir and was followed by lively discussions with strong differences of opinion. But new churches were rare in the 1970s. Then came the 1980s and the faith movement. New churches suddenly sprang up like mushrooms, and all previous taboos were broken. Most of these congregations were very small, and only a few have survived to this day. In the 1990s, new congregations without denominational ties began to be increasingly accepted, and in the 2000s, many denominations are working with their own programs to start new churches or to reorganize old ones. Starting a new congregation today is hardly considered remarkable. The tension that previously existed between the faith movement and many other denominations has largely disappeared. The faith movement no longer presents itself as the better way, but wants to find its place as part of the larger church family. 

But where does a house church belong? 
The house church, i.e., a group of believers who meet in a home, is strongly rooted in the Bible. Put simply, one could say that the same things that constitute the local church, i.e., all of Jesus’ disciples in a locality, apply to the house church. Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” [12] If Jesus, who is the head of the church, is present in a home, then the church is there. If Jesus is present in another place where believers gather, then the church is there. 

Not wrong, but not necessary 
In his book The Church in the House – A return to simplicity, Robert Fitts compares the church to a tree, a fir tree. [13] At Christmas, we bring fir trees into our homes and hang lots of tinsel on them, but this does not make the tree more of a fir tree. It is not wrong to hang glitter and put lights on a tree, but it is not necessary for a tree to be a tree. In the same way, it is not wrong for a church to have an organ, a choir, a church building, paid staff, etc. But it is not necessary for it to be a church. The only thing that is necessary is that there are disciples of Jesus. And where two or three are gathered in his name, there he is also present.

Membership and leadership
Membership in the church is exclusive, according to Robert Fitts. One becomes a member of God’s church, the body of Christ, through repentance and baptism. Then you are incorporated into the spiritual organism and community that is the Church, the body of Christ. If a group of Christians has a leader who claims to have his own members, his own sheep, this often creates control and competition with other Christian groups, which is unworthy of the kingdom of God. Jesus said to Peter, “Be a shepherd to my sheep” [14]. It was Jesus’ sheep that Peter was to be a shepherd for, not his own. A leader often has an advantage in relation to others in the group, the church. Therefore, it is important for those who are leaders to keep themselves in check and not use their authority to manipulate or enrich themselves in any way. A leader’s task is to help the Chief Shepherd, Jesus, care for his sheep. The Bible pronounces many judgments on false and unrighteous shepherds.

Vision for the future
As mentioned earlier, 2000 years of church history have changed the expression of the Christian congregation quite significantly from what it was in the beginning. It is interesting to note that after a long period of division within Christianity, we are now seeing a strong trend toward Bible-believing Christians coming together. The emergence of new congregations does not necessarily have to be an expression of division, but rather of diversity and development. Many Christians are happy with the church or Christian group they belong to. Others feel that they want to live their Christian life in a way that better matches the faith and convictions they hold within themselves. I believe that the Christian faith offers us the freedom to act according to our convictions and the situation we find ourselves in. If we as Christians encourage each other to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, this will lead us to take every possible initiative to ensure that God’s will is done. And we believe that the sum total of this will be that we complement each other. None of us is self-sufficient, and no congregation is self-sufficient. We need each other in order to succeed in our common mission—to reach our surroundings with the gospel. And we must all be open to change. In large parts of the world today, there is a strong growth in various types of house churches. Some are linked and related to larger contexts, while others are completely autonomous. In the future, I hope we will see a situation where large and small congregations in a locality, including house churches, can work side by side to spread the kingdom of God. Those who have spiritual gifts and ministries of various kinds are responsive to the chief shepherd and serve the entire congregation in the locality. My ambition with this writing is not to write a book but to share some thoughts about the church and house churches. There are many books on this subject, most of them in English. For further reading, I recommend Robert Fitts’ book, which can be downloaded for free as a PDF file; see the link at the end of this article. The book is not specifically written for Swedish conditions, but can still provide a lot of inspiration.

Final words and some advice

1. Don’t be afraid to gather in homes and call it a congregation, says Robert Fitts. But at the same time, build relationships with the rest of the Christian community in the area and with the leadership that is there. Paul teaches us that we should submit to one another. No one is self-sufficient. Jim Montgomery, founder of DAWN Ministries, believes that there should be a congregation in every town or neighborhood with 500-1000 inhabitants, as a living expression of Jesus Christ. I believe this is a healthy approach.
2. Support marriage and the family, which are sovereign divine gifts to mankind. A large part of the problems people have in today’s society are related to the fact that marriage and families are not working.
3. Form genuine friendships and faithful relationships, without exercising any kind of control. Our time is marked by infidelity and betrayal. But God is faithful, and so should we, who are His children, be.
4. Preach the gospel in action and words. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus talks about putting the light on the candlestick. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
5. Meet people’s needs. Love is inventive.
6. Shape your everyday life with Jesus at the center, together with fellow believers, neighbors, and coworkers. Jesus moved among all people, not just within his own small group.
7. …the list could go on and on…

Tommy Lindén 

Footnotes 

[1] Acts 2:42 f 

[2] There are recently discovered remains of what may have been a place of worship, perhaps as early as the 3rd century. The discovery was made in 2005 by Israeli archaeologists during renovations at a prison in Megiddo. However, archaeologists are not yet willing to say for certain how old it is, but it may date from the 3rd century, i.e. from a period when Christianity was still forbidden in the Roman Empire. Until now, an excavated house foundation from the 4th century in Aqaba on Jordan’s Red Sea coast has been considered the world’s oldest church. Of the church buildings still in use today, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem are among the oldest. Both were built in the 4th century, but little remains of the oldest parts. (www.sr.se) 

[3] Matt 20:25-28; John 13 f; Luke 10:21 

[4] John 10:16 

[5] Acts 11:26 

[6] Hebrews 10:25 

[7] There are several reasons why it may be important for us to reflect on the Jewish roots of Christianity. Jesus was primarily sent, as he himself says, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And he came, not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Partly by fulfilling his messianic calling and giving himself as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity, and partly by paving the way for a new understanding of the spiritual content of the law through his teaching. Through Jesus, God’s covenant with Abraham, Jacob, David, and others would be sealed and enter a new phase. Since Abraham, God had invested himself in the Jewish nation through the law, temple service, prophets, etc. Now, through Jesus, God’s promise to Abraham would be fulfilled: “All the families of the earth shall be blessed in you” (Genesis 12:3). When Paul, one of the Christian faith’s foremost interpreters of the spiritual content of the Old Testament, wants to explain the relationship between Jews and Gentiles, he uses the image of a true and a false olive tree. (Romans 11:16f). A Jew who lives according to God’s commandments has, through his natural descent, a place in the olive tree where Jesus, the Messiah, the only one who has fulfilled the entire law, is the root. A tree from which God’s blessing of eternal life flows. But he must accept his calling and acknowledge the Messiah chosen by God, otherwise he will become like a broken branch. A person of Gentile origin, when he/she puts his/her faith in Jesus as his/her savior, is grafted into the same true olive tree by God’s grace and shares in the same blessing. The fact that, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the gospel would also be preached to the Gentiles came as a shock to the first Messianic congregation. God had to speak to Peter through a vision to prepare him for his visit to Cornelius’ house. Peter then had to defend this visit to a Gentile before the others in the congregation (Acts 11). Christianity is not a new religion alongside Judaism. Rather, true Christianity, or should we say discipleship to Jesus, the Messiah, can be seen as the flower that has blossomed on the Jewish stem. A secret that had been hidden but has now blossomed and been revealed (Ephesians chapter 3). Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection are a step in the fulfillment of God’s promise to the Jewish fathers and prophets. A promise that now also includes all those of pagan origin who put their faith in the Messiah chosen by God. The New Testament writers devote a lot of time to creating understanding about this relationship. A big question when Gentiles began to believe in Jesus was whether these believers of Gentile origin should live according to the Law of Moses, etc. The Jewish leaders then decided that this burden should not be placed on them (Acts chapter 15). This did not mean that they could continue to live according to their pagan customs. The apostles, who were all Jews, were the ones who set the direction for teaching and life, even for the Gentile Christian part of the congregation. And the conversion that the Gentile Christians had made was a conversion from the pagan gods to the God of Israel through Jesus, the Messiah (Christ). It can be said that the first Christian church as a whole was built on the foundation laid by the Jewish apostles and prophets (Moses, etc.). Through Jesus, the Gentile Christians became partakers of God’s covenant and promises to the Jewish people. And they received all the wisdom that God had imparted to the Jewish nation through Moses and the prophets. (Eph. 2:11-22). This wisdom was used to build their lives, their homes, and their relationships with their fellow believers in the community called the church. Later, when the first Jewish leadership died out and Gentile Christian leaders took over, Jewish influence waned and was replaced by the influence of ideas from the Gentile nations. This is something we should consider today and, if necessary, deal with. It remains to be seen how the Messianic revival that has begun within the Jewish community today will affect Israel as a nation, and not least the Christian church. In this context, Paul speaks of “life from the dead” (Romans 11:15). 

[8] My description of the development of the church is very simplified and probably colored by my own background in the charismatic renewal. Representatives from other denominations might interpret historical developments differently. It is also certain that no one can have the only true picture, since historical events are too complex and assessments are necessarily always subjective. When it comes to renewal movements, it is interesting to note the approach of the Catholic Church. By allowing people with special visions to found orders where they could live according to their convictions, it has managed to keep some renewal movements within the fold of the church. 

[9] In many larger cities, especially in the United States, there are now Messianic synagogues. The Jewish congregation there does not call itself Christian because it prefers to identify with the Hebrew name Messiah. They have discovered Jesus as the Messiah and see him as the fulfillment of the promises made to the Jewish fathers, and they continue to be Jews but with a new understanding of what this means. There are also many people with a Jewish background who feel at home in Christian congregations and who do not feel the need to emphasize their Jewish background in any special way. 

[10] The modern project or Enlightenment project has influenced developments in the Western world since the end of the 18th century. Its roots lie in the rationalist currents of the Enlightenment. Belief in God is seen as a result of a lack of knowledge. God’s word is replaced by human reason, which will save humanity and, through inventiveness and scientific research, pave the way to a new and wonderful world. 

[11] The primary issues include fundamental biblical truths such as belief in the Bible as inspired by the Spirit of God, the divinity of Jesus, the virgin birth, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, i.e., what is covered by the Apostolic and Nicene Creeds. 

[12] Matt. 18:20 

[13] Download the book for free as a PDF file. 
The Church in the House – A return to simplicity 
(right-click on the link and select “Download”). 

[14] John 21:16

(This text is translated from Swedish to English using DeepL. If you find any serious errors, please let me know and I will correct them. Thank you. tommylindensweden@gmail.com)