Transforming Churches: From Christendom to Servant-Church
by David S. Lim, Ph.D.
Another title for this article is “The Church Leader as Strategist.” I’m sure deep in the heart of every pastor or Christian leader is the desire to find the best (read: most effective) ways to expand the Kingdom of God. This means that we would like to find the best strategy that would produce mature Christians, radical disciples, sacrificial servant-leaders, holistic ministries, contextual theologies, rapid church growth, and effective global missions (to reach unreached people-groups); in short, quality Christianity. Is there a basic strategy that can effect all these ideals?
From my observation and studies, indeed there seems to be a simple yet effective strategy which Jesus and his first disciples used. It is based on a simple doctrine (“priesthood of all believers”) and a simple practice (“making disciples”) in a simple structure (“servant-church”). Sadly we have been trapped in Christendom structures, so that our churches become activity-centered rather than people-oriented. As our churches grow older and add more traditions, it becomes harder for us to practice “basic Christianity” (prayer, Bible study, fellowship and evangelism) in “basic Christian communities” (small groups, often called “house churches”)! We forget that “where two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name, there’s the church”! And in joining one “house church,” one belongs to global Christianity; for when one is baptized in a church, s/he joins the universal church!
This short essay delineates the important steps on how to transform churches from centralized Christendom (traditional “local churches”) to decentralized servant-church structures. Although, by God’s grace, it is possible to skip some steps, it seems best to work out a 2-3 year plan to take one’s church through the transformation process so as to avoid unnecessary conflicts and splits. It’s best to transition first into a “mega-church” (church with cells) to a “cell church” (only two wings: celebration and cells) and finally to “house church” (network of cells). We say, “mega-church is third best (25% servant-church), cell church is second best (50% servant-church), but house church is the best (100% servant-church)!”
First, we have to assume that your church is autonomous, i.e., with independence to make her own decisions. It is preferred that she is linked to an ”association of churches” (not a “denomination” that owns the right to her property and pastoral appointments), for fellowship and united witness. And in terms of church order, there’s really no preference: she can be congregational (final decisions rest on all members), Presbyterian (on a few) or Episcopal (on one man).
An autonomous church can then work towards having a mega-church (church with cells) structure, where every church member is expected (if not required) to be a member of a cell. (1) This means that first of all, the church leadership must make a policy that membership in your church entails the commitment to be a faithful participant in a small group (maximum of 15 members in cities, and 20 in villages). If you’re alone or just a few, you can start by forming a cell and multiply from there. Start like Jesus, who began with 12 disciples (see Addendum #2 below). (2) Alongside this decision is to schedule training sessions for cell leaders. After the initial orientation and training on the basics of leading cells, the cell leaders (and their assistants) should meet at least monthly for fellowship and mutual learning. Each cell leader should know who is the pastor/coordinator who facilitates their cell leaders’ meetings and monitors their ministry. And (3) to ensure cell growth, all cell members must be trained to do “friendship evangelism.” If they have no more non-Christian relatives and friends, they should learn how to make friends with their neighbors and work/schoolmates to win them for Christ.
Then your church is ready to become a “cell church” (“church of cells” model). (4) You should work towards turning all church activities into cells: prayer meetings into “prayer cells,” youth fellowship into “youth cells,” Sunday School classes into “children’s cells,” choirs into “singing groups,” etc. (5) You can start training and delegating the administration of the sacraments/ordinances to your cell leaders; after all, they’re the pastors of their cells. And (6) the preacher of the Sunday service must spend more time in preparing not only his/her sermon, but also a set of questions for the cells to discuss (and apply) the sermon in their regular meetings.
And finally, you’re ready to become a “house church network,” where each cell is a church indeed – self-governing (with its own leaders), self- supporting (its own budget) and self-propagating (its own missions program)! (7) Empower the cells to collect and spend their own funds (so-called “tithes and offerings”), giving at least 10% for the support of their “favorite” leader/minister/missionary. They should aim to allocate at least 50% for ministry beyond their in-group. (8) Transform the Sunday service into cell meetings, perhaps alongside training workshops or open forums as needed by the network. Also, slowly lessen “celebrations” from weekly to monthly to quarterly (or even just 3 times a year, as was instituted in the Torah for O.T. Israel = Deut. 16:16). (9) Transform your church building into a multi-purpose ministry center to serve the needs in the community. If you don’t have a building, don’t worry; there’s really no need to have one. Whenever you need a large space for big gatherings, you can resourcefully find free or rented facilities locally or nearby for your purposes. Meanwhile, encourage each cell member and/or each house church (usually with the help of others in the network) to set up their own unique ministry centers if they can raise the funds. Then (10) if your church is a “commuter church” (filled with church-goers who come to fulfill their middle class needs, but with little or no concern for the immediate neighborhood), you’ll have become a “community church” by now, with direct attachment, ministry and witness in your neighborhood and locality. Your leaders would be partnering with other Christian leaders in their community, perhaps starting with a monthly prayer meeting and forming a “local leaders (or ministerial) fellowship.” They will be teaching and submitting to one another, learning to work as fellow servant-leaders (as “elders of the city”) with those who share common convictions on the essential doctrines, and allowing (and delighting) in the diversity of views on non-essential ones. Welcome to post-denominational Christianity!
By then, you already should have formed the habit of counting church membership, not according to how many attend Sunday worship services, but according to those who participate regularly in the cell meetings! What a good way to really count true “disciples of Christ” and to clear our church rolls (and David Barrett’s annual statistics on global Christianity) of “nominal Christians”!
And what’s the curriculum for each house church? Simply, LIFE as it comes! The agenda is set by the members as they share their concerns (read: prayer requests): actual needs and interests are discerned, and thereby opened for discussion, aiming at their mutual edification (cf. 1 Cor. 14:26-33). As they follow the NT teaching to serve one another with their spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:3-8), exhort one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:24), teach one another, even confess sins to one another (Js. 5:16), as they share insights into what the Bible teaches, they will find concrete applications to obey God’s word in their own context/life-situation. If they feel that they have not resolved the issue(s) (doctrinal or practical) adequately, they can assign someone (usually the group leader) to research (most probably to ask his mentor or co-coordinators) and report in their next meeting, or they can invite an expert to share (and be ready to give him a generous honorarium, of course!).
How then will each “full-timer” be supported? Well, there’s really no need for “full-timers” until there are about 500 members meeting in 30-40 house churches! Anyway, technically one house church can support a “full-time” minister (pastor-coordinator of about 6 co-coordinators, each serving 5 or 6 house churches) or a missionary (preferably in pairs, sent to plant house church networks elsewhere) through their regular tithes and offerings! Jesus and the Twelve had their own “common purse” and were supported by just one small group of women (Lk. 8:1-3)! Once Christians learn to relate to one another in love, and “pastors” do serve their “little flock,” their disciples will naturally provide for their family’s needs and their ministry expenses. (Remember also that their collections are no longer used for church paraphernalia and building maintenance).
And then, lo and behold, you will have brought the church back to the great revival and expansion mode of the N.T. church – one church (singular) per locality, many churches (plural) per region, and much like the house church networks in today’s China! (Thereby completely the tradition of the Celts, Anabaptists, Pietists, Brethren, Moravians, early Methodists, etc.etc.)!
Addendum #1: Christianity will then return to what Jesus Christ originally intended His Kingdom to be: a personal relationship with God through simple faith in Him (liberated from sin and the complexities of both primitive/animistic/folk religions and major/great organized religions), which results in works of sacrificial love for Him and His creation/creatures (liberated from sin’s effects on the poor bound to their poverty and on the rich bound to their prosperity). No more need for elaborate religiosity with elaborate theologies, liturgies, temples or clergies. His kingdom and mission is to bring forth a spiritual (read: moral) transformation rather than just a religious reformation. And His mission strategy is humble service (way of the cross) rather than triumphalistic crusades (way of the world).
Addendum #2: If you’re still unconvinced that house church is the way to go, here’s a biblical teaser for you. It looks like our Lord Jesus modeled the making of disciples through the setting up of house churches! We know that he appointed 12 and sent them in pairs (that’s 6 pairs) to make disciples, each reaching out from only one house (Mt. 10; Lk. 9). If the 6 pairs made 12 disciples each, it would result in exactly the “72 others” that Jesus sent out in Luke 10:1, 17. Then these were sent forth 2 by 2 (that’s 36 pairs); if they made 12 new disciples each, that’s 432 disciples. Plus the 72 and the 12, they would make up the “more than 500” disciples who saw the Risen Christ (1 Cor. 15:6)! And believe it or not, if these 500 paired up into 250 discipling teams and made 12 new disciples each, they would have nurtured exactly 3,000 new disciples – exactly the number (read: the maximum disciple-making capacity) which the first church could handle on its birthday at Pentecost! ‘Such mathematical coincidences (by divine inspiration?) looks too good to be true, doesn’t it?
