Housechurches and Radical Restoration

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Two Indisputable Facts

• Traditionalism can be a serious problem. Matt.
  151-9
• Lukewarmness is deadly. Rev. 314-16

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House-churches and Radical Restoration
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Characteristics of House-churches

• Emphasis on emotions and feelings of
  participants.
• Edification, not worship, stressed as primary
  reason for being together.
• Term church of Christ is usually disdained.
• Limit size of churches to groups small enough to
  meet in homes.
• The Lords Supper is a focus of the edification
  gathering and is usually meal-sized.
• Worship is relatively informal, spontaneous, and
  participatory.

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Key Principles

• We must follow the absolute standard God has
  revealed. 2 Tim. 316, 17
• Edification is important, but not to the neglect
  of worship, which is edifying.
• Col. 316
• Christians must be willing to fight the good
  fight. 1 Tim. 612
• Worship must be done decently and in order. 1
  Cor. 1440

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Key Principles

• We must follow the absolute standard God has
  revealed. 2 Tim. 316, 17
• Edification is important, but not to the neglect
  of worship, which is edifying.
• Christians fight the good fight. 1 Tim. 612
• Worship must be done decently and in order. 1
  Cor. 1440
• Internal reflection, not external manipulation,
  is key to renewal. Rom. 121, 2

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Smith and the Lords Supper

• To be eaten in conjunction with a fellowship
  meal.
• 1 Cor. 11 deals with abuse of the fellowship
  meal.
• Wants the Lords Supper to be center of restored
  love feasts of Jude 12.
• The Lords Supper gave meaning to their table
  fellowship, and their table fellowship gave
  meaning to the Lords Supper. Each was a picture
  of the other.

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Smith and the Lords Supper

• To be eaten in conjunction with a fellowship
  meal.
• Some who reject the fellowship meal accept his
  ideas that it must be an actual food-and-drink
  meal, not a token ritual with our typical
  21st-century crackers and grape juice.
• Derisively called pinch and sip by some.

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Fellowship(?) Meals

• 1 Cor. 1117-34
• Condemnation of division. 1117-22
• The proper way to remember Christ. 1123-31
• Eat hunger-satisfying meals at home. 1133, 34
• Never read of anything but the bread and fruit of
  the vine. 1 Cor. 1016 1123-26
• Love feasts. Jude 12
• Smith says common meals eaten in conjunction with
  the Lords Supper.

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Fellowship(?) Meals

• Love feasts. Jude 12
• Smith says common meals eaten in conjunction with
  the Lords Supper.
• Why didnt Paul correct the abuses and not
  exhort them to eat at home? 1 Cor. 1122, 34
• Three possibilities that fit the rest of the NT.
• Meals eaten outside the assemblies. Acts 246
  1 Cor. 511
• The Lords Supper itself.
• The spiritual feast of worship. Cf. John 6.

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Should the Memorial Be a Meal?

• To stress supper is to miss the point.
• Physical hunger is taken care of at home. 1
  Cor. 1122, 34
• The Lords Supper is about remembering. 1 Cor.
  1124-29
• How much does it take to remember Jesus?
• Greater portions could actually become a
  hindrance to remembrance.

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House-churches

• Smith advocates small groups.
• It is worth noting from this special greeting
  that not all the Christians in Rome worshiped
  together. Rom. 163-5
• Rome had a population in excess of 1,000,000.
• The issue is not so much whether we meet in an
  actual house as opposed to a church building.
  Rather, its the contrast between small versus
  large participant versus spectator active
  versus passive personal versus impersonal. Its
  simply axiomatic The larger the gathering, the
  less personal, interactive, and truly
  participatory its likely to be.

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House-churches

• Smith advocates small groups.
• The issue is notwhether we meet in an actual
  house as opposed to a church building.its the
  contrast between small versus large participant
  versus spectator active versus passive personal
  versus impersonal The larger the gathering, the
  less personal, interactive, and truly
  participatory its likely to be.
• Suggests that the elders of a city would share
  the oversight of all the house-churches.

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NT Churches Meeting Places, Size

• Some met in homes. Rom. 163-5
• Also met in the temple. Acts 246 512
• Began with 3,000 and grew rapidly. Acts 241 44
• In Acts 15 the multitude was able to meet in one
  place. 154, 12, 22
• School of Tyrannus. Acts 198-10
• Singular always used of flock and church in Acts
  2017ff.
• Third story at Troas held a significant group.
  Acts 20

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NT Churches Meeting Places, Size

• Some met in homes. Rom. 163-5
• Also met in the temple. Acts 246 512
• School of Tyrannus. Acts 198-10
• Third story at Troas held a significant group.
  Acts 20
• Corinth.
• Large enough to be in danger of dividing into
  four factions. 1 Cor. 111-13
• Prophets, tongue speakers, interpreters, etc.
• Eat at home as opposed to where they met.

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NT Churches Meeting Places, Size

• Some met in homes. Rom. 163-5
• Also met in the temple. Acts 246 512
• School of Tyrannus. Acts 198-10
• Corinth.
• Large enough to be in danger of dividing into
  four factions. 1 Cor. 111-13
• Prophets, tongue speakers, interpreters, etc.
• Eat at home as opposed to where they met.
• NT churches were not always small and didnt
  always meet in private homes.

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Smith and Elders

• Criticizes churches for selecting elders based on
  worldly success and calls most a corporate board
  of directors and not shepherds.
• Then advocates elders overseeing all the house
  churches on a city-wide basis.

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Smiths Urban Church
One Eldership Overseeing Five Churches
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House-churches and Elders

• If we limit the size of the groups how often will
  we have qualified elders? 1 Tim. 3
• Few churches will have elders.
• Worldly success should not be the standard.
• The Scriptures must be our guide. Titus 15-7
• But can a man not be successful in both the world
  and in spiritual matters?
• Elders are to be shepherds (Acts 2028), but they
  are also overseers. 1 Pet. 51-4

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City-wide, Multi-church Elders Are Unscriptural

• How can you shepherd people you do not assemble
  with?
• The flock among them is the biblical pattern.
  Acts 2028 1 Pet. 52, 3
• Elders in every city (Titus 15) is explained by
  Acts 1423.
• No NT church was said to be made up of several
  smaller churches.

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Conclusion

• Smith has noble aims, but a misguided approach.
• The Lords Supper is about remembering Jesus, not
  satisfying our hunger.
• Modern fellowship meals are unscriptural.
• The place of meeting is not the issue, but making
  churches small and informal is wrong.
• Elders are to oversee the flock among them.
• Lets keep our minds renewed and our principles
  Scriptural.

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Invitation

• We have talked about remembering Jesus, but have
  you ever come to Jesus?
• Why not now?

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