Christian Community Guidelines

Jesus came to build His church, that is, a community of people united by and living for Him. However, there are so many wrong ideas around that we need to take time to examine in some detail what 'church' really is. The following begins to do just that.

I. What a Christian community is and what it is not
A Christian community is …

A. a people, not a building

B. not a few hours a week together, but a continual sharing of life

C. an organism, not an organisation
1. An organisation is more concerned with appearances and mechanics than loving and living.
2. As an organism, a Christian community is like a living human body with each member drawing life and care from the other parts.
a) Suffering and rejoicing together
b) Serving each other
c) Being jointed together
d) Keeping sin out of our lives
3. Christ, as head, imparts and establishes authority in His body through those who serve.

D. not a solo, but a symphony with Christ as conductor
1. God desires a Christian community to be a body of believers united in spirit, intent on one purpose, and of the same mind.
2. Traditionally, the pastor of a church has been the principle source of ministry. The New Testament concept of ministry involves the whole church and is corporate so all attain to the unity of the faith and maturity.

E. not a place to hide but a mirror that reflects back to us our relationship to God
1. Traditionally speaking the easiest place to hide from God is in the church. The word "fellowship" has been described as "two or more fellows in a ship". Jonah used a ship to hide from God, but as his shipmates sought God, Jonah's rebellion was exposed. Likewise, you may be able to hide on the good ship "Christian Community" for a while, but your fellowship with others will expose any hidden areas in your life.
2. How we treat others is often a reflection of our attitude toward God.

F. an army engaged in continual warfare, not national guardsmen called out for occasional duty
1. As a church we are involved in warfare against specific enemies.
2. We wear armour and use spiritual weapons.
3. We are disciplined.
4. We follow leadership

II. A Christian community is alive
A. There is nothing dead about God. He desires to impart His life to us both individually and corporately.

B. A Christian community is alive because God has established a relationship with us as a covenant people. There are four references to Christ and His Church in Scripture referring to our intimate life and relationship with Him.
1. We are the branches; Christ is the vine.
2. We are members of a body with Christ as head.
3. We are living stones in a spiritual temple with Christ as the cornerstone.
4. We are the bride and Christ is the Bridegroom

C. A sure indication of God's life in His Church is death and destruction of the old to make way for the new life of the Holy Spirit.

III. A Christian community is a fresh wineskin
A. New Wine must be put into fresh wineskins

B. Old wineskins include the traditions and philosophies of this world that hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in the church. Tradition, like the robe of Christ, is lifeless and powerless without Christ's presence.

C. A Christian community is a fresh wineskin for the Holy Spirit. The freshness of the wineskin is maintained by home fellowships.
1. One focal point of Christ's earthly ministry was the home.
a) Jesus went into the homes of sinners to draw them into the Kingdom of God
b) Jesus taught in homes to develop deeper spiritual maturity in those who listened
c) Jesus healed in homes
d) When Jesus sent the Twelve and the Seventy to the various towns and villages, He also sent them to homes
2. The importance of the home as a focal point of ministry continued with the early church.
3. Today, God is restoring ministry in the home and there are certain qualities about home fellowships that preserve Christian communities as fresh wineskins.
a) Home fellowships are mobile. They can spring up where appropriate.
b) They can be flexible so that patterns of structure can emerge and change as the Holy Spirit leads.
c) They encourage personal relationships.
d) Home groups provide fertile ground for gifts and ministries to emerge.
e) The home fellowship in a given locality provides a natural method for the discipling of everyone
f) Home fellowships provide a suitable opportunity for body ministry - ie all able to participate in worship, sharing, giving, etc.
g) Localised home groups provide effective means of evangelism to the neighbourhood.
h) Home fellowships can reproduce by division just as cells in the body do. This enables the church to grow in numbers without sacrificing growth in character and maturity.
i) The home fellowship makes it possible for God's Word to be funneled down to covenant relationships where it is daily obeyed in practical, tangible ways.

D. The vision for Christian community is to provide a fresh wineskin able to contain all the new wine God pours into His people. Home fellowship groups must "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:22) if this vision is to be fulfilled. Fruitfulness ensures that maturity and Christ-like character are built into individual lives so that the internal condition of the home group is one of love and unity. A healthy home fellowship will also multiply and reproduce as each member is a witness to others in word and example.

(This material was written by Todd Burke and Mike Hudgins, New Covenant Community, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)