Coronavirus & Spirituality ~ Home Church Guidance (Part -1)

Churches, synagogues, mosques, shrines, and temples, have been among the institutions shut down due to fear of spreading the coronavirus — which, in turn, has prompted spiritual leaders from around the world to include China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, the United States, and even Italy to find biblical alternatives to centuries-old rituals and traditions for quarantined believers. What could families do when there is no Church building to go to? They could do what the Early Church did for the first 300 years of Christianity - make your home - your Church!

THE KING’S ~ GREAT COMMISSION

“Therefore go and make DISCIPLES of all NATIONS,” (Mt. 28:19-20)

Jesus’ last words on earth were to “Go and make Disciples” from every ethnic people group in the world. Did Jesus tell us to go into every nation and build public church buildings? No. Jesus’ Apostles met in home churches for 300 years. Why do pastors today need salaries and money for elaborate public church buildings? Was this Jesus’ plan? According to the “Joshua Project,” the 196 nations in the world today consist of 16,584 people groups, and 40.6% (6,733) of them have not yet been reached with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Statistically, out of the 7.39 billion people on earth, 3.11 billion or 42.2% have not been reached. When we compare these numbers to the Early Church (first three centuries), 95% of the known world was evangelized by unorganized, voluntary, leaderless groups of Christians going House to House making disciples (Acts 5:42). The Early Church used the Christian home as a factory for discipleship. They multiplied their converts by going house-to-house converting family after family to accomplish the Great Commission.

SEVEN (7) RADICAL CHANGES TO JESUS’ EARLY UNDERGROUND CHURCH 

Jesus said, “I will build My Church ...”(Mt. 16:18), and he gave us his building plan - the New Testament as the perfect blueprint. His disciples followed this PATTERN of a Royal Priesthood of ALL Believers for the first 300 years of Christianity. The following seven (7) principles of this Divine Pattern were RADICALLY changed in the 4th century by the Roman Emperor Constantine:

1. PRIVATE HOME CHURCHES: The Early Church worshiped in their private homes. The first “Church” buildings were not built until 327 AD., by the Roman Emperor Constantine. They were patterned after the Roman basilicas and modeled after the Pagan Greek Temples. The Early Church for 300 years worshipped Jesus daily at home (Acts. 2:46). The small private informal home-family oriented church (Rom. 16:5, 10, 11; 1 Cor. 16:19, Col 4:15) was RADICALLY changed to the formal massive empire controlled auditorium-style "Church Temples" with their pulpits and pews. Today we have Mega-Church Buildings that seat thousands of pew warmers on SUN-days.

2. THE HOLY SPIRIT - CHURCH BOSS: “For it was the will of The Spirit of Holiness and also of us that we would not put upon you a burden greater than those things which are necessary,” (Acts 15:28). The Early Christians prayed to the Holy Spirit for guidance as they democratically elected groups of Elders to lead. They believed that only Jesus could be the Head of His Church (No human impersonator). This was RADICALLY changed. First the Emperors, then the Bishops, and finally the Popes starting in the 4th century (Siricius) became the “human” church bosses. In the 16th century, Protestants put a Senior Pastor in every Church to rule over the people, and many today falsely follow this “Moses Church Government Model.” There shall be “One Shepherd,” (Jn. 10:16).

3. A VOLUNTARY FAMILY PRIESTHOOD: In the New Testament Bible we see married couples as elders leading home churches - such as Priscilla and Aquila (Rom. 16:3); Apphia and Philemon (1-2); Andronicus and Junias (Rom.16:7). The concept that every believer in the Royal Priesthood family has direct access to God through Jesus our High Priest, and does not need to go to any human Priest/Pastor to give them access to God (1 Tim 2:5, Heb 8:1, Exodus 19:6) was RADICALLY changed. It changed to the establishment of the first "Special” priesthood or caste system in which the spiritually elite, professional, paid and appointed Bishops/Senior Pastors ruled over the laity or common believers (“Therefore confess your sins to each other ...” (Ja. 5:16).

4. THE LORD’S SUPPER: The concept of Holy Communion for the Early Church was reverently sharing a common meal of the time (bread and wine) with your family in your home that ended with celebrating Communion by being filled with the Holy Spirit (Matt. 26:26-29, 1 Cor. 10:16, 1 Cor. 11:27). It was RADICALLY changed to attending a huge Cathedral on SUN-days to watch a priest perform the "transformation." This involved “Magical” prayers in which the bread and wine that the Priest eats and drinks were “magically” transformed into the actual body and blood of Jesus - so that the “pagan-Christian” cannibals and vampires could be spiritually nourished on SUN-days.

5. SHARING GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT - TEACHING: The idea that the Holy Ghost lives inside all believers and gives each of us spiritual gifts to actively serve and teach our Christian family daily and equip others to do the ministry (Rom 12:6-8, Eph. 4:11-13) was RADICALLY changed. It changed to attending the Mega-Church Building to watch (as a spectator) the (self-appointed) paid professional Pastor teach and preach to the silent sinners. Borrowed from the Greek sophists, who were masters at oratory and rhetoric, the Catholic Father Augustine popularized the Greco-Roman sermon and made it a central part of the SUN-day church service.

6. SPONTANEOUS SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP: The Early Church worshipped in Spirit and in Truth (Jn. 4:24). The private praying, fasting, praising, spontaneous singing and sharing, and intimate daily meetings in the "Spirit" in the privacy of your Christian family home ended (Mt. 6:6, 6:16, Acts 2:42). It RADICALLY changed to the Basilica's impersonal public praying, tithing and solemn Sun-day morning order of worship ritual with its professionally delivered entertainment. 

7. CHEERFUL PERSONAL GIVING FROM THE HEART: Giving was RADICALLY changed from the concept of personally "giving" money, food, clothing, your time and gifts directly to the poor, to your extended Christian family, and to others in need, until the need was met (Acts 6:1, 11:29, Rom. 15:26, Gal. 2:10). It RADICALLY changed to tithing or submitting 10 percent of your salary to the professional salaried Senior Pastor to support the Basilica (building fund), Pastor's salaries or other business endeavors. Please research before giving: givewell.org.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ ...‘whatever you did for one of the least of these ... you did for me (Mt. 25:34-40) 

WHERE ELSE DOES THE UNDERGROUND CHURCH MEET -?

Jesus said, "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them," (Mt. 18:20)

The Apostle Paul encourages all believers to fellowship together: "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching," (Heb. 10:24, 25). As the above verses state, the Underground Church meets where ever two or three Royal Priests gather together to encourage one another towards love and good deeds. The New Testament gives us examples of family-home churches that met in private houses, but two or three believers could also meet in a prison cell, a hospital room, a coffee shop or even a street corner and Jesus promises to be with them. Therefore the Underground Church meets to make disciples where ever they call “Home” when they gather together in the Name of Jesus because they individually have the anointing within.

Jesus said, "As for you, the anointing you received from him (The Holy Spirit) remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things ~ remain in him," (1 Jn. 2:27)

For further info see the book: One Holy Nation (A Mystery of History ~ The Lost Tribes of Israel) Appendix C, p. 148-149

By James Slobodzien

Author - Christian Living / Inspirational Books at Clinical Psychological Services, LLC