Church History: Jesus’s Church Design Vs. Today’s “Church” Design

Christian History “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6

1. Jesus said (Mat. 16:18): “I will build My church.”

1Cor. 3:9-10: “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are… God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.”

1Cor. 4:6: “Now these things, brothers and sisters, I have applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.”

2Tim. 4:1-4: “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to fictions.”

How should Christians apply these verses?

2. Today’s “church” design: Come listen every week to a loud band and another sermon by the same man. There is not one verse in the N.T. with this church design, it’s even condemned in the N.T.

But how did today’s “church” design ever get started? It was started by Constantine the Great, the Roman Emperor in the 4^th century. The Rome Empire had large pagan temples where Romans gathered every week to hear a sermon from their high-priest (senior-priest), who stood up front on a big, raised stage. Roman Emperor Constantine kicked out the high-priests from their big temples and told the Christians to start meeting in their large buildings. Then Constantine and his mother even started building much larger “church” buildings. Prior to Constantine Christians always met in homes. Jesus’s N.T. church design was perfect. But Constantine dramatically changed Jesus’s church design.

What ways do you think today’s Constantine “church” model has undermined Jesus’s church design and purpose?

3. First, today’s senior-pastor “church” design was modeled from the pagan senior-priest temple model. The N.T. condemns this senior-pastor, one-man “church” design.

1Cor. 1:10-13: Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ… that there be no divisions among you… Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Has Christ been divided?

3John 1:9-11: I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say… Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good.

1Peter 5:4: “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” In Greek “shepherd” and “pastor” are the same word and “chief” means “head or senior”. The apostle Peter only calls Jesus the “Senior Pastor”.

How should Christians apply these verses? Since Jesus’s N.T. churches did not have senior-pastors, how were N.T. churches led?

4. In Jesus’s church design – all churches had a plurality of elders, and all elders were pastors, all co-teaching and co-leading.

Acts 14:23: “Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in every church.”

Acts 20:17-28: “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church… Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd (Gr. pastor) the church.”

1Tim. 5:17: “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.”

1Peter 5:1-2: “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder… shepherd (Gr. pastor) the flock of God.”

How should Christians apply these verses? In the N.T. what were all Christian men encouraged to become?

5. God desires all Christian men to become spiritual leaders.

Read 1Tim. 3:1-7 & Titus 1:5-9. Which one of these character traits would God not want you to have? If God wants all Christian men to be above reproach in all these character traits, what should all Christian men pursue to become?

Col. 1:28-29: “We proclaim Christ, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose, I labor.” Should all men desire to be “complete in Christ”? If any man “complete in Christ” is not qualified to be a church leader, who would be?

2Tim. 2:2: “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” Should all men desire to be “faithful men”?  What will all “faithful men” be able to do?

Heb. 5:12: “You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others.”

How is today’s Constantine “church” practice/model contrary to these verses? How do you think today’s Constantine “church” model affects men? How does the Constantine “church” model undermine accomplishing Jesus’s Great Commission?

6. Jesus’s N.T. church design was only with house churches? Unlike what some think, Believers did not meet in homes because of persecution; persecution was neither universal nor in every generation. Furthermore, Christians could have easily built “church” buildings like “Jewish synagogues that were in every city” (Acts 15:21), but Christians never did.

Acts 8:3: “But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house.”

Rom. 16:3-5: “Greet Prisca and Aquila… also greet the church that is in their house.

Col. 4:15: “Greet… Nympha and the church that is in her house.

Philemon 1:1-2: “I am writing to Philemon… and to the church that meets in your house.”

There are over 20 church references in the N.T., and all are only house churches. Why do you think Jesus designed His church for only small house churches instead of like the O.T. design with the large temple building model?

7. In Jesus’s church design every Christian could participate in church – the most effective for spiritual growth. Jesus’s church design is a participator church – not an entertainer or spectator church.

Acts 2:42 NLT: “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.”

1Cor. 11:4-16: In these verses God instructed how every man and woman should pray and share in church, “as was the practice of all the churches” (v.16).

1Cor. 14:31: “For you can all share one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged.”

Heb. 10:24-25: “Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together… encouraging one another.”

What type of church can apply these verses?

Conclusion: Are you a part of what Jesus is building – HIS CHURCH – where every Sunday you and every Believer can participate in Jesus’s 4 church functions: Word, fellowship, meals (includes Lord’s Supper), and prayer (Acts 2:42)?

Is it wrong to go to a Constantine model “church” today? No… unless it replaces going to what Jesus is building, His church design – “I will build MY church!”