How did church begin?
Were buildings erected?
Were pastors trained?
Were seminaries started ?
What was required??
Actually, non of the above was required.
At least that's what the Bible shows us.
It says in the book of Acts that the 1st churches were begun by, "Unschooled ordinary men."
They had no blueprint to go off of, no church history to follow, and no seminary to go to.
Then how did they know how to do it?
...They didn't.
Actually the disciples didn't even have a plan to create churches. They simply obeyed the instructions Jesus gave them and churches began to form.
What instructions were those?
There were only a few places in the Bible that Jesus gave specific instructions on how to practically reach out. Lets take a look at some of those from one of the 1st 'short-term' missions trips in history, recorded in Luke chapter 10:
In this account Jesus instructs his disciples to go to the places he was about to go. He told them specifically to not meet anyone on the roads but rather go to peoples homes. He told them that when they entered a house to say, "Peace to this house", and that if a man of peace was there, their peace would rest on him; if not, it would return to them. Once welcomed into a house, Jesus said to stay there, eating and drinking whatever they were given. He told them specifically to not move around once welcomed into one of these homes. However, Jesus did note that if they were to go into a town and were not welcomed, to move on!
So how would this in turn create churches you ask?
Lets look back to the context of 30AD when Jesus said these words. These instructions proved to be very strategic in providing a way for every person on the earth to have an expression of church in their life!
Lets look back to the context of 30AD when Jesus said these words. These instructions proved to be very strategic in providing a way for every person on the earth to have an expression of church in their life!
When Jesus told his disciples not to greet anyone on the roads but to rather go from house to house, this wasn't because he wanted them to seem rude or didn't care about individuals. Quite the contrary actually...It's important to note that during Jesus time the home was the center of community. One of the things that cultivated this the most was how families lived. Rather than moving out when old enough to get married, the sons of the family would build a room onto their parents existing home. Not only that, but when you think about it, restaurants, bowling allies, and movie theaters had yet to become popular, making the home the center of activity. See, Jesus knew that if the disciples were welcomed into a home, they were welcomed into a community. He also new that if the seeds of good news could reach communities and not just individuals, the likelihood of them being received and growing quadrupled. In contrast, if one person came to know the truth without the support of his community, Jesus knew their chances of flourishing were greatly reduced. It's interesting to note that Jesus said to look for a 'person of peace' to welcome you into one of these homes, or communities.
What was a person of peace?
Well from what we can tell, they had two distinguishing characteristics... One, they had the ability, and were willing to bring an outsider into their community. Two, they were spiritually curious.
How do we know that?
Looking back at the culture of the time and Jesus' instructions to say, "Peace to this house", this is easy to see. 'Peace to this house' was simply a common greeting that had spiritual connotations at the time. When Jesus told his disciples to say this, he was telling them to say something to clearly let those they met know what they were about. He told them to do this in order to see who would be curious. It is evident that if the person of peace welcomed them into their home, then this was one of their characteristics.
At this point it would also be important to ask what the disciples did once accepted into a home/community?
We can see in this passage Jesus tells them to "heal the sick and to tell them the Kingdom of God is near." It is clear that Jesus wasn't concerned about this community only hearing about the Kingdom, He wanted them to experience it too. Although no more is said in this particular passage of what else the disciples would share, there are a few other passages in the Bible that can give us a pretty good idea. One of those passages records some of Jesus' last words to his disciples in Matthew 28:19-20.
"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded."
It's interesting to highlight how Jesus didn't tell the disciples to focus on 'teaching' the commands, but to teach them 'how to obey' them. The focus was on obedience, not knowledge…or in other words, application, not just theory. The disciples were teaching these communities how to obey God's words on their own. How to live it out together without so the wouldn't be dependent on their help. It's the difference of giving someone fish and teaching them how to fish. If lived out, this potential of this passage is revolutionary!
We can see in this passage Jesus tells them to "heal the sick and to tell them the Kingdom of God is near." It is clear that Jesus wasn't concerned about this community only hearing about the Kingdom, He wanted them to experience it too. Although no more is said in this particular passage of what else the disciples would share, there are a few other passages in the Bible that can give us a pretty good idea. One of those passages records some of Jesus' last words to his disciples in Matthew 28:19-20.
"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded."
It's interesting to highlight how Jesus didn't tell the disciples to focus on 'teaching' the commands, but to teach them 'how to obey' them. The focus was on obedience, not knowledge…or in other words, application, not just theory. The disciples were teaching these communities how to obey God's words on their own. How to live it out together without so the wouldn't be dependent on their help. It's the difference of giving someone fish and teaching them how to fish. If lived out, this potential of this passage is revolutionary!