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Part II
The
Second
Phase of the Church
Corporate
Relationship Concept
Chapter 5
A Church Prepared for the Storm
Up until this time, we have been talking about the
dynamics of the small group family relationships or house churches that are the
building blocks of the church of Jesus Christ. As groups of house churches grow,
there is a need to be tied in with the larger body of Christ.
Out of the small house churches will come leaders who have
giftings and anointings to serve the corporate church which encompasses the
larger body of believers relating to each other in a given
area. For
example, we will learn in Chapter 7 that one job of an apostle
is to visit the house churches and ordain individuals for corporate
church responsibilities.
When an overseer is raised up and ordained
to look after a whole group of house churches, the corporate church is forming.
Just how does the house church relate to the
corporate church? What are the differences and dynamics between the two? What is
the pattern God wants us to follow so that He can build the church strong and
able to weather the storms?
First of all, let's look at how a small house church is built. To
illustrate,
allow me to use the analogy of building a boat. Let's say you
decide to build a small
fishing vessel. You carefully and meticulously
design it. You install a small motor in it, suitable for short
fishing
trips. After you are sure it
is seaworthy, you invite me to join
you for
a
fishing expedition.
The day dawns bright and clear. Armed with bait, fish tackle,
lines
and hooks, you take me to an
area where you know the
fish are
biting. As your guest, I am impressed. You are the owner,
designer, captain, crew, oiler, navigator, chef-the list goes on—of your
little boat. As a one-man operation, you have many titles and you perform
all of them well.
Can you see the similarities between this small boat
operation and
a cell church? One
leader basically takes all the responsibility
for the
"boat."
After I return from the delightful fishing trip, I am
enthusiastic! Everything
was just perfect and I want to tell all my friends about the great job you have
done. Already I am taking one of the jobs
away from you. I am now the sales person, selling your fishing trip
to others. In the spiritual sense, I am an
evangelist, telling the story and getting more people to go along on the
next trip.
Soon more and more friends want to go on the fishing trips. Their
marvelous fishing experiences and fellowship
excite them and cause them to want to
go out again and again. (Notice the spiritual family developing!) But you
have only one boat. Soon they are asking you
to build a larger boat because the old one is now too small. Now you
have two choices. You can either build a
larger boat, or you can teach others to build boats like yours to
accommodate all the people.
In other words, house churches are like a series of small boats.
If
you teach others to build small boats just
like yours, you have house churches
comprising the church. If you eventually decide to build a
large ship in addition to the small boats,
the corporate church phase will begin.
A large ship will have
a series of lifeboats for safety. A series of
lifeboats on a large ship are also spiritual
families (house churches). The fleet of boats in the water (the house
churches) remain connected to the large ship, heading in the same direction and
having the same church vision.
A leader must decide upon the advantages of becoming the over-seer
of a fleet of small boats only or overseeing a large ship with
lifeboats in addition to the fleet of small
boats in the water. Immediate
differences are apparent between the corporate church and house churches.
For example, a large
ship is not as mobile or flexible as a small boat. It cannot maneuver as quickly
and easily. It cannot rescue people in the
water with the same ease as a small boat. Neither can it go into shallow
water, which means it cannot conveniently dock
at many out of the way places (an island,
for example) because there is no harbor.
The fleet of boats in
the water will always remain the most mobile.
They are poised and ready to save a life or travel easily to local places
at a moments notice. Of course, the lifeboats can be dispatched to the island,
but it will involve more inconvenience and work for the crew. When having to
hoist and lower lifeboats into rough seas, for example, precautions have to be
observed in order to prevent the boats from being swamped or the crew
thrown over-board.
Another thing to think
about—during times of persecution, the corporate church could easily be sunk!
Literally, it would cease to exist, but the
small boats would survive due to the fact that they are less visible.
Being able
to travel further distances and provide more services to the people are the
advantages of having a large ship in addition
to the small boats. A corporate church has
the finances to take missionaries to the utmost parts of the earth and
can provide many services such as seminars, schools, music ministries,
children's ministries, youth activities, counseling services and more.
The bottom line is this: Without the mobility and flexibility of the house
churches, the corporate church will flounder. The house churches always remain
the backbone of the church—where people are trained and reproduced.
Large Ship – Corporate Church
If
you decide to build a larger ship, you will have to delegate your
responsibilities on the ship. You no longer
can do all the work. You'll have to take crew members along, someone to
look after the engine, a chef, a navigator, stewards, and so on.
You can keep
expanding and improving this large ship and keep it running in tip-top condition
as you delegate responsibilities. With
your large ship, you are now
in the corporate structure of the church.
How are the spiritual
and natural jobs on this large ocean liner linked together? First of all, the
owner of the ship is Jesus Christ. Without Him, there would be no
church.
The engine
giving power to the ship could be compared to the Holy Spirit who
empowers Christians to live fruitful lives. Without this empowering, the church
flounders, helpless in the open sea.
The designers or
engineers of the ship are apostles. According to the shipping company's
specifications, the marine engineers carefully design a ship to carry certain
cargo. that will be able to complete an intended trip. Their
workmanship will decide the vessel's buoyancy and stability. They may design a
passenger ship, a tanker or a freighter.
The apostles must hear
from God and decide upon the design of the church in a particular locality. They
take into consideration the culture, its peoples and the needs in that region of
the world.
The
captain
of the ship is like the
bishop (overseer)
we read about in God's Word. With
all the information he receives from the engineers and navigators of the ship,
the captain makes the final decisions for the ship's welfare. He has full
responsibility for the vessel and everyone on it.
With the apostle helping to lay a proper foundation for the
church, the overseer
listens to the advice of the prophet and then makes the final decisions for the
church. Like a captain of a ship, he must decide his ship's carrying capacity
and take into consideration weather and sea conditions so he can ensure safe
passage for his people.
The navigator of
the ship could be compared to the prophet in the church. Navigators
safely direct the movements of a vessel from one point to another. Concerned
that the ship does not run into foul weather, they predict when a storm
is coming. They have the ability to locate currents, avoid fog, and keep from
getting stuck on a coral reef! The navigator
gives this information to the captain and it is
the
captain's decision what he
should do with it.
The navigator
cannot make the final decision because he does not know what the
captain knows. The captain knows how much fuel is
in the tanks, and he has experience with
storms. He knows when to travel
around a storm or wait out a storm, so he must make the final decision.
The stewards attend to the personal needs of the passengers. They
make sure the passengers are comfortable, rested and have plenty
of food.
Stewards
could be compared to
pastors
in church life. Pastors always have
the welfare of their charges uppermost on their
minds. They simply love
people and want to see all their needs met.
Most passengers want to
learn something about the ship while they
are on board. They want to hear about sea life or listen to hair-raising
storm experiences of the captain and the crew. This is where the
teachers in the body of Christ come in. They give lectures and
seminars on a host of subjects. They tell
about experiences that help others to understand God's truths.
Those who sell tickets for this trip, the
travel agents,
are the
evangelists
in the church. They tell the passengers that
the cruise is fantastic and assure
them that the well-designed ship is fitted for rough seas. "Good weather
is forecasted for the trip," they say, "and our
navigator is the best." They convince the
passengers that the food is tasty, the travel will be pleasant and the
captain will keep them on course and get them to their destination on time.
Apprentices
on a ship, like a shipmate or
others learning how to
do a job, can be compared to those with the
gift of helps
in the church. A shipmate works
alongside the captain or other officer and helps
when the officer is not there. For every
position on a ship, there are those who are apprenticed to help. In a
church, one with the gift of helps supports a church leader as his "right-hand
man." This way everyone can be reproduced as they learn the job of the one they
serve. Many times they also receive the anointing for it themselves.
The
pursers
on the ship may be compared to
deacons
in the church who are financial
administrators. They do the bookkeeping, keep
records and make sure that
the tickets, fuel and cargo are paid for.
This brings us to the
passengers or Christian believers on the ship. New to this
experience, their lives are being changed and perfected.
They are enjoying the ride as they begin to see what is going on in God's
kingdom. From the beginnings of these social relationships in cell groups, the
passengers or new Christians eventually graduate to working relationships with
other Christians on board the ship. They are now part of the crew, helping to
bring others on board and learning how to keep the ship in tip-top shape.
When a ship is properly
maintained with operative equipment and
skillful seaman operating it, the result is a pleasant journey for all.
The Christian believers are being trained and equipped to minister to the Lord,
to each other, and to the world.
More and more people
join and experience the peace that only Jesus Christ can give. The church grows,
with no limits, because everyone is being trained and reproduced!
When we begin to understand how God really
wants the church built and how each person has God-given anointed
responsibilities to fulfill in the body of Christ, I believe we will begin to
see an incredible moving of God's Spirit on
this earth. God wants His people to
know how to steer His ship (church) in the right direction so that the
ship progresses and more people get interested in shipping.
These many people being
trained and equipped will eventually take over some of the shipping duties and
responsibilities. Some may become ship designers (apostles) themselves or
perhaps captains (bishops/overseers).
Everyone a Servant
No matter what job
description they have, everyone is a servant
in the body of Christ (Romans 1:1; Titus 11). If we all work to do the
job God's called us to, no one will lord it over another, but instead
love and serve each other as we humbly obey
the owner of the ship (church), Jesus Christ. "As God is serving us, so
we ought to serve our fellow man."
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