In the
last few years, a lot of people in the house church movement have been
saying, “Churches need to be organic.” The implication behind
“organic” is that it is also possible to have “synthetic” churches that
are not “naturally grown” by the Spirit of God – something we all want
to avoid.
There are, however, several legitimate concerns over making
“organics” a criterion for evaluating the worthiness of our
churches. To begin with, the word is extra-biblical. It
can’t be found anywhere in the entire Bible–Old or New Testaments.
Secondly, the word has not been adequately defined. My concept of
an “organic church” may not be the same as your concept. What if
people attach meanings to the word that contradict Scripture? That
could allow confusion and error to creep in.
Using an extra-biblical word like “organic” has dangers similar to
using an extra-biblical word like “Trinity.” For instance, most of
us have been told that a good illustration of the Trinity is the fact
that a man can be a father, a son, and a grandfather all at the same
time. That sounds very nice, but it actually contradicts scripture
and promotes the heresy known as Modalism or Sabellianism. If
Jesus and the Father are the same person, then who did Jesus pray to in
the garden of Gethsemene? We can avoid the dangers associated with
extra-biblical words by observing this simple guideline: Shape doctrine
to Scripture, not Scripture to doctrine. (Please note, however, that I
am a firm believer in the doctrine of the Trinity and do not object to
the use of this convenient term, provided it is properly defined.)
Since it looks as though the word “organic” is going to be around for
a while, it would have been nice if we had circumvented the dangers
associated with the use of this word by attaching Biblical meanings to
it from the start. Unfortunately, we’re a little late. There
are already groups attaching meanings to this word that are subtly
unbiblical.
For instance, some have said that “Organic churches are churches that
form spontaneously.” I know someone who, together with his
friends, wanted to start a church. They met together on a regular
basis for months. But because they wanted their church to be
“organic,” they didn’t talk about the Bible much. Instead, they
talked about sports, the news, their children, etc. Why?
They were waiting for “it” to happen spontaneously.
In the book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit wanted to start more new
churches, He told the church at Antioch: “Set apart for me Barnabas and
Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Ac 13:2). Did
Barnabas and Saul sit around and wait for things to happen? No,
God used them to make things happen. How do we know this?
Because He called them to “work”! Work involves
purposefulness and intentionality.
Likewise, think of Heb 10:25: “Let us not give up meeting together,
as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and
all the more as you see the Day approaching.” If God has commanded
us to encourage one another when we meet, we must not sit around and
wait for it “to happen”–”it” will happen if we just obey Him and
act! And yes, God Himself will be the one making it happen
through us. Organic churches don’t just happen–they are formed by
God using men working in obedience to Him.
Other “organic” enthusiasts feel that, “If you form a church that
closely follows the Bible and tries to imitate the patterns of the NT
church, you’ll end up with an outward form with no inward life.
Just seek Jesus, and He will form the church, organically.” The
problem with this is that it sets up a false dichotomy–either you obey
the Bible and follow NT patterns, or you seek Jesus. Now wait a
second! Who says you can’t do both? In fact, you should do
both! Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command”
(Jn 14:15).
This means being attentive to Jesus when He speaks to us through the
Holy Spirit, as many promoters of "organic" church life emphasize. But
it also means obeying Him where He has already spoken in
Scripture. We should not wait for Him to repeat to us afresh what
He has already commanded before we will obey it. That reflects a
misunderstanding of being “organic.”
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Phillipians: “Join with others in
following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live
according to the pattern we gave you” (Php 3:17). And to the
Thessalonians he wrote: “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the
traditions which ye have been taught, whether my word, or our epistle”
(2 Th 2:15, KJV). Obviously, then, we should imitate the
traditions of the apostles. For proper organic church growth to
occur, we must love the Lord so much that we cherish every word that
comes from His mouth, and, like beloved children, imitate the apostles
He trained to teach us.
What is wrong with many concepts of an “organic” church? They
seem to assume that being “organic” involves some sort of plant-like
passivity. Perhaps this is because we normally use the word in
connection with gardening. But the Lord does not describe His
church as a member of the plant kingdom, but as a woman! And every
young woman must be taught the word of God and how to obey it in order
to grow up right. The church is no different: “Husbands, love your
wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to
make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or
wrinkle or blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph 5:25-27).
Healthy organic church growth does not occur without instruction and
obedience in the Word. Satan would love to trick us into divorcing
loving God from loving His words. On the other hand, he would also
like for us to substitute an understanding of how to do things according
to Scripture for a close love walk with Jesus. This is the
extremely important and legitimate warning that our well-meaning friends
who are "organic" enthusiasts have been trying to communicate. We
should not let the fact that the message has occasionally been expressed
in a confused way keep us from heeding it. Understanding, even
deep understanding of the word of God, is not enough. It must be
accompanied by a loving relationship with Him.
Let’s walk closely
with Jesus. Along the way, He will often stop to teach us.
Let’s sit at His feet, looking at Him with true love and affection in
our eyes, as we expectantly wait to hear each and every word that comes
from His mouth! And then, we must be careful to quickly and
completely obey those words.
Why? Because the ultimate test of our love for Jesus is not our Bible
knowledge, or even the time we spend in joyful communion with Him. Make
no mistake, these are vital expressions of our love, but alone, they are
insufficient indicators of it.
The acid test of our love is our obedience. Jesus made this
crystal clear in John 14:15 when he said, "If you love Me, you will obey
my commandments."
Perhaps we should close with a common good definition of what
it means to be an organic church: A healthy organic church is one that
knows the Lord, follows the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and carefully
obeys His written Words.
