Home Church Help

As you gather together with other people to meet around Jesus Christ, you will discover that not everyone is meeting together for the same reasons. There is a natural tendency to assume that the other people you are meeting with are united with you in heart and are in agreement with you. But this is not always the case.

There are many reasons why it may appeal to someone to gather in homes or in a small group setting. Some of these reasons are more harmless than others. For example, someone may want to meet in a home church setting primarily in order to avoid having to dress up, act ceremonial, or behave formally during the weekly church meeting. Although this type of reason may not be extremely noble, it probably will not cause wide spread damage to others. But again, not all reasons and motives for meeting in a home fellowship are quite as mild as this example.

Potentially damaging motives are when brothers and sisters attend the church meeting with “an agenda” in mind. A person has an agenda when their primary reason for gathering is to change the group in some manner. It usually means they are viewing the group as a ministry project or they see themselves as God’s worker, sent to the group to help them (without the group agreeing to this). A person who has an agenda has a primary motivation to introduce and propagate change according to their particular “cause”.

Some agendas become overt and obvious to others in the group very quickly. Some agendas remain subtle and hidden for long periods of time.  Hidden agendas can be fed to others slowly over time or they can be suddenly delivered at once like a bursting dam (usually when the person cannot restrain themselves any longer). Agendas are often used as a tool of the enemy to derail a group and spiral it into confusion and controversy.

Why are agendas so damaging? Because our only cause should be Christ Himself. We should gather together to love and worship Jesus Christ, to love one another, and to enjoy fellowship and relationships. We should gather together to enjoy the presence of God and worship Him. This should be the primary reason that fills our hearts in coming to church meetings. But often, this pure and simple purpose does not give the flesh any sense of progress or advancement. It is too simple. To gather together only to love God and one another does not have any elements of grinding out some lofty goal. The greatest two commandments are not always thought of as being very great.

Good teaching is necessary and edifying. However, teaching can easily not be born out of love. As with all things in God, we must lay it down in order for God to purify it. There is nothing wrong with having things that we would like to teach others we are meeting with. But the things we want to teach are to be secondary to the primary reason we are gathering.

Worshiping Jesus Christ, enjoying the relationships of the saints, and loving and serving one another should be our 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4rth, and 5th goals (so to speak). Changing the group and making others see things the way you see things should be way down at the bottom of your list, or not even on your list at all. If changing the group and making them see things your way (or even “God’s way”) is too important to you, then you may have an unhealthy, fleshly agenda.

Many people find their identity and self-worth in their teachings and their beliefs, which then becomes their cause. This sets themselves up for error and for introducing damage in the church. If you want to build and edify the church, then practice love. Cleaning someone’s toilet will probably edify and build them up more than constantly trying to change them.

At times, someone may have an agenda that indeed may be from God. It may be a revelation that originated in truth. It may be exactly what the group needs. But frequently, it is the holding to the agenda that makes it fleshly and ultimately damaging. Placing truth above love causes damage. On the flip side, placing love above truth also causes damage. The flesh prefers either or. But only in the Spirit can we practice love and truth at the same time. God does bring about change in groups, but it is a work of the Spirit that is accomplished slowly and gently. When a truth (whether it originated from God or not) is esteemed as higher than the people who need to hear it, it becomes a fleshly agenda.

Lay aside your agendas. In God’s timing, offer to others the revelations God has given you, and then leave it alone. Leave it alone for a long time, maybe forever. God is able to make your brother stand. If the teachings and revelations you’ve received for others is of God and you’ve delivered it at the proper time, then others will latch on and it will bear fruit. Only the Spirit can grant revelation and change a person’s life. People are not usually changed by your repetition, by your force, or through contention.

It is not always wrong for a worker to be sent to a group in order to facilitate change, but the group should be aware of this and it should be welcomed. Be aware of those among you who have unseen agendas and the resulting damage it may soon cause. Perhaps an honest question or a good talk will prevent widespread damage to the church at a future date. Most of the time, the people with agendas will wind up leaving the group when the group will no longer serve their purposes.