the underground network

It has been several years since we first asked the question, “Who was Jesus’ church?” but the question seems once again at the forefront of our dialogue in our house church network here in Chicago.  When God came to earth as Jesus, there is no doubt that he sought out to develop a spiritual family – adopted through the grace of God.  But how did he understand that family?  And how does that impact how we live as that family today?

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MEGA – Was Jesus’ church the crowds?  The amazing impact he had on teaching to hundreds, maybe thousands of hearts at the Sermon on the Mount, or numerous other occasions when anyone within ear shot heard whispers of God’s Kingdom.  They experienced his healings, heard his wisdom, and witnessed his death.

MACRO – Was Jesus’ church the 70 disciples he trained and commissioned  in pairs to proclaim and display the subversive Kingdom of God to villages and people groups all over the Empire?  Certainly he spent enough time with these disciples to share the vision of the Kingdom with them, and apparently they were ready to leave their wallets and responsibilities behind as they set out as the world’s first missionaries.  They trusted Jesus, and he trusted them.  Certainly they too were his church.

MESO – Were the 12 disciples the church of Jesus on earth?  These foolhardy friends were present with Jesus daily.  They not only experienced the MEGA and the MACRO, but they were given special attention – a director’s cut on Jesus’ confusing teachings, and the impartation of his Holy Spirit.  They became the catalyst for the Church worldwide as we read about it in Acts.  No doubt they saw themselves as Jesus’ church.

MICRO – But maybe Jesus’ church was “smaller still.”  Regularly we read about the companions of Jesus; Peter, James and John.  They found Jesus at his strongest (Mount of Transfiguration) and his weakest (Mount of Olives).  Surely they understood him better than any other people on the planet.  The Gospel of John accounts a very intimate portrait of Jesus Christ, very different from the other writers – could this be from John’s close friendship with his Lord?

MONO – At the end of the day, everyone mentioned above misunderstands Jesus Christ and his mission.  Ultimately, Jesus’ church was his personal (not private) relationship with the Triune God.

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Obviously the question is a misnomer.  All of these layers: MEGA, MACRO, MESO, MICRO, and MONO are layers in Jesus’ faith community.  Think of these as “layers of an onion.”

Consider the movements of Jesus Christ throughout the ages; each one promotes as special only a certain layer of the onion, many times to the exclusion or in reaction to the abuses of the other layers.  The Chinese house church movement, the Mega-Church movement in America, George Whitfield’s frontier revivals, the Anabaptists of 16th Century Europe, the “anamcharas” (soul friends) of 6th Century Ireland.

As we watch this particular organic network of faith emerge in Chicago, and truly all around the world – it will benefit each follower of Christ, each faith community, each network, to consider how a healthy onion is made up of healthy layers.  The Underground Church Network aims to grow a healthy onion!  But how?

This is the beginning of a blog series that will unpack the current reality and future plans of how one organic church network in Chicago is attempting to develop healthy layers of Christian community.  We’ll look at each layer – MONO, MICRO, MESO, MACRO, and MEGA.  Stay tuned!

In our last article, we wrote about a resource called Discovery Bible Studies designed to invite Christians AND seekers into experimenting with the teachings of Christ  even as they are weighing whether or not they believe in Christ.  In a sense, they are “acting their way into a new way of thinking.” This is a very different paradigm than we have been given in most American churches.  In fact, it is a very old way of training – reaching all the way back into ancient biblical cultures.

Think for a moment about the disciples and other followers of Jesus Christ.  Although they listened to his teaching and changed their life radically to follow him, they weren’t completely ready to believe in Christ or consider him ‘Lord’ until after his resurrection; after they had followed Christ for three years!

But whether you are a seeker or a faithful follower of Christ, this very simple method of exploring God’s Word can be meaningful.  Recently, one of our brothers and co-workers in the Lord, Kerry Holton, wrote a fantastic series on how Discovery Bible Studies have blessed his relationship with God in incredible ways. Check out his 3-part reflections here: part 1, part 2, and part 3.

As we continue to plant churches and make disciples in Chicago, we see the core value of establishing each church with simple resources for a vibrant spiritual health.  Anyone can incorporate the values and practices of Discovery Bible Studies into (1) your personal prayers and devotions, (2) into your relationship with their spouse or with a spiritual friend, (3) with your house church, (4) and with your seeking friends.

As we’ve done in our previous article, we are posting PDFs of David Watson and City Team Ministries’ material into this post as a resource for you and your faith community. Please tell us the stories of success (and failure) of incorporating this resource into your group!

Process:

1. Present the idea of a Discovery Bible Study with your house church.
2. Your house church chooses from one of the Bible Study documents below.
3. Each week, read one selection of Scripture listed in the study (starting on or around page 15)
4. Rotate who facilitates the discussion each week to promote shared leadership and learning.
5. Follow up the following week with the “I will” statements you committed to the Lord the previous week.

Choose a Bible Study below to begin!

Godgrown – Discovery Bible Study Process*

2008 Discovering God v2.0

2008 Obedience Based Discipleship v1.5

2008 Discovering Leadership v2.2

2008 Discovering Church Planting v4.2

2009 DBS Prayer Scripture List

*adapted from City Team Ministries

There are many ways to study the bible together – but how often does that study lead to actual obedience to God’s voice and to transformed lives?  We want our house church network to be one that “listens to Jesus and does what he says.”  Simply put – there are too many other voices in our culture telling us what to do that runs contrary to the voice of Christ.

David Watson, a internationally-known author and missiologist, has helped plant tens of thousands of house churches in India, and has helped create an indigenous church planting movement in that region.  He has released his very simple bible study method that he used to help spur people on toward more spiritually-formed lives.  Over the next few weeks, we’ll be releasing his documents on this site (they are free to download for yourself or for a house church or small group).

He calls them “Discovery Bible Studies” because there is little “from the front” lecturing or even teaching.  There is gentle guidance from a facilitator, who might even rotate around the group.  Generally a passage is selected, read aloud several times from different people.  Then another person retells the scripture in his/her own words, followed by a discussion from the whole group on what the text is saying.  Finally, there is a few moments of silence as each person in the group decides what God is asking them to do about the text – how to be obedient not just to the words of the text, but to God who is speaking to each heart in the group.  Each person says and/or writes down an “I will…” statement committing to do one thing within the next 48 hours of the group’s gathering (if it doesn’t happen within a short time of the commitment, many times it is sifted through life’s other demands.)  It has brought life and transformation to a group in Rogers Park – may it bring life to your group as well!

2008 Obedience Based Discipleship v1.5 (PDF)