SimpleChurch Journal

Understanding Prevenience: the Key to New Testament Gatherings

I am (slowly) making my way through seven stages that people seem to move through in their journey into simple/organic church.  I started this series here where I listed the stages as follows:

1. Letting go of old paradigms of church life.
2. Exploring New Testament gatherings.
3. Re-boot to Jesus.
4. A new missional heart and longing.
5. Fresh discovery of our own passions, spiritual gifts, and calling.
6. Integration of an organic, fruitful lifestyle with organic gatherings that support it.
7. Our kingdom influence spreads and becomes reproductive in its impact.

I already discussed stages one and two, but wanted to share one more thing on stage two.  I want to re-visit the subject of prevenience as it relates to New Testament gatherings.

This subject (prevenience) comes from John White’s writings and I have included one of his documents on this that is well worth reading.  I highlight this subject because I believe it is so crucial to grasping how God wants to be fully involved as the initiator of all that takes place “when we come together.”

So, in short, what is prevenience?  As per John White:

The word "prevenience" (rhymes with "convenience") refers to "that which goes before or precedes". The word describes an important aspect of God's character. He is prevenient. That is, He is always at work before we come onto the scene. He is always initiating. In our lives and in the church…

He is always initiating. He is always starting things. He is prevenient. 

Our part? To see what He is doing and to respond. He is the initiator. We are the responders. How we "do church" must be based on the character of our God. So, what are the implications for ministry in general and house church meetings in particular?

The "prevenience model" for church is illustrated in the Old Testament.

"Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the Lord's command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped...Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in the camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. (Numbers 9:17,18,22)

God (represented by the cloud here) is always the Prime Mover. He is always the Initiator. He is always proactive. He is always prevenient. He is always "before".

The people of God are always the responders. Their job description is simple: "WATCH THE CLOUD. If it moves, then you move. If it doesn't move, then you don't move. No matter how long it takes - two days, a month or a year." For some of us, learning how not to move is much harder than learning how to move…

Our culture says, "Be proactive! Don't just sit there – do something! Make it happen!" And that culture is reflected in the church.  The values of the Bible are different. "WATCH THE CLOUD. Do what it does." God is God and we are not. It's His church, not ours (Mt. 16:18)…

The church that God is restoring is more than a church that meets in the home. Its a church made up of people who are getting really good at WATCHING THE CLOUD. And responding appropriately.

I hope I have whet your appetite enough to dig deeper into what John calls the “prevenience model” for gatherings rather than the “program model.”  Read his entire article here.

Simplifying Discipleship

At the heart of simple/organic church life is the lifestyle of discipleship (following Jesus) and discipling others.

The difficulty is that we often make discipleship far too difficult.  When we see discipleship as primarily about imparting knowledge from one to another, then we need an expert (knowledgeable) who also excels at communicating knowledge to another (teaching gift).  Many people do not see themselves as qualified enough (not enough knowledge as compared to professionals or those who have attended seminary) and not gifted enough (again, comparing themselves to those with excellent teaching gifts).

The result is that we have turned discipleship over to the professional teachers (pulpiteers and well-known author/teachers) and the programs that these same people develop.  In the process we exclude 90% of the Body of Christ from being active disciplers which is exactly what Jesus asked each of us to do.

Fortunately, simple/organic church planters, and those who have studied or experienced church planting movements, have re-discovered the keys to discipleship and have given those keys back to every-day-believers where they belong.

Here are two of those keys:

1. Discipleship can and should be discovery-based.  This means that new believers can actually discover what they need to know about God by opening the Word of God themselves while the Spirit leads and teaches them.  In this case, I do not need to be highly knowledgeable nor an effective teacher to come alongside someone who is going directly to the Word to learn from God and to encounter God.

We have put far too much effort into spoon-feeding new Christians by providing milk for them to drink through our pre-digested sermons, notes, teachings, and pre-packaged lessons.  The result is that believers do not learn the basics of understanding the Word for themselves, listening to the voice of the Spirit through the Word, and applying it.  This latter is the meaning of a disciple: one who hears Jesus speak and follows him.

While teachers can play a helpful supportive role, scripture is abundantly clear that the Holy Spirit is to become the primary teacher in a believer’s life (1 John 2:27).  This takes the pressure off of the discipler if we are willing to take on a support role in a disciple’s life rather than the main role.

2. The second key is often called “obedience-based discipleship.”  However, since the word “obedience” often conjures up images of legalistic adherence to rules (which is not the same as simply obeying Jesus), I sometimes prefer the term: “active-surrender-based discipleship.”  In using this term I will quote Thomas Merton who said: “we must know the truth, we must love the truth we know and we must act according to the measure of our love.  Truth is God himself who cannot be known apart from love and cannot be loved apart from surrender to his will.”

Okay, so maybe that’s just a way to say that the way to experientially know and encounter God is to love and obey him.

But, here’s the point.  A disciple is one who loves and obeys.  Period.  Therefore obedience-based discipleship (or surrender-based discipleship) focuses on becoming one who follows, one who walks out what God has shown, one who consistently steps into the place of “your will not my will be done.”  Why does this matter?  Because, again, knowledge is not the focus here.  A new disciple will gain the knowledge that he/she needs over time if he is applying what he is hearing through obedience.

Therefore, again, an expert is not needed (nor a great teacher) in order to show the way.  Rather, simply a fellow-Jesus-follower is all that is necessary to come alongside other disciples and point the way (through his/her own walk) to an abundant, Spirit-filled, life-filled, adventure-filled, personally-transforming, world-impacting, miracle-walking, Jesus-following lifestyle.

The bottom line here is that a disciple is one who is coming to know God himself through personal experience (followership) NOT merely a bunch of knowledge ABOUT God.  The former comes through self-discovery of who God is and walking with him. 

To disciple someone, then, is nothing more than:

1. Bringing them to the Scriptures to feed.
2. Asking how God is speaking to and leading them (through the Scriptures and the Spirit).
3. Being a friend.

It really IS that simple.

Simple Church and the Nations: Explosive Potential

Could a small (but growing) movement of simple/organic church-lifers lead to a revolutionary impact upon world missions?  There is something deep inside of me that says the answer to this question could be a resounding “YES.”

The promise is still in place: that all the people on earth will be blessed… through us.  (Gen. 12:3).  And, Jesus’ promise that all nations (literally, ethnic groups) would hear the Good News before the end comes (Matt. 24:14).

The needs are still great: 13,000 of the 27,000 people groups in the world are still unreached. Additionally, 9.7 million children die annually from the direct effects of poverty.  Almost one in four people on the planet live in extreme poverty.  By the way, extreme poverty is more than not having enough; it is often accompanied by a degrading sense of powerlessness.

Yet the kingdom of God is moving forward.  Each of us is an integral part of that.  AND, yes, progress is being made in each of these areas!

So, what does that have to do with simple/organic/house church folk?

Imagine With Me!

Consider what God might be doing through the simple/house/organic church movement!

• He might be providing a way for many, many leaders and missionaries to be raised up. The core value of simple church—everyone participates—provides a platform in which everyone gets involved, everyone grows spiritually, everyone discovers his/her spiritual gifts and calling, and everyone lives a 24/7 lifestyle of following Jesus. That sounds like a platform for developing fruitful influencers and missionaries to me!
• He might be providing a way for financial resources to flow not into church buildings but, rather, into the streets of our own neighborhoods as well as the harvest fields around the world!
• He might be preparing an entire generation of believers who are not going to merely live “culturally-appropriate” Christian-religious lives, but who will step into more radical lifestyles that reflect the Jesus way of life.
• He might be getting ready to create a whole new thrust that could impact our entire planet through a small group of “revolutionaries” who believe that we are the church, the embodiment of Jesus, and not just church-goers.