The Family Atmosphere

[This message was transcribed and edited from a conference given by Chuck Debelak in Detroit, Michigan, in October 2000. Mr. Debelak has not reviewed this document in its edited form.]

Continued from "Breaking Bread from House to House"

All the pressure is relieved when people come together to eat with exultation and simplicity of heart. We don't have to rush our wives saying, "Hurry up, let's get to the meeting." All of our preparation for the church life is not to run "to the church life" and send the kids off to a baby-sitter or leave them home by themselves all the time. Neither is the church life intended merely to give our children a place to go while we do our duty of "going to church." Instead, the gathering becomes an atmosphere filled with God's presence. It is not something we are trying to perform, but is an issue of what we enjoy in our normal daily living. This kind of living represents the "Inns" that were prevalent in the early church. The early church was filled with that kind of an "Inn." When people walked into that home, the Lord could add to the church such as would be saved.

Having favor with all the people by doing "good works"

The real church life as defined in the Bible and lived out in the early church often contradicts our view and practice. Acts 2:47 says, "Praising God and having favor with all the people." We should contemplate what is meant by having favor with all the people. How do we gain the favor of all the people? By doing good works! What came out of the church? Surely there was the gospel and preaching, but the most prevailing aspect of the early church life was the doing of good works.

Historically, much of God's gospel work has followed on the heels of good works. Let's take for example George Mueller in the late 1800's. George Mueller had the leading from the Lord to start an orphanage in England. But the orphanage was never his goal. Salvation of people was his goal. The orphanage became a vehicle of salvation and many people got saved. Not only the children got saved, but also many who passed through the orphanage to work, to help or to observe, also got saved by the carrying out of good works under the Lord's leading. Another example is Amy Carmichael. Amy Carmichael was called by the Lord to go to the little boy and girl prostitutes in India in the mid 1900's. She would go to the Hindu temples in order to save them from that living. Her writings indicate the kind of deep spiritual person she became through all the trials she went through. This all came on the heels of good works, not mighty acts of power.

Not Through Social Activities Alone

In saying this, we are not encouraging the raising up of orphanages in Detroit or working with unwed mothers or any other kind of social work in itself. This is not our view or our goal. We are not for the "social gospel," meaning that we merely do good works for people as our goal. But we do need to have our mindset broadened in regard to how the Lord could lead us in our daily life. He will lead us into many virtuous things especially towards our family, friends and coworkers. Being led of the Lord to show practical kindness, goodness, long-suffering or other virtues that are mentioned in the New Testament is to exercise good works in which something of God is ministered to others. That was how favor was found with all the people.

There is an expression among God's people throughout church history of the love of God for mankind. This is so attractive. Often we are more impressed by someone who ministers grace to us by some kindness, than by someone who can give a good message. You see these acts of kindness and realize, "That is right!" There is such a witness within, and a supply and strength is rendered to us. And this is God's way. The New Testament principle is: God manifested in the flesh. So the church life in Acts was having "favor with all the people." Who knows how many ways they could find favor with others, how many ways the Lord would lead them? When we read this passage in Acts 2 we may think the believers had mighty power because of the day of Pentecost. This was true mainly in the matter of the gospel, announcing a monumental change in the age. The miracles and works of power served to confirm that God had indeed changed from the Old Testament way of following the law to the New Testament way of receiving and ministering Christ as grace. But can we see that miracles and eloquence or persuasive speech will not gain favor with people in the long run? Check your own experience: we've all had the opportunity to preach to others. When we preached to some over and over, did we gain their favor? No, usually they want us to be quiet. But when we follow the Lord's leading to live out some human virtue toward others, then some are gained for Christ. This applies corporately as well: when the expression of God's love for mankind issues out of the Body of Christ, favor is gained.

Brotherly Love Gains People

In Revelation chapters two and three the church in Philadelphia received God's approval. Philadelphia means "brotherly love." To us the church should be a shining, burning testimony in our city where all the members are "on fire" for the Lord to the point that others who come in are so convicted. Yet, God would say, "Well, fine, that's okay. But the church I approve of is filled with brotherly love, not zeal, power, miracles, dancing, liturgy or any other thing. Just exhibit brotherly love." The Greek word for "love" here is "phileo," meaning filled with human affection, that is, filled with human virtues. Do we want the Lord's testimony in Detroit, Westland, Ann Arbor, etc.? The church life must be filled with kindness, warmth, goodness and long-suffering. We don't usually think this way. We usually focus on teaching, preaching or some awesome or noticeable display that we can boast in as the means to gain others. To us, the best testimony is when we are the most burning, the most "on fire," the most absolute and the most consecrated. But it is doubtful that this is the way that God brings people into His church.

To the early church, the more the House of God was filled with the Lord's leading in these kinds of virtues, the more the Lord had His testimony. And that testimony was the testimony of "brotherly love." We may quote 1 Corinthians 14:23 when someone walks into our midst during a time of prophesying (speaking for the Lord). We assume they should fall on their face and say that God is among us. Surely, at times, this should happen. But let me ask you, if you were God, what would you want an unbelieving, cold, damaged, hurt, wounded world to touch when they come among your children? If we were God and one of our children is lost, damaged, wounded, hurt, or beat up … and we brought them among a group of people, what would we want them to touch? Certainly, you would want them to touch the love of God. You'd want them to find out, "I love just you just the way you are." And to the poor one entering, "We'll take care of you." We want each one to find out, "You are at home. We receive you just the way you are."

Just think about our young people. This is what they need. Our young people do not need to be told how spiritual they should be or how they should prepare themselves for some future training to serve the Lord. They need to touch one thing: God's love for them. They need to find out that whether they want to follow the Lord or whether they don't what to follow the Lord, they sure love to hang out with those "church" people. They are the nicest, sweetest group of people you could ever meet. The church should be like a bunch of big teddy bears to the young people. They should be able to feel, "Well, I don't like the Lord, I don't want the church, but I sure like to be around the Konopinskis. I really like to be with the Riesens. I love them.

Our Family - the Training Ground

The Lord desires His believers, His church, to become His testimony by living a life of virtue. Jesus was the friend of sinners. He was so close to sinners that others accused Him of being a drunk. However, whenever anyone was with Him, that person sensed the love of God. Brothers and sisters, this is the church life, a life that lives out the life of Jesus today. This is why we are emphasizing the necessity of experiencing Christ with our spouse and experiencing Christ with our children. This is our training ground. How can we experience and exhibit the Lord's virtues with our next-door neighbor whom we so seldom see when we don't experience them with our own spouse? How can we experience and exhibit the Lord's virtues with the people at work with whom we spend so little time if we don't experience them with our own kids? We must learn to discover all the little "good works" the Lord would lead us to concerning our spouse. We must learn to discover all the little "good works" the Lord would lead us to concerning our children. Our own family becomes our training ground to know God's love for mankind. In this way our homes become "powerful."

Knowing a Living Christ in our Daily Life

If we can form the habit of knowing the Lord's speaking and knowing His voice we will spontaneously open our home and there will be such impact for the Lord. You may have some people over and have a sense not to say anything spiritual. You sense that all this person needs is to eat and not have one person mention Christ to them. When the night is over, however, they enjoyed a living Christ ministered to them because you didn't "preach" Christ at them. In another setting, you may feel that you have something of Christ to share with your guest. It's based on the Lord's leading. We become trained persons, not because of some outward training classes or Bible school training, but trained because we got to know a living Christ in our daily life! We are learning to know God's voice in our life!

Now the church life becomes such a powerful vehicle for Christ! Husband and wife through all their fights experience Christ. Parents through all their struggling with their kids experience Christ. And then we bring other people, other kids, other believers into the home in order to experience Christ in a similar way. This is the church according to a home. The home becomes a vehicle for God to be ministered into man; not in the sense of only spiritual activities, but mainly in the realm of virtue. Brothers and sisters, we need a change of concept. It's so good to see this matter in the Bible.

continue with "Setting Ourselves to Minister to the Saints"