I’ve found that when people hear about a church that gathers without a designated leader to present a prepared sermon or teaching, it is difficult for them to imagine how else the church would gather.  The pastor-pew format is so ingrained in today’s church culture, it is hard to picture anything else.  But there are, in fact, “organic churches” who meet together with no human person designated as her leader, where all of the saints gather together and share the riches of her Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and allow Him to be the head of the church meeting.

Frank Viola has described organic church as this:

By “organic church,” I mean a non-traditional church that is born out of spiritual life instead of constructed by human institutions and held together by religious programs. Organic church life is a grass roots experience that is marked by face-to-face community, every-member functioning, open-participatory meetings (opposed to pastor-to-pew services), non-hierarchical leadership, and the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ as the functional Leader and Head of the gathering.  (Full article here.)

The following illustration is how I have tried to describe what happens when an organic church meets together to express Christ with every member functioning:

Paul says in Ephesians 3:8 that there are “unsearchable riches” in Christ.  Imagine with me that the Louvre Museum in Paris is a picture of all of the riches that are in Christ.  The Louvre has approximately 35,000 exhibits in its massive museum grounds, not to mention the architecture alone is stunning.  Many of the most famous pieces of artwork in history are housed within these walls.

Now, imagine a group of people setting out to explore and experience the riches of this museum.  To give 5 minutes to each of the 35,000 pieces of art would take 243 twelve hour days!  Picture this group entering the museum in awe of its beautiful architecture.  They gather around a famous art display and take in its beauty and uniqueness.  After some time, they share with each other what aspects of this piece of art stood out to them and how it affected them.  As they go around the group taking turns sharing, they find that no one saw quite the same thing, even though they were all certainly looking at the same piece.  Some were astounded by the colors.  Others were captivated by the fine detail in the work.  Some were focused on one particular aspect, such as the expression on a face.  Some wondered about the meaning of the painting.  Others pondered the artist’s motivation for the piece.  As the group shared their varied insights, everyone saw much more of the artwork than any one person saw themselves.  As the group moves through the museum, gazing upon the beautiful art and sharing with each other, they grow closer as they share together, and even begin to see the artwork from other people’s perspective.

Additionally, the group may decide to disperse in random directions to search out some artifact that catches their interest.  They may ponder this piece alone or with just a few from the larger group.  Later, the group comes back together and shares with each other what they have found.  Many times, a very discernable theme will appear as they share, even though there was no intention to seek a common theme.  (I’ve been in meetings where this happens and it is truly electrifying!)  As each person shares about the treasure that they found, many different aspects of this massive museum may be revealed.  The group may decide to venture together through some of these areas and behold together the treasure that some have brought to the group.

It is much the same as this when a group of people gather to express the Lord Jesus Christ together.  Rather than getting only one view (such as from a pastor), many people bring many various views that are woven together into a beautiful picture of Christ that is much more rich than only one person’s view.  In other words, Jesus Christ is the art piece that this group beholds.

Imagine if the same group went to the Louvre Museum, but when they made it into the foyer, they elected only one person to go in and view the artwork and then come back and share with the group what he alone saw.  Without entering in to the museum together, the group’s ability to fully understand what the one person saw is difficult and limited.  Week after week, they gather in the foyer and listen to this one person describe more of what he has seen.  As the weeks and years pass, this person appears to be so much of an expert in the Louvre artwork, the group is intimidated to think about going inside themselves, lest they be expected to come back and expound on what they saw as well as the expert does.

In my view, this is similar to what happens in a church that depends on a select few clergy to minister Christ.  Certainly, there are many pastors and clergy members who have a great depth of knowledge of Christ and a rich relationship with Him.  But when the duty of exploring Him rests completely or mostly on the clergys’ shoulders, the rest of the body becomes passive and underdeveloped.  In an organic expression of the church (as I’ve defined here), this duty is shared among the priesthood of ALL believers.

You may read this and not believe that Christians can live in this way together with each other.  I can affirm by experience that they can, but only when their focus is learning together how to live by Christ’s indwelling life.  But that, of course, is another story for another day.

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”       (Luke 22:19-20 ESV)

As Jesus shared the bread and the cup with his disciples, He established a new covenant.  But what is a covenant? Truly, a lifetime could be spent researching the Jewish practice of covenants and the references to this throughout the Scriptures.

In Jewish culture, a covenant was a binding agreement in which the two parties essentially become one flesh, as in a marriage covenant.  Individual rights are forfeited.  The two now live for each other as one person.  Jewish covenant was not entered into lightly because of the cost involved by both parties.

The covenant between Jonathan, the son of King Saul, and David is recorded in First Samuel.

As soon as he [David] had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.     (1 Samuel 18:1-5 ESV)

There is much to be seen in this act of love between Jonathan and David. The knitting of their souls translated literally says “The soul of Jonathan bound itself to the soul of David.” The NIV renders this as “became one in spirit with”.  It goes on to say that Jonathan loved David as his own soul.

The phrase “made a covenant” is literally “cut a covenant” and implies the mingling of their blood.

Jonathan further demonstrates his love for David as he gives David his royal robe.  David is symbolically “putting on” Jonathan, with his identity and royalty now covering him.  In essence, the two have become one person.

In giving David his armor and weapons, Jonathan pledges to protect David.  Jonathan defended David, even before his own father.  To attack either party in a covenant is to attack both parties, as they are now essentially one person.

This new relationship now means that they will no longer live for themselves, but that they will live for each other.  There is a surrender of self-interest.  Jonathan even gives up his right to be king!

The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians that we put on spiritual royal garments when we enter into the everlasting covenant of Jesus Christ:

for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.     (Galatians 3:26-29 ESV)

In Philippians, Paul writes:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.     (Philippians 2:5-8 ESV)

Jesus Christ “put on” humanity so we could “put on” divinity.  Jesus switched the robes!

Because Christ switched the robes, we can now fellowship with Him personally and spiritually as He now dwells in us. He has cut a covenant with us, becoming a blood brother with us before His Father. He has clothed us in royal robes and has given us a new identity!

As Paul wrote, let us put on the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus.

The brothers in the church I am part of wanted to do something for the sisters in our church. As we talked about it in a brothers’ meeting, we decided to create a restaurant atmosphere and serve them a fancy dinner. We rented a local hall and started assigning all the brothers different things to take care of. As time drew closer, we gave the sisters an invitation for the evening, with a time, location, and instructions to dress up (we didn’t give any details as to what was going to happen).

On the night of the event, the brothers worked together all afternoon to transform the hall into a small restarurant. We arranged a long table with fancy tablecloths, floating candles, flower petals, candies, and place settings. Some brothers worked in the kitchen preparing salmon and chicken dishes, salads, appetizers, and other food for the event. We designated waiters, food preparers, servers, valets, and entertainment.  We all dressed up and wore ties.

We requested that all the sisters meet together at a sister’s house and then carpool over to the dinner. We gave them directions and put out balloons to guide them to the hall. As the sisters arrived, they were greeted by our valets, then welcomed to The Agape House by the host. Waiters showed them to round tables that were set up with drinks as a place to talk until all the sisters arrived. Carefully chosen music set the mood.

Later, the sisters were seated and appetizers were served. The waiters announced the menu options and took orders as brothers in the kitchen prepared plates. A game was prepared in which the sisters had to look at a few facts about each brother and figure out which one was false. After dessert, the brothers read a letter that was written as Christ speaking to each sister in turn. We then said a few last words to the sisters and gave them the rest of the evening to do whatever they wanted.

The brothers stayed behind to clean up the hall and return it to its original form. I was amazed at how the night unfolded. Each brother jumped in to do his part and serve the sisters. At one point, a sister asked one of the brothers serving them whose idea a particular detail was. The brother responded that the credit went to all of us because we all act together as one mind. This night was a beautiful picture of that reality in Christ. And, yes, the sisters were blown away!

In our community, we gather in smaller groups each month and share the Lord’s Supper together. Usually someone bakes some actual unlevened bread, and we have some wine or grape juice to share. We share the Lord’s Supper together as a meal. (We do this together with the whole church, too, but less frequently.)

To be honest, when we first started these meals together, they were a bit awkward. Many of us were used to partaking of communion formally in a church building with a priest or pastor leading everyone in what to do. But the beauty of organic church is that we are all priests, and we all now share the responsibility of ministering the life of Christ when we gather together.

As I thought about this awkwardness as we were heading to share the Lord’s Supper with some brothers and sisters, I recalled Jesus’ words when He shared the first New Covenant meal with His disciples: “Do this in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19) I wondered if it could really be that simple. What if we just spent our time together remembering Christ?

We met together with the other saints and began to share with each other while the food was prepared. A brother brought a couple of guests with him that hadn’t been exposed to organic church before. Later, as we sat down to dinner, the awkwardness settled in as we all stared at the bread.

I took a piece, and shared that we could spend our dinner time remembering Christ, the things He has done for us, revealed to us, or recalling stories from the Scriptures (and trying to tell them from memory). We then had a wonderful time reflecting on many great things that the Lord has done for us. As the dinner came to an end, we passed the cup and remembered the new covenant by which Christ lives inside of us. It was very beautiful and it flowed naturally.

Our dinner was nothing fancy. But we remembered our Lord anew and grew closer to Him and to each other. The two guests were intrigued and they came to a church meeting with us after dinner. I can’t think of a better outcome for a Lord’s Supper!