“It is often forgotten that the Christianity which conquered the Roman Empire was essentially a home centered movement.” -Robert and Julia Banks

“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? On hearing this, Jesus said, It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” -Matt 9:10-12

We need to restore the role of the household that we see in the ministry of Jesus and the expansion of the early church. As Michael Green has said, “One of the most important methods of spreading the gospel in antiquity was by the use of homes.” (Michael Green, Evangelism in the Early Church, p223)

The home in the New Testament was the center of spiritual activity. Even a casual reading of the New Testament reveals that the home was a haven for prayer, healing, Biblical teaching, breaking of bread, hospitality, ministry to the sick, and happy, genuine relationships. In short, it was a place to display the truth, justice, mercy, and goodness of God.

It is clear from Scripture that the home was designed by God to be a place of ministry fueled by the compassion of Christ for broken and lost people. In the Gospels, we constantly see Jesus ministering in homes. On one particular occasion, the hunger for the ministry of Jesus in a home was so sought after that some men tore off the roof to lower their friend so that he could be near Jesus. Jesus had compassion on him and healed him on the spot.

Contrast this with ministry in the modern church. For the most part, “ministry” has been transported to the church building where programs are run by paid staff. The assumption of most pastors and pastoral staff members (and the faithful church members) is that it is not “ministry” unless it happens inside the church building. This forces church people out of their homes and into the church buildings. It creates a mentality in the mind of the average church member which goes like this: “Church ministry happens ‘out there’ (in the church building), not ‘in here’, (in my home).”

This view of ministry is not Biblical. Here are some places in the New Testament where the words “house” or “household” are used. Each one gives us a sense of the vital place of ministry that God has given to the home.

Relationships of gladness, sincerity, praising God, and evangelism

Acts 2:46-47 “...They broke bread together from house to house and ate together with glad and sincere hearts praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added daily to their number those who were being saved.”

Principle: Believers were experiencing happy times together in their homes with genuine, honest, and open relationships with a focus on God, and the result was salvation of the lost.

Love for unbelievers in their households

Matt 9:10-13 “While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? On hearing this, Jesus said, It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Principle: Visiting the house of an unbeliever gives opportunity to demonstrate the love of God. No uptight Christians need apply.

Healing in the home

Matt 8:14-15 “When Jesus came to Peter’s house he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him.”

Principle: Sensitivity to the sick in the house you are visiting can result in their healing.

Prayer for sick people while you are in their houses

Luke 7:6,10 “...He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. ...Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.”

Principle: Pray for the people in the houses in your neighborhood that need healing, no matter how lost they seem on the outside.

Bringing unbelieving friends into the atmospheres of grace in the household

Luke 7:36-38 “Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as when stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears...”

Principle: Bringing sinners into your home to rub shoulders with righteous people exposes them to the mercy of God. Arrange for your unbelieving friends to join with your Christian friends in your household.

The apostles were making stops in homes for teaching

Acts 5:41-42 “So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Principle: The home is a great place for the teaching of your family and neighbors by Godly visitors. Insure that teachers frequent your home and make it an ordinary part of your home life.

Unbelievers praying in their households

Acts 10:30-32 and Acts 11:114 “Cornelius answered: Four days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter...” 11:13-14 “He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved...”

Principle: Prayer at home opens the household to the salvation of Jesus Christ. Encourage unbelievers to pray in their households.

Believers spoke “the Word of the Lord” in unbelievers households.

Acts 16:31-34 “They replied, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved — you and your household. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God — he and his whole family.”

Principle: Faithful messengers who keep their focus on God in times of crisis can be used to transform whole families. Hence we should be speaking the Word of the Lord when we are in the home.

Your home could serve to establish a church in your community

Romans 16:5 — “...Greet the church in his house...”

Principle: Your home can be a place for the meeting of the church. Churches met primarily in homes in the first three centuries of church history. Your home can become a church where believers meet for prayer and instruction. Do you think God could use your home to launch a church in your community?”

False teachers infiltrate households

Titus 1:11 “They must be silenced because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach — and that for the sake of dishonest gain.”

Principle: The teaching that goes on in a household can ruin it. And, don’t forget that the TV brings a host of false teachers into your home. Be aware of false teaching that ruins households and take action.

Eat with unbelievers in their homes and focus on the important things, and know the difference between essential and non essential

I Corinthians 10:27 “If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.”

Principle: Eating meals with unbelievers in their homes should give them a sense of the winsome grace of God. No overly uptight Christians allowed.

The Lord should direct the agenda of the household

Psalm 127:1-2 “Unless the Lord builds the house its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for he grants sleep to those he loves.”

Principle: Unless you work with Him to develop your household, it is a labor in vain. The Lord should be the source of everything that happens in the household. Also, too much work will take you away from your task of working with the Lord to build your house.

The term “hospitality” is key in understanding how to use your home as a center of evangelism. Romans 12:13, I Peter 4:9, Hebrews 13:1-2, I Timothy 3:2, I Timothy 5:10.

In the early church, the work of evangelism and equipping was regularly staged in the context of a home. The home was the cradle of the church. In contrast, in the modern church, the ministry of the home has been transported to the church facility. In fact, most pastors do not think you are involved in “ministry” unless it is on their turf. Ministry in the home has been devalued at the expense of the family, fragmenting ministries of the local churches.

I have had many people tell me that the New Testament does not say much about home life. Obviously, this is a misnomer. As the Scriptures clearly teach, the home is a fantastic ministry center. Let’s recover the church to be a true household of faith for the purpose of equipping and evangelism.