Body Ministry & Cross Pollination:
the Answer
by Lynn Ridenhour
July 17, 2001
David’s thesis in the form of a question is
valid—"…...but what about the larger picture?"
For individualized cells do have a way of turning renegade & inward.
They do have the propensity to self-destruct. Prevention is the cure. Two
phrases come to mind: 1) body ministry, and 2) cross pollination.
To continue with our analogies of metaphor—cell churches. Of course,
individual cell churches (or house churches) must lead & connect to some
form of larger organization. Somehow & somewhere there must be a
"Complete Man." And I think Ephesians chapter four supplies us with
the answer to David’s concern(s):
"And he gave some [to be] apostles, and some, prophets, and some,
evangelists, and some, pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we
all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a perfect [or complete] man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ; that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro,
and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and
cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the
truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even
Christ, FROM WHOM THE WHOLE BODY FITLY JOINED TOGETHER AND COMPACTED BY THAT
WHICH EVERY JOINT SUPPLIETH [bold mine] according to the effectual working in
the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of
itself in love." --Ephesians 4:11-16
Notice the reference to a "perfect" or "complete man."
It is indeed God’s plan for his people to strive towards completion and
fulness. That striving includes our concern for structure & form and
styles of worship—as well as striving for personal holiness.
Rather than give a theological expose (God forbid!) of what I think the
above verses are saying, let me share what I think they mean by anecdote and
illustration. I beg your indulgence. We have a vision here in Zion regarding
the Missionary Outreach Center. In a nutshell, here it is: cell churches,
body ministry, and cross pollination.
- Cell Churches
We begin with individual cells. Or cell churches. I prefer the term
"house churches." We started with one—ours. My wife and I
initially opened up our home with the intention of seeing where it would lead.
We called a few of our friends and came together for our first gathering. Had
about 6 show up. And had a great time. Everyone left about 11 pm. Started at
7:30.
One of our friends, Tim & Barb Davis, then said they would like to
offer their home. Now we have two cells. Then Roy & Gina Browne offers
their home. That’s three cells. Sam & Charlene Kimple offer theirs. Four
cells. Scott & Allyson Norwood open up their home. That’s five. It is my
utmost conviction that twelve months from now we will have somewhere between
30 to 50 "cell groups" around town. Maybe more.
We only allow enough people in a cell church to fill a living room. Which
usually is six to eight couples at the most. Twelve people will pretty much
fill a living room. If more come, then we do the "Baptist
thing"—divide & multiply. Create another house church. We purposely
keep all meetings small enough to 1) keep it casual & informal &
relational, and 2) keep it small enough so the saints can learn to move in the
gifts of the Spirit. You can’t learn that in a large gathering. Our
guidelines are found in I Corinthians 14:26:
"How is it then, brethren, when ye come together, every one of you
hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an
interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying."
This is the time to learn to sit, to learn to visit, learn to be relaxed in
His presence, to learn to participate, learn to have no agenda, learn to
relate, learn to fail and make mistakes in attempting to step out in hearing
the voice of God. House church is our classroom with the Holy Spirit our
teacher. And you’re among friends, so relax. It’s ok to screw up. It’s a
schoolroom. But no one’s graded.
If I may indulge. For instance, in our last two gatherings, in two separate
homes, both evenings we had a powerful manifestation of the Spirit. In both
meetings an RLDS saint ended up on the floor overcome by the Spirit. They laid
there for about twenty minutes in rapturous joy. That was the very first time
RLDS folks had witnessed the manifest power of His presence to that extent.
The small group accepted the manifestation. Why? We had time to discuss what
happened. We’re learning the ways of the Spirit, in other words. And taking
the time to raise our comfort zones. In a small group no one is left behind.
Two things are accomplished in our cell groups. The saints over time learn
1) the act of ministering, and 2) the discovery and function of ministries.
Again, an illustration: I have a minor degree in horticulture. While in
college I enrolled in more than a few Botany Science classes. I took Botany, I
had a class in "soils," I took landscaping. And many others. My
point is—each class was divided into two parts: lecture and practicum or
lab. We studied and in lab we practiced what we studied.
Cell groups are a perfect practicum for the saints. It’s lab time,
saints! We experiment on the Word, if you please. It’s in cell groups that
we learn how to hear the voice of the Spirit; that we practice giving a
message in tongues; we experiment with the anointing. In other words, we learn
to do ministry. The cell group is the laboratory of the Holy Spirit
where we discover our gifts and callings of God. We discover our place in the
Body of Christ. And mistakes are a given. I made a lot of mistakes in my lab
times. We have one rule: no one is put down.
As a matter of observation, most Latter-day saints attend lectures week
after week, but never lab! Sunday sacrament services are lectures. Gospel
doctrine class is a lecture. Conference talks are lectures. There’s very
little, if any, lab time for the majority of (R)LDS saints. Ever.
Cell group gatherings are also the time & place to discover ministry
functions. It is out of faithful & consistent gathering in cell groups
that inevitably the five-fold ministry gifts come forth; i.e., apostles,
prophets, evangelists, pastors & teachers. Out of these small groups come
our greatest leaders.
Anyway, back to our analogy—cells. We now have five cell groups here in
Zion. And growing. Which brings us to point number two….
2) Body Ministry
Once a month all the cell groups come together for one large body ministry.
We call our once-a-month gatherings "Celebrations." Let’s
celebrate the corporate Body of Christ! Small gatherings lead to large
gatherings. Cells connect with the body. The concept is biblical and
demonstrated in the Book of Acts.
Where Did the Early Christians Meet?
They met in two places:
- In large gatherings—on Solomon’s Porch (Acts 3:11; 5:12 and
- In small gatherings—in homes (Rom.16:5; I Cor.16:19).
They met in homes for the purpose of Body Ministry. To allow the gifts
of the Spirit to function and to allow individual callings &
ministries to come forth. They met on Solomon’s Porch to receive updates
and reports from traveling ministries, such as Paul’s ministry. To
receive teaching & instruction.
And those are still the two main purposes for the saints’
gathering—for edification and instruction. It takes small & large
gatherings to accomplish both. Without the diversity [edification &
instruction], the Spirit is hindered.
Stop & think. It is in small groups that we learn the art of praise
& worship. It is in a small group that we learn to flow with the
Spirit. There is no bulletin, no time frame, hopefully no agenda other
than to follow the Spirit’s promptings. The Holy Spirit is indeed the
Presiding Elder, the Controlling Bishop. On a personal note, I love the
act (and art) of praise & worship. I’m not talking about singing a
song or hymn or chorus. I’m referring to entering in. Really
entering into an atmosphere charged with love of worship. And by no means
am I alluding to "working something up."
People really learn to enter into the Holy of Holies in small groups.
This atmosphere carries over into larger groups. As true worship &
praise occurs in cell groups, it oftentimes spills over into Body ministry
as we meet once a month as a corporte body. Praising saints who are free
and at liberty to express themselves in small gatherings will typically
express themselves in larger gatherings. Healthy cells create a healthy
body!
Truly, there is such a spiritual phenomenon as Body Ministry. That’s
when healthy cells come together in corporate expression. Body Ministry, I
believe, is one of the two answers to David’s legitimate concerns.
Corporate Body Ministry prevents individual cell groups from turning
inward and thus becoming renegade cells. Cell groups must periodically
meet. Let’s turn our attention to…
- Cross Pollination
Another solution to David’s concern.
Out of the cell groups come gifted saints and functional ministries; i.e.,
apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists and teachers. These gifted saints and
functional ministries come together periodically (we do once a month) for
corporate Body Ministry. We come together for the perfecting of the saints and
for the work of the ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ
(Eph.4:12). Our vision is: to aspire to and achieve the Complete Man (verse
13).
Out of Body Ministry comes cross pollination. Out of the once a month
gatherings will come forth ministries that are sent forth to the universal
Body of Christ. That’s cross pollination when one local ministry team joins
in ministry with another local ministry team to take the gospel to the
world. Note the progression of maturity: individual discovery of spiritual
gifts and individual ministries (cell groups) to the individual cell
groups coming together once a month to become the Body of Christ (Body
Ministry) to the "whole body" sending forth ministry teams
joined together with other local ministry teams (cross pollination).
Cell groups to body ministry to cross pollination.
As ministry teams joined together with other ministry teams we go forth and
take the blessed gospel to the nations. What a plan! That’s
cross-pollination. Paul alludes to cross-pollinating team ministries in verse
16. I placed it in bold print:
"….FROM WHOM THE WHOLE BODY FITLY JOINED TOGETHER AND COMPACTED BY
THAT WHICH EVERY JOINT SUPPLIETH [bold mine] according to the effectual
working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the
edifying of itself in love."
Note the term "joint." A joint is not a member. A joint is not a
hand or leg or foot or arm. A joint connects the members. It’s the joints
(connected ministries) in the endtime that will explode the gospel to the
nations. Joints do supply the body! Joints are ministry teams! It’s the
ministry teams joined with other ministry teams that will have the power of
God resting upon them in these coming days ahead.
Sadly, generally speaking, the Church is far from accepting and sanctioning
ministry teams. Local church leadership is bound up and dominated by
controlling evil spirits. Sadly, as my wife and I ministered among the LDS
brethren, we witnessed ugly spirits of control and domination among the
majority of leadership. They keep their sheep in extreme bondage.
More than a few Protestant ministers are also ruled by controlling evil
spirits as well. They too lord over their flock; neither do they share their
people with the Body of Christ.. On the other hand, there is a remnant of
shepherds who are beginning to see the vision! And who have been set free
from controlling spirits. They refuse to dominate any longer. These will see
the power of God in these last days.
In summary, I believe David’s concerns are cancelled by body ministry and
by the cross-pollination of local ministries. Corporate body ministry and
cross-pollination supply the needed form & structure for outreach and for
world evangelism in these last days. Happily, we started out in the living
room and ended up taking the gospel to the world by ministry teams. (As a side
note, I have a brother here in Zion who owns an 85-foot yacht who stands
ready & willing to take our first ministry team around the world to
minister this great restoration gospel.)
Anyway, that’s our vision here in Zion. As more & more individual
saints become gifted with spiritual power and come together for body ministry,
and as more local shepherds, Bishops, and Pastors, lose their fear of
protectionism and their desire for dominance among the sheep, His glory will
fall.
Lord, let it begin in Zion.
Lynn
