What is a cell church?

What is a cell church? What does a cell church attempt to accomplish and how is it different from other churches?

Home groups in church history

If we go back in history, we see that through the third century after Christ the church came together mainly in houses. If you consider the size of homes in that time, it means that most of these groups were limited to 10 to 15 people. From time to time the home groups came together with other home groups in the city for a larger gathering (see Romans 16:23). After the third century, most Christians were no longer persecuted and were permitted to buy their own church buildings. Whereas the Christians originally gathered in houses and from time to time with the whole church, they now began to gather only in large groups in church buildings. 

At the same time we see a shift in who was allowed to fulfill various roles during the gatherings. In the homes, every Christian was able to actively participate and use his or her gifts and talents, but in the larger gatherings it was mostly the 'better qualified'  who did the work.   The division between 'clergy' and 'lay'  became a reality. 

Churches today

In many churches today you still can see this division. The pastor, preacher or priest  does all the work and the rest of the people watch and listen. It is sometimes said of churches that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. In reality, every believer is meant to be used by God to encourage, help and build other up. 

Church Fellowships in the New Testament

In the New Testament we see a different type of church.  In Acts 2:42-47 we see the first church in action. They 'devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.'  They came together daily in the temple, they ate with each other in homes and celebrated the Lord's Supper. If anyone had a need, other believers assisted in meeting that need. When we look at all the 'one another's' (all the verse in the Bible that command us to help one another, build one another up, to encourage one another, etc.) then we see a church that is by and for the people. Every believer was used by God to encourage, help, build up, or if necesary, to reprove others.

The Friendship Evangelical Cell Church

This is the type of church that a cell church wants to be. For this reason, all the members of a cell church are, first of all, members of a  small group, in which they come together to attempt to live as "New Testament Christians".  In a large gathering it is difficult, if not impossible, to "love your neighbor as yourself."  In order to love your neighbor, you need to know them better than just seeing the back side of their head on a Sunday morning.

Just as is true of the human body, the life of the church takes place in cells. That is the place where fellowship, discipleship and reaching out to the lost take place. Cell groups are the building blocks of the church. The cell church is a church made up of cell groups, instead of a church with cell groups. 

By that we do not mean that the cell church has thrown the large Sunday services overboard. Exactly the opposite is true. The large gatherings are the places where the cell groups of the church come together for joint worship and teaching. 

However, what is important for you to realize is that 'church' is no longer something that 'takes place in a building' but rather at home in your living room. The question is no longer what a cell group can do for the church, but what the church can do for the cell group. The large gatherings are not the end goal in themselves, but rather exist in order to serve the cell groups. That is true because the cell groups are the church! They are the place where Christian fellowship and friendship are lived out; where teaching is applied and where ministry, building up, discipleship and evangelism are a lifestyle.