According to Barna Groups 2007 Church Technology report only 26% of churches are using social networking technology to connect the people in their churches. I’m sure those numbers are rising. Even so, it’s interesting to see the effect the internet has taken on our culture. We are officially in a global economy. Fifteen years ago to have a conversation with a believer in Uganda, Africa would have been almost impossible. Now, I can become friends with him on Facebook and establish a friendship. The next move of God in the earth is to connect local churches to work together through networks.
The early church was not an explosion of isolated, autonomous house churches. If you notice, you’ll see that they clearly felt a connection to the larger body of Christ, spread out together throughout the region. They often came together in rented facilities or the temple courts, to worship, fellowship and hear from church leaders. Mark Wilson from The Underground Church network in Chicago calls this the “Macro” layer of the church. The “Macro” layer of the church is the interconnected family of faith within a city or a region. Consider this your “extended family” in Christ. Notice, in the Bible we don’t see Paul addressing letters to particular churches, we see him addressing his apostolic letters to cities. (“the church in Corinth” or “the church in Ephesus”)
Unfortunately, the church in a particular region is no longer interconnected. It is sad, but Sunday morning is STILL the most segregated, separated day of the week in our communities. We are guilty. We are guilty of building our own kingdoms, instead of building the kingdom of the King. We are guilty of not paying attention to the “one another’s” in Scripture and instead selfishly trying to make a name for ourselves and our ministries. Instead of working together to change the spiritual atmosphere of our regions, we work against each other in fear of losing sheep, control and position. Some statistics might even lead us to believe that there is a better chance that Muslims, Jews and other religions would attend joint meetings and work together on social service projects more often than evangelical Christian churches. It’s about time we remove the spirit of competition from our lives and replace it with a spirit of unity, where God will command the blessing. These connections can be accomplished by relational, apostolic networks.
We can accomplish much more together than we can by ourselves.
Apostolic networks should have three different characteristics. They must be regional, relational and rely on Christ alone.
Regional
There are several layers to a network. The internet has given us access to what is happening around the world. The local church is still important. “Family” life is created within the context of a small, local community of believers. However, churches need to begin to think in terms of changing their city or region. Apostolic networks should be established regionally to allow access for close proximity of ministry, resources and worship. What good is it to have access to Eph. 4 ministry gifts that only visit 2 times a year because they are based in another part of the world? How could an apostle truly lay any foundation in people’s lives only coming in contact with the people occasionally? Regional ministry will bring greater impact and definition to local church life.
Relational
Apostolic networks should be more than just “ministry organizations” that one signs up for and pays a fee. These networks should be without financial cost and should be based upon relationships that are built upon fellowship, love and supernatural joining. It seems popular now days to be a part of these so called “apostolic networks” where the members will “tithe” to a senior apostle or pay some kind of membership fee for access to teaching, ministry or materials. From a distance, it seems like a religious multi-level marketing scheme and we should stay away from models like this. It’s important to know those that labor among you and that they are willing to build friendship, relationship and willing to be as servants in God’s house.
Rely on Jesus Christ alone
Networks should be centered on the supremacy of Jesus Christ as Lord and head of His church. Too often people seem to rally around a pet doctrine or denominational tie. This seems the most difficult of the three because we are asking people to lay aside disputable matters that can be discussed, debated and made plain later. I understand there is difference of opinion about what are considered essentials of the faith, but doctrine should not be a series of bricks that we build to keep people out, but instead more like springs on a coil that are flexible to bounce on.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. I would encourage you to consider being a part of a regional, relational team or network of people if you aren’t already that has its focus totally upon Jesus Christ alone. God did not call you to become isolated and disjointed to the Body of Christ; He has called you to be fitly joined together with one another, with each joint supplying the next.
