Searching for a decent Church can be tough. Especially in the western world where there can be a Church building on every corner of a town, and yet no followers of Jesus inside. Even worse, when there is lots of heresy and apostasy going on, which is damaging and unhelpful.
The House Church movement is really exciting as more and more people exit the pagan Church system, and go seeking for the authentic, simple and more organic New Testament Church experience.
This does NOT mean every House Church is of God, or even following the Bible at all.
Sadly, some House Churches carry the same religious industry baggage, but downsized into a lounge room.
I’ve tried to scratch together a checklist of topics that you can discuss and observe with any Church, it’s leaders and it’s members, to get a sense of what these people believe, how they operate and what “success” to them looks like.
In meeting with and talking to many people exploring House Church options, it can be difficult to get the entire theme list expressed verbally in a single conversation, so I thought a written list will help in your journey to find the best place where God wants to plant you. Keep praying and looking and you WILL find a great place to grow.
These topics below are great to DISCUSS and look for PRACTICAL EVIDENCE (ACTIONS not just words) to consider how close to the NT and Apostolic Doctrines a Church is travelling.
1. Teaching of Basic Christian Doctrines ? – These are the Virgin Birth of Jesus, His miraculous ministry on earth, His false arrest, torture and murder, His resurrection with evidence to 500+ eyewitnesses, His ascension from Mount of Olives and His committed return to the same place. The inerrancy of the Bible. The Church as His expression on earth. The empowerment of His believers to Heal the Sick and Cast out Demons. The Great Commission to Make-Disciples and Disciple Nations.
2. Claim to Follow NT and correction via the NT ? Do they actually claim to follow and adhere to the NT ? All scripture is given for reproof and training in Righteousness. Are they referring to other texts, materials or extra-biblical Doctrines ?
3. Church is a Building or a people ? Is there evidence of the pagan practice of referring to the building as a “holy place” ? We are called a Royal Priesthood and a Holy Nation.
4. Hierarchical Leadership Style & Organisational Structure ? Is there a hierarchy of Leadership in place ? There needs to be some form of leadership and facilitation, but is there evidence of the pagan practice of the separation of professional ministry employees/positions versus congregation ? All believers are to submit to each other. All believers are to serve in fully functional ministry (or be training to perform all ministry).
5. Believers Only Meetings ? NT Churches admitted believers only into gatherings ? Is this Church embracing the pagan practice of opening up meetings to the public (admitting unbelievers, wolves, witches, warlocks, etc) ? Conversion happens outside the group for safety and unity reasons.
6. Screening Strangers, Unbelievers and Wolves ? Does the Church group screen you to ask who you are ? What your faith walk is like ? Where are you at in your faith journey ? What do you believe ? If they are not checking you, then no one around you has been checked, so you have no idea who you are really fellowshipping with. Chaos will ensue.
7. Re-Checking Your Foundations ? When planning to join a new fellowship it is important that they check YOUR foundations. You are checking them out which is good. But THEY need to thoroughly check you out also so they know WHERE you are in your faith walk. Paul was a “foundation checker”. This helps the Church understand if you need more coaching or if you can be admitted into the group.
8. Who teaches ? The NT says ALL teach. You are to teach at every meeting. If you are not teaching the Church should be training you and encouraging you to teach. This is what the gatherings are all about.
9. Who does pastoring ? The NT says ALL pastor. In fact the term “Pastor” does not even exist in the NT. You are to pastor, or be trained by the Church to pastor. If you are not pastoring the Church should be training you and encouraging you to pastor. This is what the gatherings are all about.
10. Who does the praying and prophesying? All do. If you are not prophesying the Church should be training you and encouraging you to prophesy. This is what the gatherings are all about.
11. Who does the evangelism and outreach ? All do. If you are not evangelising the Church should be training you and encouraging you to effectively share the Gospel, your testimony and evangelise. This is what the gatherings are all about.
12. Who leads ? Is there a leader ? There MUST be a leader. Leadership is a gift from God. However, the leaders are NOT immune from sin and failure or to be somehow separated from the group. They are still submitted to the group for their own safety and sanctification. Many leaders adopt the pagan practice of NICOLAITANES and segregate themselves from the group… creating an artificial divide between the leaders and the rest of the congregation. Jesus speaks specially to this in the Book of Revelation and says twice that he HATES it, and will attack it with the “Sword of my mouth” (being the testimony of His followers on earth). Equally having NO leaders is bad as well. In a healthy Church and Church Network, you will find a plurality of Elders. Elders are the ONLY leaders who were acknowledged as “Shepherds” in the NT.
8. Purpose of Gatherings ? Why gather ? What is the purpose of getting together ?? This is simple. Jesus set us a great commission in Matt 28. We are all to gather, train, learn, pray worship, sing, teach, prophesy, etc and eat together… then GO OUT (EVANGELISE) into the world and convert the lost (HARVEST) and bring them back to the Church (STOREHOUSE).
9. Gospel Presentation ? Do you know the Gospel ? Can you present the Gospel ? Does this group present the Gospel to you ? Do they train you to effectively present the Gospel ? Most pagan organisations claiming to be Churches don’t walk in the Gospel, don’t teach the Gospel or train people in presenting the Gospel. This is VERY important. This is a primary purpose of a NT Church.
10. Repentance ? Does the group teach repentance like Peter spoke of, or is the Gospel cheap and accessible to all with no repentance ? There no Gospel without REPENTANCE. REPENT to receive salvation, but don’t stop REPENTING as you go through the “Sanctification” process.
11. Water Baptism ? Peter said repent and be Baptised. Water Baptism is the MINIMAL entry into a group. We keep non-Water Baptised people OUTSIDE the group until they are CONVERTED.
12. Baptism of the Holy Ghost? Supernatural Gifts ? What is the Church’s position on the NT Supernatural Gifts (all of them) and the person of the Holy Spirit ? Pagan Churches will water down or cleverly remove the Holy Spirit so that Occult, Witchcraft, Jezebel and Anti-Christ Spirits can operate.
13. Who does ministry ? ALL do the ministry at EVERY meeting. Watch out for NICOLAITANES where just one leader does all the ministry. This is NOT an NT Church and Jesus speaks against this pagan practice in the Book of Revelation. Jesus says he HATES it.
14. Training and Discipling to produce Disciple-Makers ? Does the Church prepare, train and release Disciples into the marketplace ? If not, then why not ? This is the primary mission of the Church on earth. If this Church is not doing that, then what is it doing ?
15. Is Evangelism & Outreach performed at all ? Does the Church have a local, neighbourhood or city outreach plan and the training that goes with it ? Who does the Evangelism ? The Evangelist ? No, not the Evangelist. The Evangelist exists with supernatural gifts to train us all to be effective in evangelism. All perform evangelism, no exceptions. Inability to evangelise is simply a function of immaturity and lack of training.
16. What is the Mission and Purpose of this particular Church ? What does the Church say it’s mission is ? Love Jesus, Reach the Lost, Find Your Destiny, etc etc… These often miss the mark. The Church exists to fulfill the Great Commission of Making Disciples of all nations.. which means Evangelise and Train people to obey Jesus in geographical regions. Town by town, City by City, Nation by Nation. The meetings should be all about getting equipped for the mission, praying for the mission, discussing the mission and sharing the results and successes of the mission. .. and worshipping Jesus who is the Lord of the Harvest (Mission)… Nothing else.
17. Money, Generosity and Giving. Is money collected and why ? We are to be generous and have great attitude towards giving of our time, money and other resources, sharing with those in need as the Lord will instruct. All should work otherwise Paul says “they should not eat”. Unless a House Church has a city wide believer population (in the 100’s or 1000’s) and warrants full-time Leaders,then wages can be considered, otherwise like Paul the “Tentmaker” no wages should be paid. Our Church has no bank account and collects no money. It guarantees the all those in Leaderships roles are genuine.
18. Tithing by force or obligation or Coercion? Tithing doesn’t exist for believers in the NT as a rule, a law or even as an obligation. It can be taught as a revelation.. but it’s not a topic to be forced on people.
19. Performance, Pressure, Domination, Manipulation, Control and Coercion ? Be careful of the Leadership style… watch for these pagan traits.
20. Is Sexual Perversion openly permitted and unchallenged ? Jesus speaks openly about these in the Book of Revelation. It’s mandatory. Coach and admonish people in this area, and if they are unrepentant then we are instructed to put them out of the group.
21. Physical and Spiritual Safety ? Having meetings in private spaces like Homes is different in the western culture. Some people are uncomfortable. Every effort must be made by the Leadership to thoroughly screen and quality control all new people. By setting no controls, some Churches allow pedophiles, Criminals, Witches, Warlocks and False Believers into the group and they only cause chaos. Do some due diligence and keep the oddballs out until you are satisfied they are fully converted.
22. Sincerity, Love and Truthfulness ? Assess the atmosphere you are in when you arrive and during the meeting. Do the Leaders keep pointing you back to Jesus (Truth) and Word (Truth), or are they speaking about opinion, New Age Philosophies and other religious dogma ? How do the people there relate to each other ? Are they affectionate, kind and patient towards each other ? Do they respect the Leaders, but at the same time feel free to speak openly to the Leaders and bring issues or disagreement before the Leaders ?
22. Hospitality and Food and Communion ? Are people welcoming ? Hospitality is a command in the NT, it’s not an option, and if it’s lacking it needs to be developed. All NT Churches usually gather to eat together… it’s an NT pattern. Fellowship was anchored around food. God thinks that’s a good idea, so stick with that. Also, do they take “communion” together to “remember” Jesus as He instructed.
23. Character Fruit in the non-Leaders ? Carefully examine the people (the Non-Leaders) there and see what kind of language, posture and fruit is on their lips and in their heart. Are they there for Jesus or to build their own commercial businesses, political networking, their own agenda, and promote other nefarious activities ? Or are they also focused on the “mission” and living it out ?
24. Deliverance ? Does this group address, teach on and train on how to wrestle with and evict demons ? True NT Churches train and equip their members to be successful in this area of basic Spiritual Warfare, and this would also include fasting.
25. Denominationalism and Religion and non-Biblical beliefs ? What crazy or non-biblical beliefs does this group hold ? Does anything obvious emerge ? Are you able to discuss, question or challenge these non-Biblical beliefs ? Are they open to challenge and change or are they closed and defensive and unrepentant ?
26. Empowerment and release to ministry and mission ? All believers are to be trained, equipped and released into ministry as fast as possible. All believers make disciples and all disciples plant House Churches. What processes, training and approach is used to enable this…?? or is this lip service and ministry is restricted to mundane and irrelevant areas (Unrelated to Evangelism or Disciple-Making, Teaching or Pastoring) like making coffee, stacking chairs etc ?? Is ministry restricted to a few elite professionals, and hence walking in the deeds and doctrine of NICOLAITANES which Jesus says he HATES.
27. Leadership, Doctrine, Covering and Accountability ? When issues of accountability and false doctrine arise (because these issues are on foot at all times in ALL churches of all shapes)… How does the Leadership deal with these issues ? Do they dominate and just shut the conversations down, or do they embrace the discussion and reveal the answer through scripture ? Do people ask “Who is your covering ?” which is a false statement. We are given ALL authority by Jesus. Coverings are a falsehood promoted by Roman Catholicism, rolling up to the Pope. To understand this silly concept (un-biblical) keep asking “Who is their covering ?” and follow the hierarchy, and you will end up in the lap of some false Apostle who promotes this non-biblical idea. Watch out for the “Covering” lie. True Apostles and Prophets will rebuke and dismantle the false covering concept.
(c) Copyright 2022, 2025 – These are original works and the property of Martin J Spratt. All rights are reserved. Do not copy or reuse these original works without express permission from the author.