Joel Comiskey and the book The Relational Disciple

This guy is one of my Cell Church gurus – and he is good.

You should read his book or books.

He has got something important to say:

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Cell Church: Reformation or Church growth?

Is cell church more of a reformation or church growth strategy in western nations, like North America? I'm growing in my conviction that it is a reformation strategy, at least in North America.  The Triune God is challenging our individualism through cell ministry.

Scripture, not culture, must dictate how we live and behave. God loves community and desires His church to live in love and unity. Cells promote this.

My thinking is radically shifting from the question, "How can we make cell church work in North America?"  to  "How can we obey Scripture that tells us to live in community?"  There's a huge difference between the two convictions. One is based on pragmatism, the other on Scripture. 

North American is a nation of rugged individualists that glories in the lone ranger and the person who picks himself up by the bootstraps.

Yet, God is not an individualist. He is a God who lives in perfect unity with the other members of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Jesus demonstrated that unity while on earth, never doing anything that wasn't perfectly pleasing to the Father and Spirit (John 5:19-30). He then told His disciples to walk in that same unity, saying that their best witness to an unbelieving world would be the love they showed one to another (John 17: 6-19).

The early church was born in the upper room of a house while the disciples were in one-accord (Acts 1:13). After the Spirit descended, the disciples broke bread from house to house and came together to hear the apostle's teaching (Acts 2:42-46).

Unity, oneness, and the one-anothers. This is the focus of the New Testament. Yet, this emphasis goes against the grain of individualism, which says,  "I want to do it my way, and I demand my rights." 

Individualists often drift from church to church and prefer anonymity, rather than accountability and commitment. Cell ministry asks people to come together in a group setting, share transparently, live and deal with conflict, love one another, and then to reach out to a world without Jesus.

I believe individualistic cultures need cell ministry more than group-oriented cultures (e.g., Latin America, Asia, etc.), but it does take harder work to make it happen in the western world.  

All that I've written here is expounded in my book, The Relational Disciple (check out this youtube video; I'm excitedly talking about the contents of the book, and you can see it in my hands). Jon Hamilton, who  has read most of my books, said to me, "Joel, The Relational Disciple is your most important book."  I agree. I'm selling this book for 50% off the cover price for these next two weeks because I believe its theme is critical.  

What are your thoughts on cell church as a reformation strategy? If you would like to comment, please do so HERE.

Joel Comiskey