The Tide Has Gone Out
The tide has already gone out. A tsunami is coming, and it cannot be stopped. Will you stare at the ocean floor collecting shells, or will you heed the warning NOW?!
“Beneath One Roof” is a movement ֹof people who look at the world and the church and realize a tsunami of global change is coming with the power to wipe away corroded traditional forms and structures of a world hell-bent on returning to Babel. Our country has changed. Darkness covers the globe.
We can see that the world has changed, but we wonder why others don’t see it.
Why don’t others recognize the warning of an outgoing tide that precedes the coming danger? What spiritual blindness covers the minds and hearts of those who cannot see the light of the gospel, the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4)?
You recognize that time is short. You know the church must change now and make authentic disciples among the next generations. Time is short. Do these statements resonate with you? We are looking for movement allies—for people who read these last paragraphs and do not need an explanation.
This tsunami of change will sweep away traditional church forms and structures, which were once taken for granted as immutable and immovable. Social, political, and economic mountains will shake, but most significantly, the church will see changes it may not have experienced since the Great Reformation—much-needed change and the beginning of true revival.
The church must return to making disciples outside its walls, not filling stadiums for once-in-a-decade events. Disciples are not mass-produced but handcrafted by the Spirit, one life at a time. They are found daily in homes, schools, and workplaces, not simply in church services. They will follow Jesus one at a time until billions have heard the good news of Jesus’ salvation and choose to be rescued by Him or washed out to sea.
How do we prepare for what is to come?
The church is called to make disciples, not members. We must refocus on Jesus and His Word, by His Spirit, and in love. We need more organism and less organization. We need more Antioch and less Rome, more gatherings and fewer campuses, more shepherds and fewer career professionals, more truth of the Word, and less cultural posturing. There is little time left to prepare a new generation of believers to lead others to higher ground.
What Is “Beneath One Roof?”
“Beneath one Roof” is a movement, not an organization. It’s people who follow Jesus and not a brand or a marketing campaign. It has no members, no headquarters, no non-profit status, no budget, no income, and no expenses. It’s the church—people gathered and scattered. It’s an organism, not an organization.
The church exists as a showcase for God’s love. Its clear mission is to make disciples who wholeheartedly and faithfully follow Jesus. The mission is simple and straightforward, but it is not easy: Make disciples of all nations and teach them to obey what Jesus has commanded (Mat. 28:18-20).
Over the centuries, we have complicated this mission and built cathedrals and sprawling organizations. We have lost the Kingdom of God and, instead, have labored to make Rome a better city.
Clusters Multiply
When people engage Scripture together, they encounter God through His Word by His Spirit in an environment of authentic Christian love. We call these communities “Clusters” because, for too long, the term “church” has been misunderstood as a building, denomination, creed, or place to go on Sunday mornings—or to connect online.
“Clusters” are reminiscent of Jesus presenting Himself as the “true vine” and His people as branches nourished by remaining in Him (John 15).
The healthy church multiplies. It’s part of its DNA to multiply. Though we have spent untold resources on church growth and church planting programs, which may be necessary for church organizations to grow, Jesus has given His church all it needs to multiply by making obedient disciples. A healthy church multiplies sometimes despite our best techniques.
Multiplication happens because God makes it happen. The Father calls, the Son saves, and the Spirit convicts. I wonder if we have spent so much effort marketing the church because it is not healthy. It is the healthy church that multiplies.
“Clusters” multiply as long as they remain connected to Christ. Our roles are to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3), proclaim the Gospel, and teach disciples what it means to follow Jesus obediently (Mat. 28:18-20). We maintain an environment of intentional and irresistible love. We function through their spiritual gifts as the body builds up in love (Eph. 4:16).
And guess what? The church multiplies one disciple at a time outside the walls and, in this way, can reach billions of people in different places, cultures, and situations. The size of our parking lot no longer matters. Mandatory church shutdowns are impossible. We do not plant new church congregations; the Spirit of Jesus does that. We each do our part, and Jesus builds His church (Matthew 16:18).
Beneath One Roof is not a new way of doing church but an old, first-century way of being the church.
Superspreader Church
Beneath One Roof is a superspreader movement, similar to the church at Antioch (Acts 11), that sent Paul and his companions on three missionary journeys to reach the Gentiles and upend the world.
Significantly, this early movement happened within the context of persecution—the kind of persecution where people were beaten, tortured, or killed. Persecution is the best remedy for a comatose church and the fastest track to authentic revival.
The early church multiplied during intense periods of spiritual warfare. The devil challenged every step. The intensity of such demonic pushback measures the church’s effectiveness in carrying out its mission and is a good “proximity metric” that indicates the efficacy of disciple-making. It is peculiar that the enemy is often aware of our successes or failures before the church becomes aware of its effectiveness in disciple-making.
Networks of Networks
The Lord is building networks of networks of believers all around the world. These are small Clusters or congregations organically linked together, often meeting informally in homes and public spaces.
They function by their spiritual gifts, mentor the next generation of shepherds and leader-believers, and reach the next generation who intuitively understand “church without walls.” These are Spirit-led, decentralized, but interconnected organic networks. They are neither denominations nor associations.
Surveys indicate that the younger generations are leaving the church. They are not leaving Jesus, and though you may not be able to find them in traditional church congregations, they are gathering beyond the walls and the reach of typical surveys.
Such organic, relationally rich decentralization would never work if not for the reality that believers are indwelled and led by the Holy Spirit, who directs and coordinates everything. The Father calls. The Son saves. And the Spirit does far more than we could ever imagine, given that we do not even know how to pray as we ought (Romans 8:26)! Our greatest challenge is usually getting out of His way.
No Time to Waste
If you have read this far, you know there is no time to waste. This window of opportunity the Lord is giving will be short—just read the end of the Book!
If you are interested in being the church and taking action, we suggest you look at our primer on Bible Clusters at BibleClusters.org or check out the Clusters Quick Start. You can also follow us and meet others who are part of this movement—even if they don’t have a “Beneath One Roof” banner.
And if I may cut right to the heart of the matter—PRAY. Now. Ask the Lord to engage you with others as you gather together. It’s Jesus and His Word, by His Spirit and prayer, wrapped in grace and love. The Lord will lead you to others. We are many, gathering and growing every day outside the walls.