San Diego Church

Ask any medical student "What is a cell?" and they will explain that it is the basic building block of the body.

Our bodies consist of millions and millions of cells working in unison. We cannot live without them. Within each cell is carried the DNA, the genetic coding, or "blueprint" of life itself. Through our bodies, we can reach out and touch the world around us. Otherwise, we would be disembodied spirits, unable to influence and impact our world. By nature, cells will seek to multiply themselves, reproducing after their own kind, or transitioning to fulfill different functions according to hormonal influences. What is true of the physical body is true of the body of Christ, the Church.

Spiritual DNA

We see the origins of the church began with Jesus calling "the twelve" to Him. His Master plan was to create a small intimate fellowship of disciples around Him, pouring His life - His "DNA" - into them. It was in this small "Life Cell" gathering that Jesus built relationship with them, taught and trained them, imparted authority and power, and sent them out to minister and witness. "Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and to have power to heal sicknesses and cast out demons" (Mark 3:14-15). Later, the Holy Spirit would reproduce the same kind of ministry in the lives of subsequent believers.

After Pentecost, we see the life and vigor of the Early Church are maintained by their large, corporate gatherings in the Temple, complemented with their much smaller fellowship meetings in believers' homes (Acts 2:41-7)

The apostles had a Life Cell vision

A vital church grows in Jerusalem. It is a church endued with supernatural power (Acts 2:43). The DNA of Jesus has been successfully reproduced from Christ's "twelve" to this burgeoning new church in Acts (Acts 4:13). They knew how to construct their lives upon the Word of God. They knew how to create close fellowship with each other so that no one is in need.

They knew how to reach out in revival power to the lost, restoring damaged lives. They knew how to draw the attention of both God and Man (Acts 2:47). Integral to the Holy Spirit finding a welcome place in the life of the early church was the place of the "Life Cell" gatherings.

After the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, the Church grew rapidly and spread throughout the entire known world of that time. They erected no church buildings of their own. How, then, did they achieve such explosive growth? They continued to meet in each other's homes as "Life Cells".

Throughout the history of the Church, whenever the Holy Spirit needed to move in revival power, the phenomena of Life Cells was used as the structure to convey His restorative works. A prime example is the ministry of John Wesley and his "classes" for believers. In more recent history, over the last thirty years, we see those churches throughout the world who are experiencing explosive growth are Life Cell Churches.

The church in miniature

This concept of the Life Cell has little in common with the traditional approach to house groups in many churches today. Home fellowship groups, prayer groups, special interest groups, Bible Study groups may all have something to offer, but they are not Life Cells. What is a Life Cell then? David Finnell, in his book, Life in His Body," says Life Cells are 'the organizing of the body of believers in small groups for the purpose of worship, experiencing God, ministering to one another and ministering to and evangelizing the community." In short, Life Cells do everything that "church" does - only in miniature. This means that the Life Cell is the primary unit of "church" where the real work of the church goes on.

The hallmarks of a Life Cell

What are the hallmarks of a genuine Life Cell? There are four: worship, nurture, fellowship and outreach. In worship believers will seek to be Christ-centered, coming under His authority. They will nurture each other from the Word of God, seeking to apply its teaching to their everyday lives. They will seek to fulfill Christ's command to love one another and build up each other in fellowship. However, they will go beyond considering their own needs. They will be motivated to fulfill Christ's call upon every believer: win souls and "make disciples" (Matthew 28:19). It is this last component that singles out a true Life Cell from a mere Bible study or prayer group.

Without worship, the group would be dry. Without the Word, they would become sub-Christian. Without fellowship, they would become cold. And without outreach, a Life Cell would become introspective and self-absorbed. William Temple, an Archbishop of Canterbury, once said: "A church that lives for itself dies by itself!" The Church is the only institution that exists for the benefit of its non-members.

The G12 structure with its four step Ladder of Success - win, consolidate, disciple, send - ensures that the Life Cell stays true to its purpose. The Life Cell is the primary place for winning new believers, discipling, training and releasing them to become disciple makers of others.

Cell church or traditional church?

This leads to a number of significant differences between a Life Cell church and a traditional church. A traditional church is program-centered, but a Life Cell church is people-centered. A traditional church is built on the strength of its magnificent programs. If you have bigger and better programs then you have a bigger and better church! But the church is not just about programs; it is about people. This people-centered approach can only be consistently sustained in a church where the central thrust of its ministry is reaching people who primarily relate in the small group setting and not just in the big services.

A traditional church is building-centered. That is to say, usually, this is where it all happens. The size, location and architecture of the church building then determine the activity of the church. People assume that, once the meeting is over and the building is vacated, then church is over for another week. But in a Life Cell church that cannot happen. The Life Cell church is community-centered, not building-centered because the members undertake the main work of the church in their Life Cells. The central services then become a celebration of what God has done throughout the week and a preparation for more of the same in the coming week.

The traditional church sends the signal to one and all, "Come!" But the Life Cell church's message is, "Go!" The traditional church's model of ministry calls for a passive response, "Listen", while the Life Cell church's clarion call is, "Do!" This is an active model of ministry. The people are empowered to do the ministry of Christ.

All this implies a radical change of thinking on the part of many church leaders today. We must learn the power of cell life in the body of Christ. The G12 Vision cannot work without a Life Cell church vision. This is the only way we can successfully mobilize the membership to do the work of Christ and truly function as part of His body.

We finish where we started. Like the biological cell, a Life Cell of believers will be the basic building block of the body of Christ. They will transmit the DNA of Christ. They will seek to multiply themselves, reproducing after their own kind, via the Ladder of Success. And where necessary existing groups will need to transition to different functions in order to fulfill the four fold agenda of Life Cell ministry.

"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise". (Proverbs 11:30)