Lydia's Household

In Acts 16:6-10, the Holy Spirit kept Paul and his companions from entering into the province of Asia and Bithynia. They then traveled to Troas by passing by Mysia. A vision appeared to Paul at night: “A man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’” Luke (the author as well as Paul’s companion) concluded that God called them to preach the gospel to the Macedonians (16:10).

They traveled from place to place and finally arrived at Philippi, “which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony” (16:12), where they met a business woman named Lydia. As Paul was teaching the women on the Sabbath day, “the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul” (16:14). The gospel of Jesus Christ was preached and expounded by Paul. The Lord opened Lydia’s heart to understand it. The doctrine of the gospel needs to be taught by women and men in accompany with the work of the Spirit. It illustrates that Lydia’s mind was at work in hearing the gospel with faith. In commenting on this verse, John Calvin wrote, “Wherefore, we see that not faith alone, but all understanding and knowledge of spiritual things, is the peculiar gift of God, and that the ministers do no good by teaching and speaking unless the inward calling of God be thereunto added.”[1] One of the means that the Spirit works through is faithful teaching of the gospel. Both faith and mind are at work here.

Lydia got baptized. So did her household. She urged them, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay” (16:15). Her true faith led her to open up her house and invite them to stay. This household became the seed of church planting in Philippi. This woman was the first-fruit of the gospel in Philippi; her household became the gathering place through which the Spirit planted the church in Philippi.

The church as an institution is foreign to the New Testament. In the New Testament, the church is always a people of God. It is not about a place, but a people called out by God. In the early church, Christians gathered together in different households and scattered from them. These households were the churches in the first century.

The other day Sue and I revisited the concept of ministry and asked, “What kind of ministry do we want to go into in the future? What kind of ministry are we suitable for? What kind of ministry does my ministry style and personality fit into? How do we make disciples of all nations in a practical way?” We came up with an idea that perhaps it is a right direction for us to start different house churches and make disciples through household gatherings in the future. Can we have the Lord’s Supper in Lydia’s household? Can we baptize people in a household? Can we sing, pray, and worship corporately in a household? Can we have Sunday school in a household?

The church is a church because of a people, not a place where the building is registered as a church. How does the New Testament view the church? What is the function and nature of the church?

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[1] John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, vol. 2. 500^th Anniversary Edition (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2009), p. 103.