Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 8
Amon asked for a church (“even in the Islamic world, we have to discuss our faith to keep it alive”), and Arnold’s counsel was essentially: begin sharing with family and friends and let a church emerge; how does that reflect early Christian assumptions about church formation, discipleship, and ordinary believers as the engine of growth—and what modern church-centered assumptions does it unsettle?
Another way to ask: When Amon asked for a church, Arnold told him to start sharing with family and friends and let a church grow from that. How does that match how the early church started, and how does it challenge modern ideas that church growth must be led by big programs or professionals?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Arnold’s counsel assumes church can begin as a discussion-and-discipleship community formed through ordinary believers sharing with their networks, especially where no established church exists. It unsettles the idea that church growth must start with a formal institution, clergy presence, or a ready-made congregation.
- Amon’s need: “I need a church…that I can discuss my faith with,” and he adds that discussion is necessary “to keep it alive.”
- Arnold says there was basically no place to send him: “There was not…a Christian church even,” except “a little Lutheran something…somewhere north,” which Arnold says he “wouldn’t have sent him to.”
- Arnold’s solution: “start sharing your faith with your family and your friends and create a church group to be able to discuss your…faith with.”
- Amon embraces it: “Well, that’s a great idea,” and the result is multiplication: “him leading his friends who began to lead their friends…in the way of Christ.”
- The story emphasizes organic spread rather than imported structure, arising from one convert’s relationships.