The critical element, according to Jesus, in planting a new church is a person (or people) that he calls “a man of peace”.  Lk 10:5

1.  In Lk 10, Jesus is instructing his followers in his method of birthing new churches. And, as we know, the critical factor in the success/health of any new house church is the leader(s). So, when Jesus gives the instruction to find “a man (or woman) of peace” (Lk 10:5), he is telling them to find the person(s) that God has prepared to be the leader of this new church. His goal is a new healthy, vibrant “family of Jesus” (church).

2. In Hebrew, the word “shalom” is a bigger word than our word “peace”. It carries the meaning of “wholeness and health”. So, a person of peace is a person of health in every sense of the word. A “house of peace” describes an extended family where God’s shalom has been at work to produce relationships (husband and wife, parents and children, etc.) characterized by health and wholeness.

3. In the NT, a house church was understood to be a new spiritual family. (“When the Church Was a Family” by Hellerman is quite good on this.) It follows that leaders of this new family would naturally function as spiritual moms and dads. (See 1 Tim. 4:4-5. Also, 1 Thes 2, 1 Cor 4, etc.)

4. Some people While the woman at the well and the demoniac certainly had experienced a dramatic life transformation, it doesn’t follow that they were ready to function as leaders (spiritual parents) to the new family (church). In my experience, those who have been demonized and who have been in serial sexual relationships are deeply damaged. While an encounter with Jesus may completely turn them around, the healing of the damage takes time.

5. Cornelius, on the other hand, had been functioning as a healthy leader/parent of his household/oikos for some time. In Acts 10:2 The Message: He was a thoroughly good man. He had led everyone in his house to live worshipfully before God, was always helping people in need, and had the habit of prayer.” I believe that’s the kind of person Jesus had in mind.

6. Perhaps more than any other book, Roger Gehring’s “House Church and Mission” has shaped my thinking about the nature of NT house churches and church planting. Here are a few key quotes: “A well-functioning household (oikos) can only exist upon the foundation of a healthy, intact family. Hence a house church could only be established if a well-functioning family existed. P. 240.

“This means that the leadership structures of the house church did not have to be created out of nothing. “The church in the house came with its leadership so to speak ‘built in’.”…The householders were clearly predestined to carry out pastoral tasks.” p. 194.

7. So, Ross Rohde, I think you can see why I think it is critical that we understand what the terms “man of peace” and “house of peace” meant to Jesus and his original audience in Lk 10. And, that we not read our own meaning back into those into those terms (ie, eisegesis). When we understand what Jesus had in mind, we will know better what to pray for (10:2b) and who to look for.