July 11, 2009
First, if you haven’t read Guy’s post (from “The M Blog“) called “How house churches get started in Guayaquil“, then go read that post now. If you haven’t read Guy’s post, then this post will probably not make much sense.
Guy’s post reveals one reason that the house church “model” will have a difficult time in the United States (and probably in other “developed” nations with “developed” churches). Notice how Guy describes the start of a new house church:
Mónica was hired to clean the house of a believer, Martha. Mónica began to open up with Martha about the problems she was having at home with the man she was living with. Martha would cry and pray with Mónica. She openly shared Christ telling her He could heal her life and home if she would just trust him. Mónica thought it too good to be true what Martha shared.
One day Mónica decided to invite Martha to come to her house to share the Gospel with her family. Martha took along Marlene, a gifted evangelist from the house church she attends. Marlene and Martha arrived at Monica’s and gathered the family together to dialogue about spiritual matters. Monica felt strongly that she should give her heart to Christ. She was certain that she would be the only one to do so. Much to her surprise, Medardo, her daughter Aneida, and her daughter’s live-in boyfriend, David, ALL gave their hearts to the Lord! From the very beginning, Medardo and David were changed dramatically by the power of Jesus working in their lives. Monica and Aneida were overcome with joy in the Lord.
Marlene, Martha and others began 45-minute weekly bus trips to disciple their new converts. Both couples decided early on that it would be best to get legally married. All four were baptized in a nearby river (see video here.)
The church that now meets in their home.
And, thus, we see the problem. You do see the problem, right?
I mean,churches in the United States would certainly be excited that one of their members (i.e. Martha) was interested in the salvation of her housekeeper (i.e. Mónica). And, churches in the United States would certainly be excited about sending someone (i.e. Marlene) to share the gospel with Mónica. And, churches in the United States would certainly celebrate with Mónica, Martha, and Marlene when Mónica accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior and commited her life to following Jesus.
But, then we run into the problem. You see, churches in the United States would not be excited about Mónica and her family starting to meet with friends and family in their own home. No, instead, for the most part, churches in the United States would want Mónica and her friends and family to make the 45 minute bus trip to meet with them.
This is the huge problem with “house church”. Actually, its a huge problem whether that new church meets in a house or not. So, perhaps the “problem” is not with the house, but with something else. What do you think?
Related posts:
I think we’ve been told our whole lives that we need to GO to church.
Steve is right, I think we view “going to church” as the pinnacle of the Christian life. If we can get them in the door and in the pew to hear what Pastor So-and-so has to say, we have really done our duty. “Going to church” becomes a goal in and of itself.
I do go to church…from my kitchen to my living room. The commute is brutal but I endure it.
I think it would be pretty dangerous to let people like Monica start a new assembly in their home so quickly after giving her life to Christ. I think it would be better to have her continue to make the bus trip to my church, and then in a few years if she still wants to do something new in her community, I’d recommend she go even further away to a Bible College that teaches the same teachings as my church for a few more years. After than it would likely be safe to have my church send her off to her community to start something new as long as they stay under the authority of my denomination.
The way Guy describes Monica doing things sounds too much like it was left to the direction of the Holy Spirit. It’s much safer if we stay in the drivers seat.
I think you’ve touched on one the tension points in the house church movement. When, if ever, should a church add people to the point of needing to split? Is it better to pursue the path of rapid multiplication knowing that many of those churches fall apart.
If a church is planted in the home of a new believer how does it survive without the support of mature Christians? As a church planter that has largely reached the “lost sheep of evangelicalism” I’d be hard pressed to put a member or a leader of a conventional church in house church leadership too quickly. The group would revert to old patterns very quickly.
With a group of new Christians I might be less apprehensive as they have no old church patterns to fall back in to. Participating in life giving fellowship isn’t particularly complicated but people come with baggage and issues that can derail God’s work in a group. Perhaps the happy medium is to offer “apostolic” coaching and guidance in the formative initial phase of the church that gathers in the new believers home.
We know Paul spent a lot of time in Corinth, but was that the exception or the standard he arrived at over time?
Alan,
Much of the traditional church has taught people to insulate their “Christian-ness” from the “secular” week. Sunday at “church” is the place for the Holy Spirit to function, and then, only within the parameters allowed by that tradition, but always under the watchful eye of the leaders.
If a believer does have a sense of purpose, as an ministering influence in their community, the hierarchy will want the “orthodox” version displayed, or NONE AT ALL.
I like Jon’s irony.
Alan,
I meant to also say that it seems that much of the house church movement is simply continuing that same traditional concept, which I mentioned.
Leighton,
You ask, “If a church is planted in the home of a new believer how does it survive without the support of mature Christians?” In this case Monica and Medardo ARE the mature Christians. They are looked up to by their entire community. People come to them for advise. Call for them to come pray over their sick. Ask them their Bible questions, etc.
You are exactly right: to bring in a leader from an outside conventional church would probably be the end to the group and to their witness in the community. Too much baggage!
The “apostolic” coaching and guidance comes from Marlene (the sister who discipled them), and from our CP team. A couple of weeks back, they had their first serious divisive issue. M&M came asking for advise. They were really torn up about what had happened. What we shared with them, though, was already being implemented. They had prayed long and hard over the matter and received direction from the Holy Spirit. Our “advise” was just confirmation that they had understood what the Spirit had said to do. The next week when we asked how things were going, they said, “all has been resolved.”
Jon,
Thank you for the comments everyone.
-Alan
Guy muse,
Thanks… if my sarcasm got it right… I don’t have much experience tho, I can only imagine things can get complicated in North American house churches like Leighton Tebay mentioned. I haven’t experience a house church (other than small group’s connected to larger assemblies), but I’ve heard that there is still the potential for an equal amount of politics and people following. So for me to say I just want to follow Christ and be lead by the Holy Spirit, it sounds nice in theory, but I don’t have a long track record of how that works out in how I fellowship with others yet.
Anyways, I really appreciate the insights here from Alan regarding how we assemble together, and appreciate learning from your experiences in Ecuador.
God bless
Here are the questions Alan.
1. Where are the biblical elders, ensuring that they have biblical church discipline, sound expository teaching and who is going to protect them from wolves?
2. Who has them spiritually covered?
3. Heresy is sure to arise in this group correct? Do we forget about the pastoral epistles? What if a woman starts teaching this congregation?
If these questions aren’t answered sufficiently then they may be a cell group or a small group but they can NEVER be a church.
Lionel,
We’re counting on your to take care of all of those things.
-Alan
Rather than focus on House Church paradigms, perhaps we would do better to examine just what the message of the gospel is. So often it is presented as something one can choose, at any time, simply by appealing to logic. Who really wants to go to Hell, anyway? I am more comforable with our lives simply so bearing the Light that folks like Monica cannot deny the truth of Jesus living in Martha. But can that work in the West? We are so disconnected. We just don’t have the chance to really reach others in our culture. Here on Maui, this is an unfortunate reality. I would LOVE to minister to a Monica, but I cannot do it alone. Nor am I going to “Get plugged in” to a four wall church. They will never be a fit for me. So I don’t really know where to turn next.
dean,
I agree with your comment completely. Our focus is not on meeting location but on the gospel and on our purpose in meeting together as the church.
My suggestion for people who are looking for community in Christ is to pray and look for people that God may bring into your life. They may be neighbors, coworkers, family, etc. Then, begin spending time with those people and helping one another grow in maturity towards Christ.
-Alan