Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Its Not About House Church

As I sat at a table sharing a meal with men and women whom God has raised up as leaders in what are commonly called house churches, one man turned to me and asked, “How did you discover house church?” I paused for a minute and then answered his question. As I heard each of the others describe their own journeys I realized that I had been asked and had answered the wrong question.

I am very interested in house church or simple church, and may very well become involved in starting one. However, house church is not the message God has given me. I have not had a revelation of house church, nor do I champion simple church as the best model of church. In fact, I’ve become bored with the whole discussion about models of doing church. The message God gave me is valid regardless of the model or package that we put the church into.

So why am I so interested in house church? Because the men and women I’ve found who have heard the same message I have are the very ones that are starting house churches. Because the message I received has been rejected by the pastor of our local church without any appeal to scripture. Because God has told us that it is time for us to go, but is leading us not to find a new church home but to allow him to create a new one from the harvest. Because simple church offers the greatest hope for us to avoid building a kingdom unto ourselves and hence recreate the very thing God is calling us out of.

So what is the message I received? What is the message that has so shaken me and transformed my spiritual worldview? Here is my best attempt to compress it down to a 30 second sound bite.

Simply Be. To be what God is transforming me into. To yield to his touch and hold the form. To rest in him, be content in him, end striving, to hear his voice and be ready and willing to obey – even if I don’t see a big picture and I don’t take ownership of what God is having me do.

To see the Kingdom of God increase and our own kingdoms decrease. To see the reality of the Kingdom of God manifested not in doctrinal beliefs, Biblical knowledge or activities done in his name, but in who and what we are and are becoming in Christ. To disciple new believers instead of just teaching or preaching to them. To equip the body of Christ for ministry instead of making them dependent on our ministry. To cast off the shackles of religious obligation in order to embrace a life of walking in the spirit by faith. To honor the Word of God by letting it speak to us and mold us instead of speaking for it and molding it. To Simply Be.