SimpleChurch Journal aka House Church Blog

Chapter 5: Reaching Out--An Outbreak of Love

From "The Simple/House Church Revolution" Book.  The entire book can still be downloaded here.

REACH  DISCIPLE  GATHER  EMPOWER  MULTIPLY

The first principle we see for God’s going, missional people is the intention to reach out to others. This is not a project nor a program, but a way of life that involves an outbreak of Jesus’ love through us toward others.

As people are learning to walk with Jesus into the world, these types of “love-outbreaks” are happening everywhere:

• A woman visits the jail week after week to love, comfort, care for, cry with, and encourage the female prisoners.
• Several families move into a lower socio-economic neighborhood in order to identify with their needs and problems.
• A mother, whose own supply of rice is limited, regularly shares her food with a widowed neighbor.
• A young couple moves to Mongolia in order to learn the language and live among a tribal people.
• A family takes in several foster children that are in need of a home and caring family.
• A young teacher takes a position in an inner city school in order to love the most un-loveable students.
• Several young students regularly spend time looking for people with needs in the neighborhoods and marketplaces near their campus where they share in practical ways and prayer, expecting miraculous interventions.

Christians are re-discovering that the heart of the Jesus-way-of-life is not church-attendance and a smug attitude toward others, rather it is truly embodying the love of Christ—anywhere and everywhere—in a world that is desperately in need of this love. It is a type of reaching out that is marked by authentic concern for people.

God Is Passionate About His Purposes

God’s commitment to reaching lost people is described dramatically in Luke 15 where Jesus describes the parables of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son. He uses these descriptions of losing something of value to help us connect with God’s heart to pursue those who are separated from him. Having lost a child (temporarily at an amusement park—a brief but terrifying experience), I have some sense of the intense focus that takes place while searching for one’s own child. Until I found my missing daughter, I had only one thing on my mind and heart: seek and find her!

In the same way, God’s heart and focus is consumed with his desire to find the lost. He has created us to join him in his missional passion and, deep inside each of us, is the sense that by joining him we become part of the great, epoch drama of eternity—reclaiming God’s own children forever.

We Reach and Love Others In Our Own Way

At the same time, we learn that He made us uniquely in the way that we join him in his mission. Most Christians will need to shake off old thoughts and ideas around institutional outreach in order to discover their own true passions and gifts and how they have been uniquely designed to partner dynamically with God and his purposes.

We have often been taught to think that outreach has to do with canned programs. This is the most misunderstood aspect of the Christian life. God has made each of us so uniquely that no one can follow another’s style or way to reach and love others. The real dynamic of the Christian life happens as we connect our special longings, gifts, abilities, and callings with the passionate purposes of our Creator.

The following are some principles to help in the process of reaching and blessing others.

Pray and Listen

Jesus said he only did what he saw the Father doing (John 5:19). The most important discipline for following Jesus dynamically is learning to listen to his voice. He wants to lead us personally into the adventure of partnering with him, so we want to develop our ability to hear his nudges and leadings.

Know Whom You are Called To

When someone enquired about visiting Mother Teresa to help with her work among the poor of India, she encouraged the person to find their own Calcutta. In other words, each of us must discover who it is that God has put on our heart to love and reach out to. This makes it personal and meaningful.

As we listen to God’s voice, we will begin to sense that we have a particular heart for a particular group, or several groups, of people. Jesus, in his human experience, was called to the people living in Israel. He knew his focus. In the same way, God has given a focus to each of us, and we will find great joy in our love-life towards others if we accept whom we are called to.

The most obvious focus for us may be those we are already living among: our family (church always begins at home), our extended family, our neighbors, our co-workers, and our friends. At the same time, we may have a particular concern for a nearby people group: homeless, youth, prisoners, children, elderly, etc. It may well be that God has put this group on our heart because we are specifically called to them. Finally, we may know the stirring for a people-group that does not live near us, i.e., the unreached of Africa or the inner city poor.

Knowing who we are called to and being willing to position our lives so that we can readily love those whom God has given us to love will allow us to begin expressing the passions and gifts that we were made for.

Live Among Them

Once we hear God’s voice and recognize those whom we are called to, it becomes natural to live among them. Perhaps we already are. But this requires that we give up our “separateness” and join them where they are. One of the greatest forms of love, as exemplified by Jesus, is to fully join with people and be among them. If the people that God has put on our hearts congregate in bars, then so do we. If they congregate in jails, then we obviously have to meet them where they are. If they live in areas of poverty, then we consider how we are meant to identify with them. If they are “people of our community” then we become involved in our community.

This may involve a literal move if we are called to live among a group of people that we are not already near. Or, it may simply mean taking the time to involve ourselves fully with people we are already living among: extended family, neighbors, or co-workers.

For too long, Christians have lived apart—serving and worshiping in club settings behind closed doors. As someone put it, we now have to learn how to live in the smoking sections.

This is neither a method nor a program, rather it is a way of life that is born out of love for those whom God has called us to. He will lead us as our heart for people grips us.

Love Genuinely

Although Jesus said that Christians would be known by their love, this is almost universally not the case today. We are more often known for our self-righteousness and judgmental attitudes. Furthermore, most un-Christians believe we care more about “making converts” than about them as people. I heard an atheist share that, having made friends with a Christian, he felt the need to ask him, “Am I truly your friend or am I just your project?” This suggests that people may have the perception that Christians tend to look at them as “objects to convert” rather than people that they care deeply about.

Yet, the joy that Jesus has called us to, is to is to simply love others. That’s it. No strings attached. When we recognize the people that God has called us to (including those we are already living among) then we are free to unleash creative ways to just love others genuinely and generously.

Discover Your Own Gifts and Passions

As we live among those we are called to, listening to God’s voice, loving those we are with, we can begin to uncover our own passions and spiritual gifts. We become more and more dynamic as our unique abilities are unleashed outside of the church walls. Many of us have been trained to use our spiritual gifts inside church buildings. How much more powerful to see those same gifts (and more) unleashed as we live a life that is engaging a lost world.

God’s heart is that all will know him. Our joy is to find our unique and created way to join him in that passion.

Reaching out to others and using our own gifts and abilities to love them reflects the very life Jesus lived.

Chapter 6: Disciplemaking Is For Everyone

REACH  DISCIPLE  GATHER  EMPOWER  MULTIPLY

”The clergy-laity distinction removed personal discipleship from the hands of common Christians (Dennis McCallum).”

The greatest joy of the Christian life is being used by God to bring whole-life, spiritual transformation to another. We have removed much of this joy by not understanding that true “disciple-making” is about everyday life and everyday relationships—and that it is for everyone. By making it a program that is part of our churches or a process that people are specially trained to do, we are holding back Christians from stepping into their true destinies and their greatest sense of purpose. By presenting disciple-making as something we “do” to others, as opposed to something that God does (which we can invite people into), we become performance-oriented and manipulative rather than contagious as we naturally influence others toward their own relationship with God.

Disciple-making flows naturally out of the relationships we are building through reaching and loving people.

Some Basics to Consider

1. Disciple-making takes place in every relationship we are in. Because we live our lives in an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ and his purposes, every relationship we are in influences people. This happens with or without our awareness or intentionality. It happens whether or not they are Christians. It happens whether or not there is even any interest on their part. It just happens because of who we are. Therefore, disciple-making is taking place in all of the following relationships:

• The young man, a neighbor, who works at the local grocery store and with whom I exchanged some friendly comments the other day.
• The friend I am meeting with to read a book on prayer. He is interested in deepening his spiritual life although he is not particularly interested in Jesus or the Bible at this point.
• The not-yet Christian who keeps coming to a house church gathering and particularly enjoys the time spent reading and discussing Scripture.
• The Christian whom I have invited into an intentional mentoring relationship because he wants to grow in his relationship with God and in the use of his spiritual gifts and influence.

Disciple-making takes place naturally, all the time, out of spending time with people—eating, sharing, playing, or whatever we do. It is the outflow of reaching and loving those we are called to.

2. Disciple-making becomes intentional, at some point, because of our love for others. Because we, ourselves, are in pursuit of God and his purposes, our love for others will cause us to naturally invite them into a more intentional pursuit alongside of us. They will remain our friends regardless of how they respond. Nevertheless, this intentional invitation is an important way that we demonstrate our concern for others.

3. We can only work where God is working. It is not our job to cause someone else to have an interest in God. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. What we can do is recognize when God is at work in someone’s life and see the opportunity to love them by purposefully inviting them to join us in a deeper pursuit of God.

4. We do not have to be the expert or know everything to disciple others. When we more intentionally invite people to join us in our pursuit of God, we do not have to have the answers. We want people to become disciples/followers of Jesus, not of us. Therefore, we point them to the same tools that work for us: prayer (talking to God) and the word of God (which they can learn from even before believing fully in it). We model our use of these two tools and invite them to come alongside of us and learn about God, from God, and through God. Once we fully grasp and can trust in this process, we really do discover that natural disciple-making is easy and for everyone.

The following are some guidelines that will help in the process of discipling.

The Disciple-Making Process

1. Reach out in love. Disciple-making starts with the type of reaching out discussed in the last chapter. The moment we are in relationship with and loving others, we are influencing them by our life and lifestyle.

2. Pray. We pray for people we care about because we want God’s best for them. Other-centered prayer and intercession are as natural as breathing when we are intimate with God and connected to his passion and purposes. They are the catalysts for God’s transforming activity to be released into the lives of others.

Jesus’ authority (all authority in heaven and in earth) is given to us as we are willing to join him in his mission. We step into that authority by praying for those God has put into our lives and expecting that he will be working.

3. Invite. As mentioned, there comes a time in many of our relationships where we are seeing God at work in some way, and we feel compelled to invite them to join us in a more intentional pursuit of God. This can happen in many diverse ways. But the key is that we are willing to risk, at the right time, this critical step. It is a step of love. It is a step about caring for others. It is a step in which we know that we are going to continue to extend ourselves to them in love and friendship regardless of how they respond.

4. Let God’s word work. Since we are not discipling people to follow us, they can begin using God’s word to learn from and follow. My experience is that people do not have to fully accept the Bible as God’s word to begin learning from it and accepting its truth. Sometimes we think that people will be put off by the Bible. But this is not my experience. If we are not “preaching” texts at them, but inviting them to look and learn for themselves, I find that there is a general openness to discovering for themselves what the Bible might have for them.

The Bible, indeed, is far more powerful than we realize. It has the power to transform hearts and lives, all by itself, through the energizing of God’s Spirit. Often, we just need to invite people to encounter it and let God work.

Ultimately, our goal is to see people become self-feeders. We do not want them dependent on us or other teachers, but on God and his word. Therefore, we like to use self-discovery studies (inductive-type) where people are reading, discovering, and applying truths for themselves (see Appendix A).

5. Invite them to reach others immediately. It is possible for someone who is in the early stages of learning to follow Jesus to invite others to do the same with him or her. There is no reason to wait before helping someone see the benefits of reaching and loving others. It is even possible that some who are not yet “converted and baptized” can lead others in an inductive-type study of Scripture and toward a deeper pursuit of God.

Alan Hirsch calls this “action-learning discipleship.” He describes it this way:

As soon as they are called he [Jesus] takes the disciples on an adventurous journey of mission, ministry, and learning. Straightaway they are involved in proclaiming the kingdom of God, serving the poor, healing, and casting out demons. It is active and direct disciple making in the context of mission. And all great people movements are the same. Even the newest convert is engaged in mission from the start; even he or she can become a spiritual hero.

6. When it is time, baptize publicly. We have found that baptism is a great opportunity for people to invite their family and friends to hear their story and celebrate in what God has done. When we suggest this to new Christians, they simply accept it and do it. We throw a “baptism party,” celebrate with food, and are excited to have more un-Christians than Christians present.

7. Build a deeper relationship. Discipleship continues to be about relationship more than anything else. If the person is becoming more and more self-feeding, then our role is to simply support them as they learn to walk out their life as a Jesus-follower. By vulnerably opening our lives to this person, we create a relationship space where they can be honest with us about all that they are going through and feeling. This will allow us to be more caring and helpful as we walk alongside them.

8. Teach a little (if you must), but model and empower more. There can be a place for some teaching of basic Christian principles if you are oriented that way. It is not necessary. God’s word will accomplish this. But if you must teach some basics, that can be beneficial. However, it is important to keep in mind that our goal is to move them into a place of self-responsibility for their spiritual life. Therefore we want to move from teaching them, to modeling for them how to learn for themselves, to fully empowering them as disciple-makers of others as quickly as possible.

9. Keep reproduction in mind. Everything about our disciple-making process is designed to help others begin the reaching/discipling process themselves as soon as possible. This facilitates natural multiplication and the exponential growth of God’s kingdom as he intends.

Finally, participatory gatherings, the topic of the next chapter, provide an additional tool for the process of discipleship to continue and for all to become fully functioning members of Christ’s body.

Being the Missional Church

What some call the "missional movement" resonates with my own longings for the simple/house church movement.

There is a 56-minute video here of Michael Frost speaking on "Being the Missional Church."  He addresses 1. thinking differently about God; 2. thinking differently about the church; and, 3. thinking differently about the world.  His message, in my opinion, is worth taking the time to hear.

Chapter 2: Defining "Church" (Webster Has It Wrong)

From "The Simple/House Church Revolution" Book.  The entire book can still be downloaded here.

Church according to Miriam-Webster’s online dictionary:

1: a building for public and especially Christian worship
2: the clergy or officialdom of a religious body
3: a body or organization of religious believers: as a: the whole body of Christians b: denomination <the Presbyterian church> c: congregation
 4: a public divine worship <goes to church every Sunday>

Webster defines church according to the way this word is used today. I was taught this same definition as a little boy when I would put my hands together and recite the rhyme: “Here is the church, and here is the steeple; open the door and here are all the people.”

Jesus, however, introduced the term “church” with a very different meaning in mind. He used a word “ekklesia” that simply described a group or assembly of people. This is the original definition of the word. He described “church” as those people who were following Him—people walking in allegiance to him. People. His followers. Nothing more than that.

Jesus did not spend much time describing how to organize his people together or how to do meetings. Rather, his focus was on a lifestyle of loving others and obeying Him: “Go into all the world…” “Let your light shine…” “Do what you see the Father doing…” “Love one another…” Church, as defined by Jesus, was simply his followers living life for and with him.

Over the years, however, the word “church” began to include the many structures and forms that we added to the original meaning:

• Public meeting places (buildings or storefronts)
• Organizations of believers who get together to be led by a worship team and preached to by a pastor
• Denominations that we join

But, as John Eldredge reminds us:

Church is not a building. Church is not an event that takes place on Sundays. I know, it's how we've come to think of it. ‘I go to First Baptist.’ ‘We are members of St. Luke's.’ ‘Is it time to go to church?’ Much to our surprise, that is not how the Bible uses the term. Not at all.

No. Not at all. Church is God’s people—those who are choosing to live life with Jesus… 24/7. That is it. Nothing more.

But don’t God’s people gather together? Yes. We do see gatherings take place in Scripture. Many gatherings. Most often informal and simple. Normally in homes (Romans 16:5). Everyone participated (1 Corinthians 14:26). They functioned as spiritual families that cared deeply for one another (Romans 12:10). Yet the focus of the church (God’s people) was a lifestyle of Jesus-following, rather than organizing events, attending programs, or joining organizations.

Perhaps the best way to describe the church of the New Testament is as small, vibrant, caring families of believers who are loving others and reproducing themselves into every corner of the world.

The Things I Learned About Church From Bible College

I attended a Bible College as a brand new Christian hungry to live a life useful to God. I loved reading the stories of the disciples following Jesus, traveling with him, ministering with him, doing miracles alongside of Jesus as he poured out his life for others. I thought it was fantastic. I enjoyed studying the book of Acts and seeing God’s people going throughout the world, filled by the Spirit, walking in God’s purposes and power. But, as a subtext, I was also taught to “do church” in Bible college. It was not a specific class. There was no text book. I simply learned to follow “how it was done” by those around me.  Frankly, the way I learned to “do church” did not look much at all like the lives of the early disciples that I was studying and wanting to be like.

Nevertheless, by the time I felt called to pastor a church, I no longer questioned how church was done. We started with a building and a core group of Christians. We invited, and planned, and organized, and put together Sunday events. We built more buildings and started more services to invite people to. We developed programs for young and old, men and women, married and divorced. We hired staff and we organized ministry teams.

Without realizing it, we were following human traditions for church life that were developed over the centuries: cathedrals, pulpit-led services, pews, order-of-service, etc. All of these things may be useful in their place (God can use anything), but they have no place in the basic definition of “church.”

Sadly, as the church has adopted more and more traditions and become more and more institutionalized, it has become largely ineffective in its impact on earth. In the western world, where we have created the best organizational church systems that exist, Christianity is declining. In contrast, in parts of India and China where the expression of church is largely organic, simple, and fluid, the church is flourishing.

Our longing is to see the church restored to its essence of life and vitality so that she becomes the full expression of Christ’s power and love on earth. This is the great hope of God’s kingdom coming to influence, save, and redeem a lost planet. Priscilla Shirer made this comment:

In the first century in Palestine Christianity was a community of believers. Then Christianity moved to Greece and became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome and became an institution. Then it moved to Europe and became a culture. And then it moved to America and became a business. We need to get back to being a healthy, vibrant community of true followers of Jesus.

Being Church

My Filipino friend, Molong Nacua, wrote an excellent article entitled “Being Church” that reminds us of the true meaning of “church:”

Church is where Christ lives, not the place where we meet. It is Christ-empowered people, a kingdom of priests for the purpose of winning against the works of the devil and establishing God's Kingdom (1 Cor. 3:17; Matt. 18:19; Ex. 19:6)… Christianity is not about doing church, but being the church.  Church is not some place to go to participate in, but it is about being who you are in Christ and thus experiencing His real life in you. Your Christianity was never defined by attending a particular church. It is defined by Christ in you. In other words, you are a Christian 24/7, not because you participate in a two-hour worship service, but because Christ lives in you every minute of every day.

Chapter 3: Unleashing the "Going" Church

From "The Simple/House Church Revolution" Book.  The entire book can still be downloaded here.  I previously posted much of this chapter, so if it sounds familiar, that's why.

The church is meant to be the expression of Christ’s life and power on earth. This can only take place as:

• We move out of “comfy Christianity” into the daring adventure of following Jesus.
• We replace our “come-structures” with “go-structures”
• We recapture the “going” lifestyle

Comfy Christianity

Shane Claiborne writes: “Being a Christian is about choosing Jesus and deciding to do something incredibly daring with your life.”

In my former life as a pastor, I was a dispenser of comfortable Christianity. I took on the job of creating a “conducive environment” for worship. What this really meant was making a worship event cushy enough that people would want to come and then come back: comfortable seats, coffee, pleasing worship music, and a sermon that holds attention. Unfortunately, regularly attending a comfortable worship event has become the primary marker of what it means to be a Christian today.

In fact, we often replace the miraculous adventure of following Jesus with religious activity. Did I go to church this week? Check it off the list. Did I read my Bible? Check it. Did I pray? Check it. Done! I have completed my Christian activities and am, therefore, a “good Christian.” Religion itself becomes an easy replacement for a daring life lived in partnership with Jesus.

Ironically, Jesus drew a startling line in the sand in response to someone who wanted to follow him: "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head (Matthew 18:20).” Jesus was not a dispenser of comfortable Christianity. Quite the opposite. He taught that followers would live a lifestyle of stepping outside of comfort zones in order to join him in the adventure of extending the life of the kingdom.

Replacing “Come-Structures” with “Go-Structures”

Part of our comfy Christianity has been to focus most of our Christian activities within the four-walls where our friends and other Christians hang out. The result is that we reach out to others by inviting them to come join us where we are.

My fellow-blogger, Hamo, comments on this:

If Jesus were alive today and his mission was still to seek out and save the lost what might he do?
Would he hire a building, set up a sound system, develop a music team, drama team, and then do local letterbox drops advising people that they could come and be part of his church on Sunday?
Was it ever Jesus’ intention that non Christians should seek us and desire to attend our worship events? Or didn’t he say quite clearly that it was his calling, and now ours to seek out and save the lost; to go to their world and enculturate the gospel there. Little Bo Peep evangelism (leave ‘em alone and they’ll come home) is fast running out of steam…

Recapturing the “Going” Church

The church’s true nature is best seen by the life that Jesus modeled: he took the life of the kingdom everywhere that he went—out into the world that he was ministering to. In the process of going, he healed, loved, delivered, and shared good news.

God’s heart is missional at the core as he seeks to recover his children who are lost to him. Jesus came to “seek and to save the lost.” This is not a sidebar. God, because of his love, is a caring, reaching God.

The church is becoming unleashed as Christians are re-discover the daring adventure of “going” and taking the presence (love, life, and power) of God everywhere that they are going. Jesus called us to a lifestyle that would take us out of our comfort zone and into the adventure of miraculous living as we extend ourselves to extend his kingdom.

As Jim Rutz wrote, “The bleachers are beginning to empty as 707 million action-oriented Christians start to pour out onto the playing field and discover the joy and challenge of every-member ministry.”

But What About the Gathering?

In conferences and conversations all over the world about simple/house church, it seems that people usually want to learn first about “how to gather.” This is natural since we have thought about “church” as being mostly about events and gatherings. The problem is that though we can replace larger events and gatherings with smaller ones, our motivation may still be to hang out with our Christian friends and, again, seek to reach others by inviting them to join us.

By focusing first on the gathering we miss the point that Jesus’ focus was first on the going way of life. If gatherings develop that support a dynamic, outward, supernatural lifestyle, then the gatherings will be powerful and relevant. However, if gatherings become a replacement for the true adventure of Jesus-following (which can easily happen), then we will again regress into a comfortable Christianity with little life in it.

Stepping Out Makes Life Worth Living

Most of the truly defining moments of our lives take place because we are willing to step out and trust that God has more for us. Rarely do we find new life by holding back or retreating into our familiar, comfort zones. If this entire book accomplishes nothing else, I hope it will inspire someone to listen and follow a very adventurous God into some new horizons.

Pete Greig wrote:

Christ is not a passive Savior sitting in some cosmic comfy chair. Our God is dynamic; He is a creative force, the ultimate visionary, always on the move, and if we want to know Him and be with Him, we will have to follow Him wherever he is going next.

Let’s look at some principles that can guide us forward.

Chapter 4: A Process of Five Principle

From "The Simple/House Church Revolution" Book.  The entire book can still be downloaded here.

“Jesus didn’t leave us with a system he left us with his Spirit. He gave us his Spirit as a guide instead of a map.” Wayne Jacobsen

The risk of writing any book on “church” or “Jesus’ way of life” is that we end up looking for formulas and methods rather than allowing God to divinely lead us.

Therefore, I want to stress that the next five chapters are only meant to provide some broad principles—not guidelines, not structures, not formulas, and not methods. The principles can provide some general illumination on the lifestyle Jesus calls us to, but must not be a replacement for listening and following him.

That said, the simple/house church way of life that we see in scripture involves the following five principles:

1. Reach. Reaching out. Loving others with no strings attached. An “outbreak of love.”
2. Disciple. Disciple-making that everyone can do. Influencing others relationally and contagiously.
3. Gather. Experiencing dynamic, participatory body-life with others.
4. Empower. Empowering others. A truly upside down understanding of leading (facilitating) decentralized systems.
5. Multiply. Reproducing yourself. Becoming seed that brings forth a multiplied harvest.

De-Programming These Terms

The most important part of the next five chapters is not just the principles themselves but the need to unlearn our institutional mindset around these principles and re-connecting with their true, life-giving meaning.

Most of us have learned a programmed approach to reaching, discipling, gathering, leading, and reproducing. The result is that we often end up in a “duty” mode: we are serving God for the wrong reasons, reaching out to others with the wrong motivations, and turning people into projects with the wrong results.

Institutions create programs that lead to projects and feel-good piety but are often not integrated into the fabric of who we are and our God-created abilities to love and bless other people. The result is that others often feel manipulated, and we become uncomfortable with ourselves and the programs we have been taught to implement.

In contrast, as we look at these principles, we want to explore their real meaning in the context of the adventure of following Jesus and truly loving others with no strings attached. We do want to see others influenced, but we trust that this can take place naturally, contagiously, and relationally.