SimpleChurch Journal

Pastor Worship

I think one of the saddest dysfunctions in much of our church world today is the worship of pastors or other spiritual leaders. I know this dysfunction well from both positions: worshipper and worshippee.

I ran into some wonderful friends today who attend a good, large church in the area. As so often happens when conversation turns toward church or faith, they began talking about their pastor: the wonderful sermons he has been preaching, the way he has been dealing with a personal health issue, how much they appreciate him. Don't get me wrong, I care about their pastor and I do think he's a fine Christian brother. I don't mind talking about him. It's just that subtle adoration or veneration that one hears when talking to Christians. And why does the subject of "my pastor" come up so often?

Another woman came back from a Christian conference and was having lunch with my wife. My wife came home from the lunch knowing more about the speaker ("who was so powerfully used by God") than the message that God had given him to share.

Believe me, I have experienced it myself, there is a status and reverence in the Christian world associated with "pastor" that is, in many cases, completely out of line. In the process of lifting up certain spiritual leaders, the rest of the Body of Christ, the beautiful awesome Body of Christ, is putting itself down by comparison. By insinuating that this person or that person is special, we are relegating the rest of believers to something that is a little less than special. How utterly tragic for Christ's Body!

Not only that, we are creating an unwholesome expectation upon those that we have lifted up to the rank of "special." No wonder so many pastors and leaders are burning out (my own story)... No one can live up to the regal-like stature that the Christian world seems to want their leaders to walk in.

When I hear these dear Christians talk about their pastors I just want to cry. I cry for their pastor who has to carry such a huge responsibility in order to live up to their expectations. And I to cry for these Christians who just don't get it that they are as special, as gifted (in their own way), as important, as significant, as necessary, as wonderful, as anyone else in the Body of Christ.

Is it too much to dream of God's people--the church--supporting each other, loving each other, encouraging equally the gifts in each other, and moving forward under the headship, the leadership, and the direction of the only One that truly deserves all reverence--Jesus Himself. What freedom would this bring and what possibilities might this open up if we would lift up only Him while mutually and appropriately esteeming one another.

Paradigm's Keep On Changing

Here is a comment from a friend of mine (John) that he wrote in response to my post "How Do I Explain It To My Pastor":

About 7 years ago, my pastor asked me to go on a visit with him to give a message to a "house church". We went there and worshipped awhile with these people and then my pastor proceeded to give the message. It was basically that the group was in danger "out on their own" and needed to get back into fellowship "within the church". I was in total agreement then as a new Christian. I thought these folks were simply misguided and possibly hurt in some way.

I now think completely different! I too am trying to explain to Christians about house church. Somehow God has led me, through various experiences - a journey - to where my eyes are open to the fantastic realm of "real" church - that is, being the church. I don't look for a traditional structure to "attend" nor do I try to fit in and compare doctrine and go through all that hand-wringing and dysfunction that I have seen in traditional churches. God bless them, they are part of the answer but incomplete at best. (Now I can do all my dysfunction in the relaxed confines of my own home!) Seriously, we have a long way to go, but there is a movement and it's God, not me. People's hearts are yearning for the "real" thing... not just churchianity, or Christian clubs. Only Jesus Christ can fulfill our heart's desire. Will we yet follow? Will we yet see? This thing will take courage, strength and fortitude.

New Book: The Global House Church Movement

Rad Zdero has a book out this year called "The Global House Church Movement." It's a relatively brief (140 pages) yet comprehensive look at what is happening today with house churches and house church networks.

Rad's personal experiences involve planting and coaching an emerging house church network in Canada. He offers a chapter on Biblical foundations, another chapter on historical perspectives of the house church movement, and an interesting chapter on practical considerations including how to get started, grow, multiply, and network with other churches.

Rad embraces most of the values that typify many house churches today: 24/7 shared community life, participatory gatherings, missional and reproducible churches. I like his network's slogan: "Every Church, Start a Church Every Year."

Rad is very intentional and, some might say, overly organized when it comes to leadership training and development. However, even if you feel this way, his approach is worth reading.

He makes a strong case for churches being networked within regions, cities, and nations: "So long as house churches choose isolation, independence, and inwardness, so long will they remain a mere novelty, a trend, a fad, without ever becoming a real movement that deeply impacts their city, region, or nation with the gospel of Christ."

Finally, Rad acknowledges that while the house church movement has made a significant impact in countries like China and India, it remains more of a "trend" than a "movement" in the rest of the world. Nevertheless he, like many of us, believe that the simple organic church is the key to reaching our world. It's Biblical, simple, able to saturate every neighborhood and apartment complex, easily reproduced, and led primarily by volunteers.

This is definitely a valuable read: much information and insight yet very readable.

More On Children

On the topic of children and house church I have offered this quote before from Wayne Jacobsen before. I think it's extremely insightful:

But don't our children need church activities? I'd suggest that what they need most is to be integrated into God's life through relational fellowship with other believers. 92% of children who grow up in Sunday schools with all the puppets and high-powered entertainment, leave 'church' when they leave their parents' home. Instead of filling our children with ethics and rules we need to demonstrate how to live in God's life together. Even sociologists tell us that the #1 factor in determining whether a child will thrive in society is if they have deep, personal friendships with non-relative adults. No Sunday school can fill that role. I know of one community in Australia who after 20 years of sharing God's life together as families could say that they had not lost one child to the faith as they grew into adulthood. I know I cut across the grain here, but it is far more important that our children experience real fellowship among believers rather than the bells and whistles of a slick children's program.

Learning From Children

One of the wonderful things we have discovered in our simple churches is how much we learn from children. We want our children to see themselves as just as much part of church as anyone else. Each church works differently with children but in every way we value them and embrace them.

We learn so much from having children around....

16-month-old Will, with bald-looking round head, comes running in to his mom with a whine and a scowl. She picks him up. Holds him for a moment. Feeds him a bite of a muffin. His countenance changes, he is satisfied, his needs are met and he runs out of the room with a smile and a skip. He's so easy to please. We see in this how much God wants to meet every need we have. We are reminded to turn everything over to Him and remain childlike in our daily-life faith.

Moriah comes in and tells her mom that she has a song to sing for us. We don't know what to expect but she has the charm of a bubbly 7-year-old and we encourage her to sing. She says she doesn't know what it means but proceeds to sing a beautifully simple song about God sending rain in our midst. We all know exactly what it means and we are moved to worship by it.

Hannah is about Moriah's age but very shy. She always sits properly and politely and says little. But on this particular morning she whispers to her mom that she wants to read a Scripture out loud. What a surprise! She reads to us a moving passage from the book of Job, jumps down when she's done and runs out of the room. But we have heard the word of the Lord. We had no doubts about it.

We try to pay attention everytime a baby cries and every time a child speaks. Not that our gatherings focus only on children, we have a great deal of time that's "adult." But God is at work through each and every person... It's so rewarding to learn how to tune into our children and their spiritual contributions whether intended or not.

How Do I Explain It To "My Pastor?"

I have a new friend, Brian, who recently told his pastor that God told him to leave that church and start a house church. I met this friend because he has been visiting one of our house churches to get a feel for what we are about before launching out on his own.

He has done everything he can to explain this vision to his pastor who is also a friend of mine. But, oh, how hard it is for many pastors to understand. Brian simply wants to launch out and start a house church, be the church, live for Jesus, gather with people in his neighborhood. No building, no formal "spiritual covering," no defined denomination, not even a set of bylaws.

But, you see, this just doesn't fit into our old pastoral paradigms. We can understand a church that has many small groups, or "house churches" that meet during the week and whose participants gather as one larger congregation on Sunday mornings. It's amazing how many churches now use the term "house church" to define their small groups or cell meetings. But this is simply a small group church or a cell church. Nothing new. Same old wineskin. The church and the church's control mechanisms remain at the center of the hub of these small groups as does the primary, weekly, all-church Sunday service.

Brian has done his best to explain to "his pastor" that God is asking him to do something different than this. He is not rebelling, he has not been hurt by the church... he has simply had his eyes opened to some of what God is doing today and he wants to jump in.

Brian is not looking to start another traditional church, he just wants to get out there and be the church in his neighborhood. He wants to live the Christian life relationally. He wants his family to be the focus of his spiritual life and he wants that life to touch and draw others. He wants to be in relationship with all other Christians. He wants to be in relationship with spiritual leaders, mentors, and fathers who will guide and care about him without some hierarchical structure. He wants to love God and teach others to love God. He just wants to be the church everywhere. It's really quite simple! It really does not have to be complicated.

So, why is it so hard to grasp for so many who have been entrenched in our church system (I have certainly been there). That's an excellent question! Is every church leader a control freak by nature? Not necessarily. Is it religious deception? To some extent. But let's not throw stones... let's acknowledge that we all see through a glass darkly. I think it's just the religious culture that we have inherited and that God is only now beginning to break us out of. It's a system of church that has come down from Catholicism right on through our Protestant heritage. It's just the "way of church" we have inherited not from Scripture but from the last millenium of people trying to impose a structure on what is meant to be a living organism. We simply have difficulty seeing this because it's just become part of our church culture. It's like a fish that is born in a fish bowl being told about the ocean. He can't imagine it. And if he tries to grasp it it would certainly scare him to imagine water without boundaries.

My point is this. God is doing something new. He is doing it and He is only just beginning. He is breaking people out of old and worn paradigms. He is calling people out of the cultural box that we have called church. He is helping his church to see the cultural structures that we have labelled "church" so that we can again become the living, breathing life-giving, everywhere-flowing people-of-God we are meant to be.

But let's be patient with people. Especially pastors. This is a big leap. It's hard to see beyond what we have known. It may be easy for some of us to see new possibilities, but that's because God, by His grace, brought us through some things that have opened our eyes. If others do not see it it's because, 1. It's not time for them to see it yet and God wants to use them right where they are, or 2. They are in process. God is only getting started with them. Either way we want to be patient, humble, not condescending, firm about where we are headed, and humble about the fact that God is the one orchestrating all of this.

My new friend, Brian, is exemplifying this. He has patiently done everything he can to explain to his pastor what God has asked him to. His pastor, to his credit, is trying hard to understand. He is grasping bits and pieces and, fortunately, is sending Brian out with a blessing. This is a great step since this pastor really does not "agree" with what Brian is doing. So, both are in process. Brian is lovingly standing firm in what God has asked him to do. His pastor is learning some things (perhaps slowly) but he is also in process in discovering some of what God is doing today.

It's all good. It's all God. It's all His plan unfolding.

All of us need to just keep learning, keep explaining, be patient, and let God continue to break his church out of the box into the wide open spaces of powerfully free and potent God-living-- in His time and way.

Just Jesus... Not Church Structure

I often like to remind myself (and others) that even though we talk about "house church," that that's really not the point at all. It's not about house church, traditional church, institutional church, organic church, simple church, or emerging church. It's really not about "how we do church." The early Christians were not sitting around trying to figure out "how to do church" or "what church is supposed to look like." They were just being Jesus' people-- followers and lovers of God. How or when they gathered... and what those gatherings looked like... all of that was just an outcome of living for Jesus in their world with one another.

Their focus was simply Jesus. Period.

We are called to be Jesus people first, last, and foremost.

We love God. We gather with other believers to love and support one another. We go into the world with His light and love. Period. It really is not more complicated than that!

But... what about leadership, what about children, what about discipleship, what about training, etc., etc., etc?

It's amazing to me that we don't have confidence in God to actually lead His people (the church). We imagine that we have to think up for Him what is needed to make sure that His church (His people) area adequately cared for. How prideful can we be?

If we are following Him in obedience then we will love Him with our whole heart, gather with others as He leads, and pour ourselves out for the sake of the world. In this process, as we are in obedience to the Head, all of the "what abouts" will be taken care of. God is actually able to do that! We don't need to figure it all out for Him, we just need to love and follow Him.

If we love God with our whole heart, He will not fail us in any way. If we gather with believers wherever and whenever He leads us to, the right people will become involved with us in our Christian journey and our whole family (children included) will be ministered to and will be used to minister to others. We will build mutual relationships that will build up one another. We will be empowered to go into the world with His call and power present in us. We don't have to define this or figure this all out, we just gather and then go as He gives direction.

Perhaps five years ago I was called to do this, to some extent, within a traditional church structure. Maybe this year, God is calling me to put my gathering energy into being involved with a small band of intimate allies--a house church of brothers and sisters who are becoming close family and learning to be a living church. Yet again, perhaps three years from now, God's call will take me to Siberia where I will be sustaining my spiritual life with just a couple of other missionaries while the focus is on going into the world with His love. In all of these scenarios, I'm still fully part of "the church" even though the structure looks different in each case.

The point is: structure is not the point, figuring out all the "what abouts" is not the point, putting together the right kind of church is not the point. Living fully and freely under the Headship of Christ as lovers of God, lovers of each other and the world, and obedient followers is the point. He can and will take care of the rest.

Family Forming

We like to do a "Family Forming" get-together in the early stages of a new house church. This is an "exercise" that builds community as we talk about what it means to live the spiritual life in interdependence.

We build this get-together around three questions:
1. In what ways do we choose to be responsible to one another?
2. In what ways do we choose to be responsible to other churches?
3. In what ways do we choose to be responsible to the world at large?

It's not that we come away, necessarily, with some great insight. But the process is powerful because of the discussion. We find that we are practicing doing family life together. We begin to talk about more difficult issues and start learning how to disagree and work through conflict. We learn that church is meant to be about relationship, discussion, and listening to everyone. We are laying the groundwork for future family meetings in which everything is discussed and the Holy Spirit leads through the contribution of each person.

We also come away with a stronger sense of connectedness to each other, to the Body of Christ at large, and to a sense of mission to the world. It does always seem to lead to a deeper sense of "family."

Unpacking Leadership

I'm still unpacking some thoughts about leadership that are in seminal form.

We all know that leadership is influence and that biblical leadership is based one hundred percent on servanthood. We also know that leadership in churches is easily transformed into manipulation and used to serve self-seeking ambitions (both conscious and unconscious). Yet, we recognize that it's not possible to throw out leadership; it always exists whether recognized or not. Someone will always surface, within a group, to point in a direction or at least suggest a direction. The Holy Spirit does lead His people intentionally through people... not necessarily through an assigned person... but He does lead and people who are listening become, at least for the moment, leaders.

Furthermore, the Holy Spirit does seem to be intentional about leading His people forward in certain key areas: building community, being missional, and becoming more like Christ. Therefore, it seems to me that "leadership" (the people of God) who are listening to the Spirit will also be intentional about pointing in directions that move the Body of Christ toward community, being missional, and becoming more like Christ.

As I said, I am still thinking this area through, but I would like to suggest two quotes that bring some definition to leadership that is intentional in the three areas that I have mentioned. The first quote is from Alan Roxburgh:

Leadership is not a person with a plan or vision for the future, a leader is one who forms environments in which the people of God, among whom the Spirit resides, can get in dialogue with others and narratives of Scripture.

It seems to me that this definition of leadership relates to the Spirit's desire for us to be intentional about developing community and becoming more like Christ.

The second quote, from MissionThink, defines what leadership is that is intentionally missional. Here are his thoughts:

Missional Leaders? I've noticed that most talk about missional leadership points out what missional leadership IS NOT, instead of what it is--it's not hierarchical, its not pyramid-shaped, it rejects a clergy/laity distinction, etc. I'd like to put forth what I think missional leadership IS (keep in mind, that these are generalizations, and sometimes there can be exceptions):

Missional Leadership:

* is a steward of the vision, not its creator nor its master

* leads by giving a tangible example of missional living

* focuses on fostering networks of relationships more than on building infrastructure

* recognizes and mobilizes the spiritually gifted, rather than delegating

* helps the community in spirit-led decision making, rather than making decisions for the community

* is plural rather than singular

* is based in function rather than office

* helps people to engage people where they are at, rather than focusing on leading a meeting to draw people from where they are at

* invests in who the Spirit tells them to, not just "top tier" people

* puts ethos development before systems development

* doesn't equate vision with control

* helps to shape ministry around people, rather than placing people in ministries

I think I would add (or modify) this list to say that missional leadership is about helping others to uncover their missional vision. When talking about vision, I believe it's important to make sure that we do not see vision coming from, or even being stewarded by one person, rather vision is the collective of what God has put on the hearts of every believer and leadership is about helping to uncover and serve that collective vision.

Perhaps, as I mull this over, I would simplify all of this by simply suggesting that leadership is about serving (really serving) the work that God is doing in and through others.

House Church in Scripture

Here is an article posted on a site that I've been enjoying called CellChurch Info:

House Church: A Bible Study by Dr. Victor Choudhrie

Dr. Choudhrie is a prominent surgeon in India, whom the Lord challenged in 1993 to lay down his professional life to establish the church in Madra Pradesh. Starting from scratch, the Lord has prospered the work over the past 7 years to where it now represents around 3000 churches in homes with an estimated 50,000 people involved.

EVENTS

1. Pentecost took place in a house. (Acts 2:1-2)
2. The Last Supper took place in a house (Luke 22:7-13)
3. Most of the miracles took place in homes.
4. The wedding at Cana took place in a house.
5. Jesus taught in many homes.
6. "Greet the church in your house" was a common greeting of Saint Paul to various house churches started by him (1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philemon 2, Rom. 16:5 and so on). He visited house to house and taught them everything (Acts 20:20).
7. The house church is the original New Testament church.
8. The disciples went to the temple regularly and taught the people, bringing the seekers to their homes. They gave them food and discipled them (Acts 2:42). Soon they were jailed and punished by the temple authorities and banned entry into the temple but by then they had reaped a large harvest and many house churches had been established. "And the Lord added to the church daily those who were saved." (Acts 2:46-47, 4: 1-4).
9. The intimate, friendly environment of a home provided the ideal stage for interaction, resulting in the rapid conversion and maturing of believers into discipl-ers. Multiplication of discipl-ers led to explosive growth of the church (Acts 6:1).
10. The informal environment of the house churches gave opportunity for rapid maturing of "lay leaders" like Stephen, who was the first Christian martyr and Philip, who was the first evangelist to evangelize Samaria. The net result of handing over the baton to the seven Greek speaking ordinary men resulted in the conversion of priests, which in turn caused exponential growth in the church. (Acts 6:7)
11. The rapid growth of house churches (Acts 8:3) resulted in severe persecution of the believers and Peter ended up behind bars. The church gathered in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, for an all night prayer meeting which led to the dramatic release of Peter from jail. (Acts 12:5; 12).
12. There was no formal Sunday service. The meeting could last all day and all night. Believers therefore came equipped with lamps for such an eventuality. (Acts 20:7)
13. Signs and wonders, including raising the dead Dorcus, took place in homes.
14. Baptism of the household of Cornelius and the Philippian jailer took place in their homes.