Category: House Church


Who Becomes a House Church Christian?

Filed Under: Christendom, Church Life, House Church, Jesus is Lord, Organic Church, Simple Church, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 8 Comments
March 26, 2011

House Church Christians have two distinctive characteristics

Eleven years ago as a dedicated, experienced and sincere missionary, I was called by God into a ministry of planting house churches. Almost immediately this created tension with the leadership of my mission. They were very kind, good men so the meetings we had were polite, understated and probably without intention on their part, more than a bit manipulative. But, that’s my story.

Surprisingly it is not an unusual story. Now that I have eleven years under my belt and know hundreds of house church Christians in both Spain and now in the United States; I’ve found two principle kinds of people who become house church Christians. There  is also a minor third type which exists, but doesn’t really predominate the house church population in any way.

Group #1, Former Clergy

I was a part of this group. I’m including missionaries, professional worship leaders as well as  all kinds of pastors in this group. But, the clergy who are attracted to simple church are a special kind of clergy. They have a couple of distinctive characteristics.  Before I mention those characteristics, I’d like to share the bullet points from what a typical one wrote in The 7 Worst (and best) Things I Did in Traditional Church Ministry. For his reasoning on each point you’ll need to click on the link.

Worst Things

  • I took a full time salary.
  • Defended tithing as a principle.
  • Preached every Sunday.
  • Promoted music as worship.
  • Marketed the church.
  • Established an equipping track.
  • Purchased a building.

Best Things

  • Established cell groups.
  • Taught people how to have devotionals.
  • Became a police chaplain.
  • Reached out on campus.
  • Made disciples.
  • Never stopped praying or learning.
  • Pastored bi-vocationally.

The distinctive characteristics of clergy that become simple church practitioners are that they were missional from the beginning, and wanted to live their lives as Christians, not just fill a role and maintain the status quo. This combination of character traits makes them ripe for realizing that there really is something more to our faith. It is that longing which leads them to simple, organic expressions of Christianity.

Group #2, Laity Looking for Something More

In reality these are just the “laity”[1] form of the clergy mentioned above. They are Christians who are focused on Christ and want their faith to be lived in fruitful ministry, not just going to church and being nice people. Again, that longing for something more leads them to simple, organic expressions of Christianity.

Group #3, The Cranks

Yes, they exist. They are the people who no matter what is happening are not satisfied and want to be critical. They are angry. They seem preoccupied with the evils of the institutionalism of traditional Christianity. This anger is not because they see the strategic problems, but just because they are wounded and angry.

All three groups begin to see the problems and go through a process of detox from the unrecognized traditions that are baked into our bones. I discuss this in Bedbugs in Our Suitcase. But the cranks never seem to get over it, nor want to. Many of them don’t stay too long in organic Christianity because real organic Christianity is outward focused on Jesus and the mission; and while aware of the problems, wants to focus on Jesus and his mission.

What surprises me is that those who stay in traditional Christianity, particularly the clergy, are often quick to characterize the majority of the simple church crowd as being this way. The simple fact is that they are a small minority.

  • If you are a simple church practitioner, which group do you belong to?
  • If you are a more traditional Christian, does what I’ve said above surprise you?
  • Why do you think so many people are feeling a need for something more?
  • Why do you think that simple/organic church is such a draw for missional Christians?
[1] Laity, of course, is a non biblical word and a non-New Testament idea. This is true of the concept of “clergy” as well.

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Inertia

Filed Under: Christendom, Church History, House Church, Jesus is Lord, Organic Church, Simple Church, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 6 Comments
March 18, 2011

It takes a lot or energy to move a freight train

I came across an important quote on this website.

The real trouble is not in fact that the Church is too rich, but that it has become heavily institutionalized, with a crushing investment in maintenance. It has the characteristics of the dinosaur and the battleship. It is saddled with a plant and programme beyond its means, so that it is absorbed in problems of supply and preoccupied with survival. The inertia of the machine is such that the financial allocations, the legalities, the channels of organization, the attitudes of mind, are all set in the direction of continuing and enhancing the status quo. If one wants to pursue a course which cuts across these channels, then most of one’s energies are exhausted before one ever reaches the enemy lines.

John A.T. Robinson (Bishop of Woolwich) Click link for full biography.

Which is faster, and more efficient?

Which is easier to move a hundred miles, a fully loaded 100 car freight train or a sports car? Which takes more resources, the 100 car freight train or the sports car? Which is faster? Which is the more efficient? Church as we know it has become a hundred car freight train. It requires a tremendous amount energy and resources just to keep the status quo the status quo. Consequently we are not effective in moving the Kingdom forward because our focus, energy and resources are concentrated on maintaining the status quo.

Another way to understand this is that church as we know it is not only taking up financial resources just to keep going, its inertia is draining our energy. And it is the King and his Kingdom that pays the price of our addiction to the way things have always been done.

This is from Merriam-Webster OnLine Dictionary:

Definition of INERTIA

1 a : a property of matter by which it remains at rest or in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force b : an analogous property of other physical quantities (as electricity)

2: indisposition to motion, exertion, or change: inertness

How many of us have tried to make a major change in “the way things are done” in a traditional church? Churches have actually split over such insignificant things as the color of the carpet or which side of the sanctuary the piano sets. Imagine discussing substantive issues. That’s inertia.

What percentage of our giving to traditional churches is required just to keep up the mortgage and maintenance of the building and parking lot? That’s inertia.

What would happen if you suggested to cancel Sunday school and just train the parents on how to be godly parents? The brouhaha which would ensue is inertia.

Isn’t it time we quit being inert and followed the Lord of the Harvest into the harvest?

  • If you go to a traditional church would you consider it to be suffering from inertia based on the description above?
  • House/simple/organic churches are just as capable of being inert? Is your house church following the Lord of the harvest into the harvest or is it standing still?
  • If your church is suffering from inertia, what do you sense the Lord is asking you to do?
  • Is your church preoccupied with survival? Why do you think that is?
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You Have My Permission to Gossip

Filed Under: Evangelism, House Church, Organic Church, Simple Church, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 2 Comments
March 17, 2011

When the gosple is gossiped it spreads naturally.

I recently read a letter written by Victor Choudhrie, one of the leaders of the house church movement in India. Since this is a tremendously powerful movement of the gospel, which is planting generation after generation of churches and is gaining millions of new disciples of Jesus Christ, I paid close attention to what was being said. Here is his sixth point of twelve he made in his letter:

A house church does not need any special building, special day, special person to run it. Wherever two or three gather to gather to eat, meet and gossip the gospel, make disciples and multiply, is an authentic church because the Lord is present in their midst. (Matt. 18:18-20) House churches are biblical, historical, effective, productive, customizable, gender neutral and free.

All of that is quite true. And, it would be worth our while to investigate each thought in point six. But I want to focus on one phrase that caught my eye, “gossip the gospel.” I’ve been trained to preach the gospel. But preaching and gossiping are two very different things. I’ve never really thought about gossiping the gospel.

Preaching the Gospel

Preaching the gospel is about proclaiming. Here is the first definition of proclaim from the Merriam Webster OnLine Dictionary: Proclaim: to declare publicly, typically insistently, proudly, or defiantly and in either speech or writing. That is pretty much how I was taught to express the gospel. I was taught that my message was true so I needed to be bold. My message was true, so I was to declare it. If people didn’t want to listen, I was to persist. I was to do my best to make sure they got the whole message. Never mind that they were leaning away from me looking at their watch. Never mind that their facial expression was telling me that they were bored, or angry or resentful. I needed to download the whole message.

Preaching the gospel was also rather doctrinal. The particular method I was weaned on was in booklet form. It had four points and a few Bible verses for each point. I needed to somehow ambush someone into letting me whip out my booklet (which was proudly worn in my shirt pocket) so I could get through the four points and the prayer at the end. Don’t forget to use a pencil or pen as a pointer. And it worked…every once in a while. Most of the time though, sharing like this built up a lot of resentment towards me and much worse still, towards Jesus and his Church. In other words, the person I was preaching at could sense my proud insistence to defiantly proclaim my message, even when they weren’t interested. O.K. lets sum up…I was being rude.

Sharing Juicy Tidbits

Victor is wisely suggesting something different. Why not share the wonders of the gospel like juicy bits of gossip; true, but still juicy. Let’s be honest, we all like gossip. It’s tantalizing. It’s interesting. And best of all, it comes in story form. It directly relates to people we know. Why, we can even go and check up to find out if it’s true. And like all interesting gossip, it naturally spreads and takes on a life of its own.

We don’t have to give the whole story at once. It might even be more interesting to leave our listener with a cliff hanger. We can just tell what happened to us, and how it affected our lives. We can tell it as a tantalizing story we heard from someone else. We can even ask our listeners, what do you think? Can it possibly be true? This not only makes the gossip…er, I mean the gospel, more interesting; it ties it to our own lives and the lives of people our listeners know personally. We can invite them to check it out for themselves. This makes the gospel a community affair. And, in doing so, it makes the gospel much more tantalizing and viral.

  • Were you trained to preach or gossip the gospel?
  • Do you think gossiping the gospel cheapens it?
  • Would you rather hear good news as a set of doctrines or a story tied to the life of someone you know?
  • Does the idea of gossiping the gospel give you ideas of how to tell your friends about Jesus?
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Misunderstanding Persecution

Filed Under: Christendom, Church History, Evangelism, House Church, Organic Church, Recommended Books, Spiritual Life by rossrohde — 9 Comments
March 14, 2011

Persecution of Christians is happening today all over the world. What if we are next?

As a house church practitioner, I often hear the following ideas expressed by people who haven’t experienced organically structured churches.

  1. There is a need for house churches in places where there is persecution, but they just won’t work here.
  2. House churches, in places like China and India, are only growing because of persecution.
  3. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. So if the Church in the West just suffered a little persecution it would grow.

I’d like to address each of these ideas separately because I think all of them misunderstand what persecution is really like and the role is plays in the expansion of the Kingdom.

House churches are needed only in areas of persecution

The underlying, and I believe false, assumption of this idea is that institutional churches are somehow superior to more organic expressions. Therefore, in areas like the West, where we aren’t persecuted, we don’t need the inferior form of church. To those who believe this, I’d like to ask a couple of questions.

  • Currently around the world the greatest growth of the Church is being accomplished through house churches. Not all of this is in areas of persecution. Why do you think this is? For more on that issue read David Garrison’s Church Planting Movements. If you believe the previous assumption, you are in for a big surprise.
  • What exactly is it that you think makes institutional churches superior to house churches? If you have an answer to this feel free to post a comment. I will respond graciously…I promise.

House Churches in China, etc. are only growing because of persecution

Actually, this is not exactly true. Yes, the Church grows as a result of persecution; but only the organically structured churches. The institutional forms of Christianity in China were driven to the point of extinction during the Cultural Revolution. Institutional forms of Christianity curl up and die in severe persecution. What happened in China was the Church was purified away from some of the non-growth barriers that are built into institutional forms of Christianity. Once the Church became organic in form, it could grow despite persecution. For more on this read The Miracle of China and Thank You Chairman Mao.

The blood of the martyrs is seed

The actual quote from Tertullian is “The blood of the martyrs is seed.” And yes it is, under certain circumstances. It is, as long as the structure of the Church is such that martyrdom allows for growth. And, in addition, those being martyred are spiritually mature enough to allow their martyrdom to be seed.

What we saw in China was that, in general, those involved in the Modernist movement (Protestant Liberalism) caved in to persecution out of cowardice, fear, convenience and, at times, opportunities to be viewed as important. Still, it didn’t protect them. And, the institutionally structured churches they represented were driven to the point of extinction. Those who were spiritually mature became the house church movement. They had the deep spiritual life and developed the organic forms necessary to become the seed for the most explosive movement of the gospel in all of Christian history. Again you can read about this in read The Miracle of China and Thank You Chairman Mao.

Were persecution to erupt in the West, I suspect we would see much the same phenomenon. The institutional structure of the church could not sustain severe persecution. It would fold. After all, persecutors merely need to stand outside church building to collect institutionalized Christians. Kill the clergy, the flock scatters. Those who are dependent on the clergy for their spiritual life shrivel up and die spiritually during persecution. In this context you become organic in structure or you perish. Those within the institutionalized church, who were mature enough, would become organic in structure and would begin to thrive as soon as the persecution purified them.

Finally, the way many Westerners have taken Tertullian’s idea has a bit of Christian romance to it. Those who have actually suffered persecution don’t like it. It is truly horrible. But, the mature among them grow to understand what God can do through persecution. So they don’t seek it. But when they suffer, they appreciate what happens when a believer shares in the sufferings of Christ. As an example, the Chinese house church believers refer to prison as seminary. This is an acknowledgement of the fact that they will be in prison with other mature Christians, who will use the experience and opportunity to train them for more effective ministry. This is one practical example of persecution being seed. They are also aware that the spiritual experience, horrible as it is, causes them to draw closer to Christ.

  • How would you answer my two questions under House churches are needed only in areas of persecution?
  • Imagine for a moment you were a persecutor. How would you persecute the intuitionally structured churches? How would you persecute the organically structured churches? Which would be easier?
  • Imagine in 5 years you knew for a fact that the Church in the West was going to suffer severe persecution? What would you do to prepare?
  • Would your blood become seed or just be spilt?
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The Miracle of China

Filed Under: Christendom, Church History, House Church, Recommended Books, The Viral Jesus Book, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 7 Comments
February 9, 2011

What do they know that we don't?

For about the first 270 years of its existence, the Christian Church was a viral movement of the Spirit. It spread like a beautiful, healthy virus from person to person. But then the most significant event in the history of Christianity occurred, the Edict of Milan, in 313 AD. With one sweep of his quill, Emperor Constantine turned a viral movement of the Spirit into a human institution.[1] The church went from being viral to something that no longer spread and grew like a living organism. It changed from Christianity to Christendom. The Christian Church remained an institution for 1,636 years. It growth was difficult, sporadic and hard to maintain. Often, like the current condition of the Western Church, we lost ground.

The church became accustomed to its institutionalism. It even got to the point of thinking that institutionalism was right and good; even though it is not proscribed or even described or hinted at in the New Testament. Institutionalism became like a backpack full of bricks. We have never experienced life without our familiar Christendom bricks and eventually could not imagine life without them. We even convinced ourselves that we wouldn’t really be comfortable, or be able to walk, without them. Who knows, perhaps we would fall flat on our face if we weren’t wearing the all important counterbalance of our heavy Christendom backpack.

Gatherings are sometimes small, sometimes larger, but alive with Jesus.

Then along came the miracle of the Chinese Church. For the first time in over sixteen centuries the Church was relieved of its institutional backpack. You can read about that process in Thank You Chairman Mao. Despite all conventional Christendom wisdom, when the Church stepped out of its familiar backpack, it learned to sprint again. It learned to be a living organic organism again. It learned to be just like what Jesus described in the New Testament, a small seed that grew to a large plant (Matt. 13:31-34).

This story of the church set free from the burden of Christendom is even more startling when explained in its context. In 1949 the Communist Chinese won the civil war for the control of China. They began a slow process of trying to strangle the Christian church, which they considered an opiate of the people. At the time, there were two main expressions of the Church in China, the Catholic Church and the Protestants. The Catholic Church was far bigger and more powerful than were the Protestants. The Communist government’s plan was to take control of the Church by absorbing it under its governmental control. It did this by dividing the Church into two government run organizations, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) and the Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), the government sanctioned Protestant church. The idea was to control the Church and then cut off its resources so that it would slowly die.

To read true stories of the vibrant Chinese Church buy The Heavenly Man by clicking here.

What the Chinese government hadn’t foreseen was that faithful believers in both the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church would refuse to submit to government control. This led to four expressions of the Church; the CCPA (the largest group), the TSPM (the second largest group), the underground Catholic Church (the third largest group) and the underground Protestants (the smallest group). This last small group became the Chinese house church movement.

No one knows exactly how many were in the Chinese house church movement in the early 1950’s. My guess would be less than 100,000 people. Now that group has grown to about 100 million faithful believers.[2] It is by far the largest segment of Christianity in China. Instead of shrinking under the persecution of the Communist government, it exploded. The other segments of the Church in China, all of which were still tied to institutional forms, yet in the exact same context, did not prosper or grow as did the organic house church movement. The CCPA and the TSPM, at one point, were nearly squeezed out of existence. But the growth of the organic house church movement from under 100,000 to approximately 100 million is the fastest growth ever recorded in the entire history of Christianity; and this under persecution.

What happened to allow this miraculous growth? Christianity, for the first time in 1,636 years was freed for its heavy institutional backpack. It could finally be what it had been designed to be in the first place. And, despite the incredibly difficult surroundings, it learned to run, not crawl. I tell this story in much more detail in my book Viral Jesus which is due to be released Feb. 2, 2012.

We in the Western Church are still wearing a backpack full of bricks. And, not surprisingly, we are not growing at all. We are, in fact, losing ground. We are even losing many of our own children to the world. Yet we have religious freedom. We have freedom of the press. We can do almost anything we want and we lose ground. These are freedoms the Chinese house church movement would love to have. Isn’t it time we learned from our Chinese brothers and strip off the burden of Christendom and learn how to run?

  • Why do you think we find the heavy backpack of Christendom so comfortable? 
  • Why do you think that despite our incredible freedoms we are losing ground? Can you think of another reason besides the backpack of Christendom? 
  • Many fear that by being freed from the control of Christendom the Chinese house church movement would fall into heresy. For the most part, that hasn’t happened. In fact, it is doctrinally just as healthy as or healthier than Western Christianity. Why? 
  • What other lessons do you think we can learn from our Chinese brothers? 

 

[1] I’m aware that the institutionalization of the Church was actually a gradual affair starting in the early 2nd Century. However, the Edict of Milan was the powerful watershed event. I’ll document the history and the key events in my upcoming book Viral Jesus.

[2] No exact figures are available. These are estimates using the best available information.

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Organic Coke or Organic Church

Filed Under: Christendom, Church History, Evangelism, House Church, Organic Church, Simple Church, The Viral Jesus Book, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 6 Comments
February 4, 2011

Is this the Coke we've always needed?

I was struck the other day to see that Coke has come out with Organic Coke, advertized as a naturally produced health drink. [1] Now one can drink Coca-Cola with the absolute peace of mind that they are being organically healthy and saving the planet sip by healthy sip. To all but the most naïve, this is an obvious marketing ploy. The organic concept is “in.” Anything with an organic label sells to a certain, large and growing segment of the buying public. So, why shouldn’t a company like Coca-Cola, which makes no Coke drink of healthy or redeeming value, convince the public that they can have their empty calories and be wholesome too?

I am a proponent of organic church. Are we doing the same thing? I’m sure for some, perhaps many; the organic church idea is the next new fad in line after cell church and emergent church. For these people, it would be the next cool thing to try, in their insatiable quest to find an expression of church that actually satisfies the longing in there soul. But, organic church can’t satisfy the longing in their soul; because the longing in their soul can only be satisfied by Jesus himself.

Is organic church the next new trendy fad?

Church was never designed by Jesus to satisfy our longing. It is merely a means to an end. Our souls were designed to be filled with Jesus, not church. But, unfortunately, we have been so indoctrinated by Christendom, with its techniques, methods, formulas, fads, forms, studies and systems that we honestly believe that some new form is going to “do it,” whatever “it” is. What these people need is to focus on their relationship with Jesus and not on something else, whatever that something else is.

Having said that, do I think meeting in an organic formulation of the Church has value? Yes, tremendous value. I discussed  the organic church metaphor in House Church, Simple Church, Organic Church, Which Is It? In that post I stated:

“The term organic church is a very important metaphor which describes the distinct  organizational logic of house/simple/organic churches. Humans organize themselves thorough hierarchical power/prestige/control structures; think armies, governments, businesses and organizations. God’s creation is organized organically. Small things multiply to create bigger things. Everything can and should grow. Everything has life and can reproduce. Death is a natural part of this cycle. Neither the Church nor the Kingdom are described in the New Testament using hierarchical metaphors. These hierarchical examples certainly existed in the society Jesus lived in. Jesus could have compared the Kingdom to the army, or the government, or any other human institution. But that didn’t fit what Jesus was trying to describe. Instead he used organic metaphors like seeds, fields, herbs and bodies…Christianity organized organically, as it was designed and described by Jesus, can spread virally. Institutional Christianity has never had a viral movement that has lasted more than about 20 years.”

This is the main focus of my upcoming book Viral Jesus, to be published later this year. The important point to grasp is that God designed the Church to grow like a living thing. All of the historical encrustations of Christendom, institutional structure, hierarchical human leadership, buildings, budgets, etc., etc., slow down or stop the viral growth of the Kingdom dead in its tracks. That is precisely why between the Edict of Milan in 312 AD and the house church movement in China starting in 1949 we did not see even one viral movement of the gospel that could sustain itself for more than 20 years. Yet, the viral growth of the early church lasted over 250 years unabated. The house church movement in China has grown virally from a few hundred thousand people in 1949 to approximately 100 million today with no signs of slowing down.

What differentiates these two movements, the pre-Edict of Milan Christianity and the Chinese house church movement, from everything else in the intervening 1,637 years? Why has the Chinese house church movement been sustainable for over 60 years, and continues to grow virally, when powerful movements of the spirit like the Second Great Awakening and the Moravians became slow or non-growth movements after 20 years?

The secret is in the design. Once you have the non-organic structure of Christendom instead of the organic structure of the biblical Christianity, the viral growth of the church is hindered and eventually grinds to a halt. My book will document this in detail, with names, dates and data. So, is the organic church just one more fad? Perhaps to some, but it is also the structure we will need to adopt if we are to once again see a viral movement of the Spirit in the West. That is something I’m willing to dedicate my life to. Are you?

  • There have been many movements of the Spirit in the 1,637 years between early Christianity and the Chinese house church movement; the 1st and 2nd Great Awakenings, The Welsh Revival, the Waldensians, the Moravians, the list goes on. Can you name one that continued to grow explosively after 20 years? 
  • Why do you think such things as buildings, institutional structure and human leadership slow down movements of God? Do you agree that they do? 
  • Why do you think Jesus described the Kingdom in organic terms instead of institutional terms when institutions were readily available as metaphors? 
  • Why do you think we try to satisfy the longing in our souls with forms, fads and formulas instead of Jesus himself? 

 

[1] Organic Church Can Illustration (used by permission) by Rusty Wimberly, who has the blog: About A Burning Fire

http://www.aboutaburningfire.com.

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4 Immutable Laws of the Spirit

Filed Under: Biblical Meditation, Church Life, Discipleship, House Church, Jesus is Lord, Meeting Together, Organic Church, Simple Church, Spiritual Life, Supernaturalism, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 13 Comments
December 29, 2010

The wind blows wherever it pleases

I’m often asked what simple church meetings are like. I’m also asked how Jesus leads a church.[1] How can we do simple church right? What are simple church gathering techniques or rules? These questions are a little like asking what cats look like. They have their similarities but a tabby is different than a tiger. Having said that, let’s talk about a simple church done well; one where Jesus is in charge and he accomplishes his purposes. 

One of the most important things to understand about “doing simple church right” that is to say, making sure you are following Jesus, not asking him to follow you, is understanding spiritual dynamics. Actually one of the best expressions of the natural, organic spiritual dynamics of a simple church meeting were stated by a secular organizational expert named Harrison Owen. You can read about his theories here. Owen came up with what he called the Four Immutable Laws of the Spirit, also called his four principles. They are the following:

  1. Whoever is present are the right people.
  2. Whenever it begins is the right time.
  3. Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened.
  4. When it’s over it’s over.

While Owen wasn’t a Christian, to my knowledge, he certainly understands the spiritual dynamic which happens when Jesus is leading a group of people to his Kingdom purposes. So let’s look at these four immutable laws of the Spirit and see how they lead to productive simple church meetings and allow for Jesus’ leadership.

Whoever is present are the right people

I just wish Candice could have been here. Boy, Andy needed to hear that. Well the truth of the matter is that Jesus allowed and caused whatever happened to happen while the people who were there were present. He knows what he is doing in each life. They are his disciples, not ours. So we need to trust him to do what needs to be done with his disciples. Our part is to make disciples under his leadership, see Making Disciples: The Key to Movements.

Whenever it begins is the right time

We have become so accustomed to timed, controlled meetings that we don’t leave room for the Spirit to direct. Can we trust Jesus to get things started? Can we trust him to control the timing of events when we gather? Can we really do him a favor by planning the event to come out the “way it should?” My question would be, is it “the way it should” by our standards and agenda or Jesus’?

Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened

To be a little less fatalistic perhaps I would rephrase this, can we trust Jesus to work everything out for good for those who love him, for those who are called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28)? I’m not suggesting that everything will go perfectly. I’m not suggesting that this isn’t a human event. I’m not suggesting that we will never make mistakes, see Making Mistakes with Jesus. I am suggesting that our human foibles don’t throw Jesus off of his stride. Can we trust him with that? Or, do we need to wrest control away from him so that what should happen does happen? Hmmm!

When it’s over it’s over

So it is with everyone born of the Spirit

This is not a timing issue; it is a matter of the special presence of the Holy Spirit. In John 3:8 Jesus compared the Spirit to the wind, which is completely uncontrollable: The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. I’ve noticed that sometimes the “Spirit shows up” in simple church meetings. I don’t know a better way to describe it. See Organic Church Gatherings – 2 Stories, for a couple of illustrations of this issue. Like the wind, the Spirit comes, then goes. When he goes; it is over. I’m not implying that we have nothing to do with his presence. It is a relational spiritual dynamic. I am expressing that we can’t controlled it; nor should we try.

                So, with everything in an organic, simple church meeting we need to learn to trust the Spirit of Jesus to lead the process. I can guarantee that it won’t ever end up like you’re expecting, but if you trust Jesus it will be good. And, over time he will accomplish everything he intends. We need to focus on obeying and staying out of his way.

  • Can Jesus really lead a meeting? 
  • Isn’t trusting Jesus to lead the meeting about faith, which is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (Heb. 11:1)? 
  • Do you think that too much human planning and control risks “chasing away the Spirit?” 
  • Is it wrong to use or reference secular leaders to explain simple church dynamics? Do you think we could get the same principles from the Scriptures? 

 

[1] For a good post on this issue see: Authority: How Jesus Leads a Church

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The Pastor in Organic Church

Filed Under: Biblical Meditation, Christendom, Discipleship, House Church, Jesus is Lord, Meeting Together, New Covenant, Organic Church, Simple Church, Worldview by rossrohde — 6 Comments
December 24, 2010

Jesus is the Good Shepherd

When people who are not familiar with organic or house churches envision a meeting they usually think of a small group of people meeting in a house. Perhaps they are sitting in the living room in a circle. Or, perhaps they have cleared a space, set up rows of chairs and brought in a small pulpit. And residing over all of this is a pastor. He is the leader of this group of people, the one who shepherds them, takes care of their souls. Nothing could be further from the truth. That is not simple church, organic church or house church; that is a church in a house or what John White calls Honey I Shrunk the Church.

So, what are simple church meetings like? Do they have pastors? Do they have leaders? How does all of that work? Those who struggle with these questions usually have two problems which keep them from understanding how simple churches actually function. First, is the problem of projection. Their only understanding of church is based on the post Constantine Christendom which developed from the third century onward. This understanding of how church is “supposed to be” is projected back into a house. It’s kind of like looking through a telescope backwards; everything we’re expecting to see made smaller, crammed into a house. The second problem is a failure to grasp how Jesus can actually lead a church in real time and in practical ways. For many of our brethren, conceiving of how any meeting can function without human control and leadership is beyond the grasp of their imagination or experience.

Leadership in Simple Church

Jesus is Lord, that’s not a mere theological statement, it is a lived reality in simple church. Lords control, rule and reign. Jesus can do this because of our new covenant relationship with him. He is perfectly capable of putting his ideas, into our hearts and minds (see Heb. 8:10). The more we actually practice this, the more we become adept at letting Jesus lead through all of us. For more on this see Authority: How Jesus Leads a Church.

Pastors in a Simple Church

What role then do pastors play in a simple Church? First it needs to be understood that simple church people don’t understand Christian “pastors” or “shepherds” to be positional leaders with specific roles, powers and responsibilities. This is because the idea of one Christian shepherding another comes from only three verses in the entire New Testament.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (Eph. 4:11-12).

Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood (Acts 20:28).

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve (I Pet. 5:2).

 These three verses are actually describing two different kinds of shepherds or pastors. In Eph. 4:11 what is being described is a person with the spiritual gift of pastor. This is a person who is designed by God to care for the emotional and relational issues that come up in the Church. They are warm, kind, caring people.

The second two verses describe more mature people caring for other believers. This is a role of elders. But eldership isn’t positional, it is relational. It is more mature Christians (hence elder) guiding less mature believers toward Jesus. This is also a form of discipleship. But it is not coming from a position in a hierarchy of power, it is one brother or sister helping another based on trust. Both of these functions are important. Both are based on warm loving care. Neither requires position, title or power. In fact, positions, titles and power merely cloud the issue and make caring more difficult. Who guides both of these processes? The Spirit of Jesus does by speaking into the hearts and minds of everyone involved.

The Good Shepherd

However, Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The sheep, all of them, know his voice and respond to it. That is the voice that is important. A human shepherd just helps Jesus’ sheep find Jesus and respond in loving obedience to His voice. They do not need positional power to do so. They need maturity and humility. And they need the trust of those who know them that they will always direct others towards Jesus, not get others to pay attention to their leadership. To do so would turn them into false shepherds.

  • Is it hard to help others encounter and respond to Jesus without formal, positional power?
  • Have you ever worshiped Jesus in a group of people who know how to follow Jesus in real time and in the practicalities of life? What was that like?
  • If we believe Jesus doesn’t talk to his sheep, without the help of a human, what are we saying about Jesus’ relationship to his sheep?
  • If Jesus is speaking to the hearts and minds of each of his sheep (Heb. 8:10), how do we avoid chaos? Is human leadership required to avoid chaos?
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Organic Church Gatherings – 2 Stories

Filed Under: Church Life, Discipleship, House Church, Jesus is Lord, Meeting Together, Organic Church, Simple Church, Spiritual Life by rossrohde — 4 Comments
December 22, 2010

Learn to experience Him together

What is an organic church gathering like? How do you do simple church? I’d like a dime for every time I’ve heard these questions. But they are unanswerable because they are the wrong question. There isn’t “a way” or “the way” to do organic church. There is not a simple church order of service. In fact, in my opinion, we need to avoid that like the plague. But there are lessons to be learned about this kind of experience. So, I’d like to tell a couple of real stories from my recent experience, and draw some lessons from them.

Lyle and Kristy’s House

A number of weeks ago we gathered at Lyle and Kristy’s house. Lyle felt that Jesus wanted him to set the tone for that meeting. He drew us together in his living room, asked a couple of questions, made a couple of brief observations and “it” happened. Somehow the Spirit of God’s presence became very obvious to everyone. Jesus had used Lyle to draw us to himself.

Different people made a brief comment or said a prayer. Others interacted with the comments or Bible verses that others had read. As some point Walt got up and started playing the piano. We had a wonderful time of Spirit empowered worship in the presence of the King. A few got little visual images of lessons that God wanted us to see. These were briefly discussed. Then we got up and had a pot luck dinner together around the table. But the conversation and fellowship continued. At that point it was more storytelling and friendly joking. The whole time was special.

Bill and Bab’s House

Each gathering will be different

We recently had another gathering where we brought different people from various churches in our network together. Of course we met in “house church format,” whatever that means. These people didn’t necessarily know each other well. Some were meeting for the first time. And, since I brought three of my friends from the Hispanic church, which is meeting in Cesar’s house (see Cesar, Man of Peace and Another Story from the Harvest), there were significant differences in culture and economic level, besides the fact that most of my friends are not bilingual.

What was interesting about this meeting was that the differences didn’t seem to matter. Walt and his friend Casey played piano and guitar and we sang some songs in English. Humberto and Gaddy downloaded some Spanish songs that my friends might know and those of us who spoke Spanish shared Spanish songs with the group.

Jesus used this as a time to share each other’s culture in love, respect and harmony. There was some simultaneous translation going on, but often in wasn’t really needed. My friends felt welcomed among the Gringos; welcome enough to share stories, songs and prayers. Then one of us prayed about the wall of separation being torn down, after which another read a passage from Revelation about the gospel being preached to every tribe and tongue. Later we just naturally broke into different groups, in the kitchen, a couple of groups in the living room, another in the den. All sorts of different ministry was happening in these groups simultaneously.

Lessons

  1. Every meeting is different. Let them be. Don’t try to squeeze them into a mold.
  2. Jesus leads these meeting through different people responding to his prompting. Don’t try to control that.
  3. Jesus often has a theme. Learn to look for it. In our meeting at Lyle and Kristy’s it was “love me and experience my presence together.” At Bill and Bab’s it was “the wall of separation has been torn down.” Next time it will be something else.
  4. No meeting will “have it all” nor does it need to. Jesus will build his agenda over time.
  5. Each person will come away from the meeting having learned a thing or two individually from Jesus. They might have been ministered to or prayed for by the group, had an insight, or have learned from what was discussed from the Bible.

We don’t need to plan this. Instead, we seek Jesus. Let him lead. Our planning has much more potential for interfering than helping Jesus’ agenda. Having said this, Jesus may give someone something to do before they come. God did that with Lyle. Hold these “agenda items” loosely. But, like Lyle’s setting of the tone; it might just be what Jesus wants.

  • What lessons do you draw from these stories?
  • Have you ever noticed Jesus setting the theme in your meetings? What was that like?
  • What are the potential pitfalls of trying to have an order of service in a simple church meeting?
  • Does it frustrate you that “we can’t have it all” in every single meeting? What would happen if we tried?
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Evangelists and Insiders

Filed Under: Biblical Meditation, Church Planting, Discipleship, Evangelism, House Church, Organic Church, Simple Church, Viral Christianity by rossrohde — 1 Comment
December 8, 2010

In my recent post Apostles and Insiders I contrasted the role of apostles, who are designed by God to take the Gospel to new soil, and insiders, who continue to share the Gospel with people with whom they are in relationship. The way these two different types of people share the Gospel is very different because they are playing very different roles in the expansion of the Kingdom. Through the Spirit coordinated effort of both, we see the Gospel spread through a society like a small bit of leaven in a lump of dough.

In a Facebook conversation with my friend Lyle, he made the comment “I’m wondering if this gets apostles, evangelists, and workers in the harvest all mixed up.” It’s a good point. I’d like to use this post to clarify the role of evangelists in the harvest and how they relate to insiders.

Evangelists

See this video of an interview with Ed Waken to get the heartbeat of an organic evangelist.

Evangelists and Insiders

Evangelists have a very important role to play in the Great Commission; but in an organic context it is not what most of us have come to expect from evangelists. The key verses to understand are Eph. 4:11-13:

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Here’s a key phrase we tend to blow right past when we read this passage: to equip his people for works of service. That’s what each of these five gifted types of people do; they equip others for works of service. But each does it in a different ways. How does an evangelist equip Jesus’ people for works of service? An evangelist’s role is not to preach the gospel for everyone. That is sadly what it has become, but that’s not the function of this gift. It is to train others how to share their faith in natural, normal ways, so that insiders all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

If the Kingdom is to spread through the society, like leaven spreads through an entire lump of dough, we can’t have a few apostles preaching the gospel in new soil and then a few more evangelists carrying the burden from that point on. In an organic system, everything reproduces after its kind. Apostles not only do apostolic work, they reproduce budding apostles. Evangelist reproduce budding evangelists, while at the same time they are teaching everyone to be mature enough to share their faith as insiders.

In an organic formation of the Kingdom, everyone shares their faith. And, they have a few very experienced and gifted people, called evangelists, who help them learn to do that. How? They do it through life and relationship.

Insiders

Every insider should know at least one gifted evangelist who can be showing them how to: Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone (Col. 4:5-6). That’s what insiders do, year after year, graciously showing with their life and through conversations how outsiders can become insiders.

Let’s imagine for a moment that a new insider, Toby, wants to reach his old friends with the good news of the Kingdom. How does he do it? In church as it has become, he would have been sent to an evangelism class where he would learn to share the gospel in a forceful way. The usual outcome was that Toby lost most, if not all of his friends; and the organic spread of the Kingdom got stopped dead in its tracks.

In an organic setting he would talk about this with more experienced Christians, having natural conversations and dialog. The more experienced Christians would say, “why don’t you talk to Ed Waken[1], he’s really good at that. Ed would start sharing life with Toby and in the process Ed would help Toby lead his friends to Jesus. In the process it’s even possible that a church would get planted in one of Toby’s old spheres of influence. Isn’t that a much more natural, friendly, gracious and seasoned way to give an answer to everyone?

  • Have you ever been connected a real live evangelist like Ed? 
  • What would be some of the first things you asked him? 
  • Do you feel personally equipped to let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone? 
  • Have you been turned off by traditional evangelism to the point that you’re afraid to share your faith? 

 

[1] Ed is a real, natural, gifted evangelist who works among Church Multiplication Associates churches (and others). You can see his blog here: Thoughts Out There by Ed.

 

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