Recently engaging with various individuals about church life. It seems to be a growing trend in American evangelical Christianity that is gravitating towards the “home church” model. House churches have always existed. In the beginning, it was necessary. Now it is optional. And with a new generation of “Emergent Christianity” the rise in people removing themselves from traditional Christian churches is inevitable.
Why are people dissatisfied with the traditional churches? Today there is an enormous pressure on pastors to grow churches. If your church is not large or if it doesnt offer the things you like, then there is something terribly wrong. If your church is not filled with programs and kids activities, then it is an abberation. And so with the ease of travel and more flavors than Baskin Robbins, it is no wonder people have flocked to “Mega Churches.”
Lets face it, church has become a place like a business. Churches must compete with larger churches or they shrivel up. A pastor friend in Cincinnati has to face the sad reality that many people in his community can hop on the interstate and drive north to Crossroads Community Church. At that church you can get “plugged into” a ginormous (pronounced ‘Jie-Nor-Mous’) list of programs. There is a live band that plays cool songs for a long time. there is a very relevant and inspiring message about how to cope with your problems. And the most important part, lots of people just like you.
But sometimes people just lose their taste for that “big-ness.” They want true fellowship and to keep things simple. So rather than return to the traditional churches, they stay home and have other believers come join them. You can have the Lord’s Supper around the breakfast table. A full bodied Cabernet for the adults and Oceanspray for the kids. Asiago-herb sourdough for the bread. Everyone can participate and there really isnt a leader (although inevitably there will be a leader).
There are many Christians in our community that are partĀ of this movement. Some call it theĀ ”Simple Church” some call it the “Organic Church” sometimes it isĀ called theĀ ”house church.” And there are various points on the scale. Some might have a “sermon” others might just sit around andĀ talk about what Jesus means to them.
One thing is certain: these groups did notĀ ”just happen.” Something has driven them to do this. If you ask them, they will say things like, “We wanted to return to the Acts model or return to the pure church model.” The problem is that they are not satisfiedĀ with the traditional churches or the megachurches. Something was missing. The question is, “IsĀ the thing that is missing an inherent problem for the traditional church?” Or, “Can theĀ traditional church model be fixed?”
We haveĀ certainly been hoping toĀ fix the problem. Over the past month or so, our church has been looking at the “One Another”Ā passages in the New Testament, mostly in Paul’s letters. This study has given us insight into how life in the body should be lived out. The only question now is “how do we do this?”