Number 2. House church is hard.
Yes, some call it “simple church.” And in some regards it is simple. It’s simple to start one, simple to re-locate, it functions simply and it can be spontaneous and fluid. But the difficult part comes in trying to sustain a healthy “simple” church for any period of time.
We have started many house churches over the years. Their life span seems to be anywhere from six months to two years, with a few exceptions. I have had a church in my house since 2005. Even though the address had stayed the same the players have changed.
We have always been called The Well. We have always had a meal at the beginning of our meeting and have always had open sharing and participatory meetings. Also, the church has been truly organic.
I don’t mean “organic” as some are using it these days as a way to label a small group. I mean organic in the sense that it has been a body that has had growing pains.
We have seen birth and death in our church. We have had families and single people come and go. They have left for various reasons. Some have left because they didn’t really “get” what we were trying to do. Some have left to start their own simple church. Some have left because the didn’t “like” someone else in the group. Most of the time people leave with a good feeling about the experience and us but they said they were missing “big” church. I have a hard time believing them. Not that someone couldn’t miss a “big” church. But in the cases of those who I am thinking of, I would say that most of them left for selfish reasons. They just didn’t want to work that hard at it.
I have come to believe that house church only works when people are willing to die to themselves. We come to church wanting to get “our” “needs met.” We come to hear a good sermon and good music and find good programs to be a part of. All of that is about one’s “self.” When you come seeking to bless others, you, in turn are blessed.
I don’t see anywhere in the bible that says church should be fun, or entertaining, or easy. On the contrary, following Jesus is hard, and good. But it is not about you.
Do I love house church? Absolutely. Is it easy? Nope. It stretches me to my limit all the time. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“House church” isn’t really what I consider hard, but it can be a little up and down at times. What do I mean by that? Attendance is not consistent, people do come and go, sometimes meetings are cancelled all together because of personal reasons. So what else is new? Isn’t that just normal life? Things happens, people get sick, people have problems, and sometimes there is no reason other than you just don’t feel like going – so now what? Big church is the same. For me the diffference is the personal touch. Because your group is small, you know when someone is out, so you call them and find out if they are ok, do they need prayer, a ride, or an ear! If you were missing in big church, would anyone call you? Maybe. If I didn’t notify my host that I wasn’t coming, and I didn’t show up – she would call me and check if I was ok right there in their meeting. Once I totally forgot what day it was, and she called me and asked “where are you?”. I just didn’t realize it was “church day”, so I jumped in my car and went to church! We all need to feel valued, that phone call touched my heart – someone missed me and wanted to make sure I was ok. I’d say that’s a big plus wouldn’t you?
By: Kathie Fierro on September 2, 2010
at 12:18 AM