Paul's Passing Thoughts

By all indications, if you search for the information, “house churches” are growing in number. In fact, words like “exploding” are being used to describe the rate of growth. Church leadership remains coy in responding to the movement because the movement doesn’t represent a significant threat to the institutional church. Addressing a belief or a movement only empowers it and gives it credibility as an argument having enough validity to be addressed.

Besides, most house churches are just that; church, along with the same orthodoxy,  in a house. Most mega-churches hold mid-week “services” in the private homes of members anyway. Furthermore, many of these house churches are looking to “grow” into having their own purpose builds as well. Unfortunately, this probably makes up the bulk of the movement and poses no threat whatsoever to the institutional church. Hence, the issue is barely on the radar screen.

Then you have home fellowships that focus on practical method, or a model that’s not a “business model.” And, the doctrine being implemented within that model is anyone’s guess. In the vast majority of cases leftover from everyday church in a house, it’s mysticism.

How are we different? Our method of meeting together flows from doctrine. Meeting in a home is a statement about our gospel. We function as a body, and our membership is fellowship.

We meet in homes because families meet in homes, and we are a “household of faith.” This is a statement in regard to the new birth which justifies us. We function as a body with Christ as the head. We are guided by the “mind of Christ” and our unity is determined by agreement on that one mind. Agreement comes through persuasion, not authority.

Members make up the body, and the members are defined by gifts granted by the Spirit in the new birth. To the degree that each member functions according to gifts, the body is healthy. The like-minded members who fellowship with the body are the members by virtue of their participation, not some legal contract. Like the human body, we function according to a cooperative effort towards the same goal, and again, not authority.

We don’t meet in homes because it’s an anti-business model or the best model for other practical reasons which are, in fact, many, we meet in homes because of the doctrine of new birth justification. We also meet in homes because all of life is worship, not just when we assemble together. We don’t “Enter to Worship, and Leave to Serve” as posted above many “sanctuary” doors, we enter to serve each other so we can better worship when we leave.

paul