SimpleChurch Journal

House Church Basics -- Part 1-B: What Is Church?

(To start at Part 1-A click here.)

1. Church is a movement not an organization.
2. Expressions of church are far more diverse than we can imagine.

We have been working at eliminating preconceptions around old definitions of “church.” Our cultural idea of “what church is” can keep us from seeing what church really is!!!

We have already suggested this definition of church:

A loose-knit network of Jesus followers who gather together to encourage each other in their spiritual life and who go out, moved by the Holy Spirit, sharing and demonstrating the Gospel.

Taking this further, if we really get into a New Testament perspective, we see that the church was a “movement.” The church was not a box for this movement to fit in, nor a structure to contain it. The church, the collective group of people following the Spirit of God, was simply that group of people who were being moved by the Spirit. However and wherever the Spirit took His people, gathered His people, or sent His people, church was happening!

Church was fluid, going everywhere, gathering everywhere, ministering everywhere, being the Body of Christ everywhere. All of this was and is “church.”

Once we grasp this, we can go on to the issues of: “How is church expressed? What does it look like when the church gathers?”

Robert Fitts suggests that we begin with the simplest possible expression of church: two or three gathered in Christ’s name (Matthew 18:20):

What Is A Church? If we take away all the non-essentials, we would have Jesus and at least two people who have come together in His name. Two people, who have been born again, meeting together anywhere, at anytime, with Jesus in the midst, is church at its most basic, most informal level. (The Church in the House).

This is a good starting point for looking at how church is expressed. It’s simple. It can be two or three. When a husband and wife gather at home (two or more), it is church.

Going beyond that, we find in Scripture many diverse expressions of church. When people gathered for prayer, they were the church. When Christians gathered around the supper table, it was church. When a group gathered to share songs and interact with the Word, it was church. Period. Not second rate church. Just church. The Presence-of-Jesus-in-the-midst church. Every gathering of Christians=church. Every instance of Christians “going” into the world—church.

Expressions of church, since it is the expression of people gathering and going under the movement of the Spirit, can be as varied and diverse as people themselves.

Two missionaries sharing the Good News in an igloo in Greenland—church. Christian friends enjoying fellowship around a barbie—church. Real church. Full-on church. No more and no less “real church” than any organized church meeting.

Here’s what Dan at Signposts has to say about one particular “church” gathering:

Last night at Haven we had a kingdom feast… A celebration of our community and the presence of Jesus. We fired up the barbie and I cooked up a storm of meat, someone brought a salad and someone else some wine. Gee it was good. The conversation was rich - covering all sorts of issues from the redfern riots, the Iraq war and why the child was running around the table continually. Fair dinkum, this is Church! Just as singing songs and hearing a sermon can be Church this can be too. It was a joy and it was a deep meaningful experience. We must do more of them!

Does this shake up our view of church? Is this a real expression of church? Have we even begun to grasp how diverse church can really be?

Does any of this really matter?

Perhaps. Many seem to feel that the box we now call “church” isn’t working! It has robbed the Holy Spirit movement of its life and power.

Check out these statements:

Alan Creech says that we need to understand and do church differently because there is a “deep lack of real transformation going on in the Body of Christ.”

Reggie McNeal says: "A growing number of people are leaving the institutional church for a new reason. They are not leaving because they have lost faith. They are leaving the church to preserve their faith."

My own quote: “Today, we usually see structure define what the church is. In this context, there is no room for the full and rich diversity of the movement of the Spirit through God's people… Could this be the reason that we are not seeing the glory of the Lord cover our neighborhoods and nations?

And: “Church-as-we-know-it has become a box to live within, not a movement to participate in.”

Thoughts?

Go to Part 2: Participatory Church

The Passion Movie

(If you are looking for the House Church Basics Pt. 1, scroll down to the next post.)

Most of us will see The Passion movie over the next few days. I will be viewing it Friday night. I would love to have us weigh on this one question:

Will this movie have an impact on unbelievers/unchurched? What kind of impact?

WaterCarriers suggests that it will only have an impact on unbelievers who we, as Christians, are already in relationship with:

I believe that if you are living in authentic relationship with unbelievers then take them and this film will cause great discussions and maybe with God’s Grace some will come to truly know Him. But please don’t take those you are not living missionally among. This movie is about a relationship and friends. Take one to see it!

This is a house church thought. Impacting others is about relationship. Can a movie transform people without this?

Come back to this site after you see the movie. Share your thought on: What kind of impact will it have on the non-Christian?

(House Church Blog is an interactive forum for house church, church planting, and related topics. Feel free to post comments!)

House Church Basics -- Part 1-A: What Is Church?

Our first challenge in grasping what God intends church to be, is to stop looking at it through the lens of our background and through the lens of 2,000 years of “church” as a formal institution.

Dee Hock says:

"The problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get old ones out. Every mind is a building filled with archaic furniture. Clean out a corner of your mind, and creativity will instantly fill it."

So our first challenge is to de-program old definitions and wrestle with some accurate new ones.

Let’s start with a basic New Testament definition of church. The Greek word for “church” is “ekklesia” which simply refers to those who were "called out" for an assembly or meeting. It was a non-religious word. It just referred to a group of people. In this case, the group of people who were followers of Jesus.

It really is and must be that simple!

Church is not an organization, building, or meeting of any kind. It’s simply a group of people who follow Christ.

Robert Fitts provides some additional information at DAWN ministries:

Jesus used a common word when he said, "I will build my church." It was not a religious word. It simply meant a called out group, or crowd, or fellowship, or assembly. So we can use the word church when it communicates what we are saying, but we can also use the word fellowship, or gathering, or brethren, or saints, or disciples. It simply means a group of people.

It’s very helpful to define “church” clearly. The temptation is to go around this issue and ask secondary questions: “How is church expressed?” “What will the gathering of believers look like when they come together?” But these are secondary questions!! We must be clear first of all what church is, then and only then can we understand how church is to be expressed.

Church, in essence, is simply a collective group of followers.

Consider this definition of church:

A loose-knit network of Jesus followers who gather together to encourage each other in their spiritual life and who go out, moved by the Holy Spirit, sharing and demonstrating the Gospel.

Loose-knit. Not formal membership, just a love-commitment to God and each other.

Jesus followers. The basic requirement for membership in the church.

Who gather together. Gathering to build one another up and to worship.

Who go out. The purpose of believers… to GO with the message.

Moved by the Holy Spirit. The one and only LEADER of the church.

Sharing and demonstrating the gospel. The reason that the church GOES.

Neither the church gatherings, nor the church’s “goings” had to have anything other than believers + the Holy Spirit. Nothing else was necessary for church to be church. Sometimes apostles were present, many times not. Sometimes elders were present, many times not. The church really is the followers of Jesus who engaged in gathering and going.

As we think this through, I would like to suggest the reading of a “Description of a House Church.” This is an expression of church that is based upon, I believe, an accurate definition of “church.” This is not, by any means, the only expression of church. It’s just one of many. Early church gatherings and expressions were very diverse. But as you read this, ask yourself if it is built solidly on the definition of what church really is. Why? Why not? Click the link and read it!

I would love to hear some reactions to both the definition of church presented here (loose-knit network of Jesus followers, etc… ) and this house church description.

Go to Part 1-B: What Is Church?

(House Church Blog is an interactive forum for house church, church planting, and related topics. Feel free to post comments!)

Blogging

If you are newer to blogging... I just want to point you to my Blogging: How To.

RSS feeds are changing the way some, including myself, are surfing the web. Many sites, including blogs, are offering regularly updated material or current news through "feeds" that can be gathered and looked at in one place. This is already discussed in the Blogging: How To article.

It's useful to note, however, that one can now gather information from many different sources depending on your interests. RSS feeds can bring you updates, not only on news and blogs, but also your hobbies, areas of interest, or just things you are currently studying or interested in. You can stay current or informed in many different areas easily. One directory for this is CompleteRss. You choose the feeds you want, or delete them if you no longer read them. This allows you to fully customize the information that comes at you. You are in control and the info you want is easily accesssible! Happy blogging!

Church Membership

One of our energized discussions at church this weekend revolved around the concept of membership. We were aware that, even in a house church that does not have formal "membership," it's still possible to develop a subtle sense of "we" as opposed to "them." We can find ourselves thinking that we are part of "this" church or "this kind of church" which becomes, in a sense, an informal membership badge. There is such a nasty little thing in each of us that seeks to be part of something "special." We want a place to belong, a people to belong to, so we create unhealthy we-them-isms so that we can enjoy being the "we."

We decided that we wanted to be intentional about living and declaring a primary loyalty to the Body of Christ, not to any sub-group of the church. It's not that we were promoting something else; we just realized that if we were not purposeful in this area, the tendency, even for organic house churches, is to drift into forms of worldly loyalty. We determined to actively and purposefully promote a THE church perspective rather than an OUR church one.

So... as a starting point... I have a tentative "membership" statement to offer. It's in rough form, but it may be something to build on as a tool for intentionally training ourselves and others in "membership":

• We affirm that we are, first and foremost, members of the one, true, universal church of Jesus Christ, also known as the Body of Christ. We affirm that we (as Christians) are members of the church and that no other membership is necessary. (Eph. 3:4-5)

• We believe that the way Christianity is sometimes practiced today leads to worldly loyalties that can create unhealthy division and disharmony within the Body of Christ. We affirm that God wants the church to rise above man-made affinities. (1 Cor. 1:12-13)

• We believe that Christians are to gather together for prayer, building one another up, breaking bread, and worship as often as possible. We affirm all types of such gatherings regardless of size, location, or who is present. We recognize that technology has broadened the possibilities for alternate ways to gather. (Acts 2:46-47)

• We affirm the validity of every church expression and gathering without giving higher regard to any one type of gathering, time of gathering, place of gathering, or who is “officiating” (if anyone). (Eph. 4:25; 1 Cor. 14:26)

I recognize that this is just a starting point. But I think it's a useful dialogue. Suggestions?

(House Church Blog is an interactive forum for house church, church planting, and related topics. Feel free to post comments.)

Church Planting Lessons

Darren at Living Room posted 10 "Church Planting Lessons." Here is an overview:

1. DNA - Get some sort of DNA/Core Values etc together.
2. Mission needs to be central.
3. Read 'The Shaping of Things to Come' - by Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost. It is the best thing I've read written about missional church.
4. Multiplication rather than Addition.
5. Simplicity - Replica-table.
6. Incarnation... because our approach to mission and church is incarnational.
7. Sending vs Attractional approach.
8. Participation is key.
9. Community - Shared life.
10. Have fun!

Get the full scoop at his site.
I would love to hear from others what they have learned in the process of planting churches!!!

House Church 101

Beginning February 24:

12 Interactive "Lessons" that will help us discuss many of the key components of house church:
• What is church?
• How participatory church funtions
• How to be a missional church
• The building blocks of community
• What about leadership?
• Worship and gatherings
• More

Church Membership

Terms You Will Not See In the Bible:
• “This is my church.”
• “I go to church.”
• “I am a member of ‘such-and-such’ church.”
• “I belong to the ‘such-and-such’ church.”
• “I attend church.”
• “I was accepted into membership at church.”
• “My pastor.”
• “Come to my church.”
• “I changed churches.”

Terms You Do See In the Bible:
• “We are all one body…” (Eph. 4:4)
• “There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism…” (Eph. 4:5)
• “Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit…” (Eph. 4:3)
• “You are members of God's family.” (Eph. 2:19)
• “For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace…” (Col. 3:15)
• “…for we are all members of one body.” (Eph. 4:25)
• “the church in Jerusalem,” “the church in Antioch” (Acts 11:22; 13:1)
• “let us aim for harmony in the church…” (Rom. 14:19)
• “Christ and the church are one.” (Eph. 5:32)

We are all members of the church. Glory!

(House Church Blog is an interactive forum for house church, church planting, and related topics. Feel free to post comments.)

The Present Future

John White has passed along an excellent review of "The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church" by Reggie McNeal.

Following is John's review:

Reggie is a denominational guy. (He's a consultant for the Southern Baptists.) He is writing to traditional church people but what he says is highly relevant to house church people as well. His insights are shocking (in a good sense).

In each chapter, Reggie presents a "new reality" that the church must face. "Each reality requires the church to shift its thinking from answering the wrong question to pursuing the implications of a tough question." (p.xvi)

Here are a few quotes from Chapter One:

Why Change Church?

Alan Creech seeks to answer the important question, "why we do church a different way." His response is this:

We have looked and we have seen the deep lack of real transformation going on in the Body of Christ. We aren't - we haven't been - being changed into the people we were created to be. And we have seen that the context of our Christian lives has had a good deal to do with this lack of transformation.

I agree with Alan and would add that, not only are we not seeing transformation, we are not seeing the full expression of what Christ's Body, family, community is meant to look like. The church is the expression of God's people. The church is the people. The church ought to be the expression of the full diversity of God's people and the community that they live in with each other. Instead, the church has often limited the expressions of God's people, and the nature of community.

In my own experience, I felt that God gave me the ability to run and the church offered me a track to run on-- around and around. It took me many years to discover that, no, I was meant to run cross country... off the circular track. The church had no capacity to facilitate this diversity. It has limited the diversity of God's people rather than served it.

The first century church was not a static "thing," rather, by defintion, it was a living, missional, people-movement. The church took it's shape from the people who were being moved by the Spirit, seeking to live in relationship with God, fulfill His purposes, and live in love-one-another community. God's diverse people, led by the Spirit (along with principles and truth), became the definition of what the church was. Structures accomodated the movement.

In contrast, today, we usually see structure define the church. In this context, there is no room for the full and rich diversity of the "movement of the Spirit through God's people." What a tragic loss to both God's people and the world God longs to touch. How sad it is to travel the globe and see the exact same church structures which now limit the movement (and the diverse expression of Christ through His people) rather than respond to it and support it.

So... my added response to Alan's comments about wanting to see God's people transformed is: Yes, and amen. And... I long to see God more fully expressed through His people so that, indeed, His glory will cover the earth.