Christian Living
The End of the Church as We Know it? PART 1
"... we must return to the dynamism of the early church, which was a 'go' church. It didn't bring people to church but took the church to the people. That's why we need a completely new house- and cell-church movement, which plants tens of thousands of 'go' churches in as many houses and neighborhoods as possible."- Dr. Jack Dennison, CitiReach
CHRISTIANS, GO HOME!
A growing number of American Christians - Catholics and Evangelicals alike - are talking about the down-sizing of the established Church as we know it. The rise of House Churches, Simple Churches, Organic Churches, Cell Churches, Open Churches and Church-planting Movements indicate the growing level of discontent with Church-As-Usual. This is true among Church leaders as well as the Christian populace. As one Blogger wrote: "The era of spectator Christianity is now ending because the urgency of our present cultural crisis in America and abroad simply won't permit it!"
While Christianity seems to be flourishing in Africa, Asia and Latin America, many believe it is dying in the U.S. and is wheezing on its deathbed in Europe and Canada. As America enters what many refer to as the "Post Christian Era" (I prefer the phrase Post Edifice Era), with Islam on the rise and the level of sin in our culture soaring out of control, an alarm seems to be going off deep within the hearts of many followers of Christ.
As was already mentioned, House Churches are NOT exclusively an Evangelical notion. Not only is House Church extremely common among Catholics in China as well as Cuba, but small groups are alive and well in the American Catholic Church, too. House Churches ARE within the tradition of Catholicism and a recent study identified 37,000 small faith communities, and some estimates place the number at 45,000 to 50,000. Like the rest of us, the Roman Catholic Church appears to have recognized the need for laity leadership and a more intimate level of fellowship as a stop-gap to rapidly decreasing numbers in their own ranks. In 1988, Father Art Baranowski published Creating Small Faith Communities: A Plan for Restructuring the Parish and Renewing Catholic Life. His book was a blueprint for establishing small church communities of faith and prayer. (SOURCE: U.S. Catholic, Jan 2002 (Vol 67, No 1). Pages 18-23).
We've all seen and heard the reports of the rise and success of America's Home Schooling movement. The victory of a homeschooled 13-year-old girl in the National Spelling Bee in May of '97 called attention to the growing popularity and success of homeschooling. Today, estimates of the number of homeschooled children vary greatly with some estimating that there may be as many as 1.23 million kids homeschooled in the United States alone!
The homeschool movement helped the Church to take a quantum leap, restoring the proper role of Christian parents as the primary educators in the Kingdom of God. As it is in the Physical realm, so it is in the Spiritual realm. Covenant, Relationship and Accountability not only serve as cornerstones of healthy American homeschooling families, but are that upon which the House Church movement is being built as well. God appears to be restoring the proper role of the ekklesia - the "Called Out Ones" - as the primary reproducers of His Kingdom, taking it away from the institutionalized church. This is the only conceivable explanation as to why Christian homes are now the place where observable, sustainable Church growth is currently occurring; they are in synch with God's desire to grow His Kingdom horizontally rather than vertically.
Regarding the ever-increasing size of the House Church movement, James Rutz, Author of Megashift and The Open Church, reports that it is "...about halfway between the Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention (which is the second-largest denomination in the U.S.). OK now, let's inhale. I'm stunned, too. This really is starting to alter the landscape for all of us."
"This is the new, coming Church - it's what you will probably be in in the future."- James Rutz, Author
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BARNA
Something is happening all around us that is forever changing the landscape of the American Church as we know it. Christians are dipping their toes in the waters of change and more and more are diving in, joyfully splashing about like children. Though this movement is still in its infancy, this giant baby is getting too big to be ignored.
Where do those who identify themselves as American Christians currently go to experience their religious faith traditions? According to the Barna Group, a polling firm that focuses on religious faith in the U.S., their 2006 report reflected some eye-opening results.
James Rutz, Author of Megashift and The Open Church, commenting on Barna's report, stated, "These are solid numbers. George Barna, the leading U.S. church pollster and perhaps the most widely quoted Christian leader in America...employ[s] all the professional safeguards to ensure tight results..."
Following are the findings of the revealing Barna 2006 report:
In a typical WEEK, 9 percent of U.S. adults attend a House Church, roughly 20 million people.
In a typical MONTH, about 43 million U.S. adults attend a House Church.
All told, 70 million U.S. adults have at least EXPERIMENTED with participation in a House Church.
Focusing only on those who attend some form of church (which is about 43 percent of us), 74 percent attend ONLY a traditional church, 19 percent attend both a traditional AND a House Church, and 5 percent are House Church adherants ONLY.
The study counted only attendance at House Churches, not small groups ("cells") that are generally a bolt-on program of a traditional church.
Barna predicts that within 20 years, this House Churching group - one that he refers to as "Revolutionaries" - will comprise nearly 70% of U.S. Christians, leaving only 30-35 percent (primarily, aging Christians) in traditional church settings.
Read that again...he's predicting that this radical shift will happen WITHIN the next twenty years! Though some may feel this can not be possible, the question remains, "If Barna is right, will YOU be ready?"
"There's a huge shift that's going on in the Church landscape of America." - John White, DAWN Ministries
THE CLOUD MOVES. THE PARADIGM SHIFTS.
In a 2005 Newsweek cover story, writer Jerry Adler found "a flowering of spirituality" in America that seemed to be occurring OUTSIDE the walls of traditional church. "Whatever is going on here, it’s not an explosion of people going to church," Adler said.
"Spirituality," or "the impulse to seek communion with the Divine," he observed, "is thriving." Adler cited a Newsweek/Beliefnet Poll which found that "more Americans, especially younger than 60, described themselves as ‘spiritual’ (79%) than ‘religious’ (64%)."
In the wake of America’s rich heritage of political, economic and, over the last 40 years, sexual freedom, these days a spirit of religious individualism seems to be flourishing. Harvey Cox, professor at Harvard Divinity School, wrote: "More and more people view the world’s religious traditions as a buffet from which they can pick and choose."
The trend has tremendous ramifications for religious hierarchy, which Cox said is "crumbling fast." He said, "The notions of consumer choice and local control have stormed the religious realm, and decentralization of faith is now the order of the day. Religious leaders who once could command, instruct, and expel now must cajole, persuade, and compete."
When it comes to denominations, Cox added. "...‘brand loyalty’ is a thing of the past."
"Some Evangelicals are abandoning megachurches for minichurches based in their own living rooms. There is no pastor, choir or sermon just...believers and Jesus among them, closer than their breath." - Time Magazine, March 6, 2006
The End of the Church as We Know it? PART 2
"Church is God's people involved in doing God's business...it is absolutely essential that lay people start churches." - David Watson, City Team Ministries
LEAVING CHURCH TO FIND GOD
Researcher and Sociologist George Barna believes many Christians are looking for things they find lacking in many churches.
"Americans remain unconvinced of the necessity of the collective faith experience," he said. "This is partially because the typical church model esteems attendance rather than interaction and immersion..."
Barna states emphatically that "the Bible is unambiguous about the importance of experiencing God through a shared faith journey, and Jesus’ example leaves no room for doubt about the significance of involvement in a faith community…."
Though a significant number of people appear to be leaving the traditional churches, many appear to be opting for a more informal pursuit of the Christian life through House Churches. In the last decade alone, according to Barna, the percentage of adults who attend a House Church during a typical week grew from just 1% to 9%. If monthly attendance is considered, Barna said "one out of five adults attends a house church at least once a month."
If the growing popularity of House Church is an indication that the institutional church model is no longer meeting the basic spiritual needs of the Saints, perhaps some honest soul-searching on the part of church leaders is in order. To those who see this as a threat to the local church, they mustn't forget that this IS the local church.
"Developing a Biblical understanding of the preeminence of community life will take intentional leadership, strategic action and time," Barna added.
Rest assured that no Christian movement will last very long if it does not center on exalting and obeying the teachings of Jesus Christ.
"We're shifting from the day of the ordained to the day of the ordinary where God indeed ordains the ordinary to do His work...we've elevated how we "do Church" to such a status that it takes a professional - and even, in most cases, a professional team - to pull it off." - Neil Cole, Greenhouse
THE FIRM FOUNDATIONS OF HOUSE CHURCH
The call to serve in any context is REALLY the call to PREPARE. Crisis produces character; we will ALWAYS find out what we're made of. How strong is your family? Your Church? Your nation? Your faith? Rest assured, the test WILL come. Isaiah 26:9 declares, "When judgement comes it teaches people righteousness." As things upon this "ball of confusion" get worse and worse, the cream of Christianity WILL rise to the top. As the culture gets gloriously darker, it is going to require more Christians who know how to pray, think and steward God's resources strategically, without buckling under the strain. The American Church will have no choice but to learn interdependence as it hasn't had to do since Plymouth Rock. It is this critical mass of "preparing saints" who are right now rediscovering the dynamics of the New Testament House Church lifestyle. They sense that being a "Sunday Saint" was not going to empower them for the days that lie ahead.
Right thinking precedes right actions. Romans 12:2 says, "Be not conformed to this world's thinking, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Christians today appear to be hungering to return to God, many stating that they had to leave traditional Christianity in order to "find Him." Many of the things we've always known and have become comfortable with are being systematically dismantled and replaced by a proper, biblical foundation designed specifically for taking ground in huge chunks in order to advance the Kingdom of God.
The House Church is the perfect vehicle for releasing Christians to function as the Scriptures describe the New Testament Church functioning in order for widespread expansion to occur (you did NOT hear me state that House Church was perfect...it's not). Some attendees will bring forth spiritual songs, others hymns, some others will bring teachings, exhortations and prophecies into their gatherings and are being given the opportunity to share openly, unashamedly, with the whole body, knowing that, in the event they "miss God' while exercising their gifts, the unconditional love of like-minded Believers will encourage them to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and try again later. This is the ONLY way to train, equip and release the saints into ministry in greater numbers.
The "one-man-show" approach is slowly becoming a relic of Christianity Past as team ministry, plurality of leadership and the "body fitly joined" mindset becomes more and more the Christian focus. This demands a new level of humility, faith and service by those currently in Church leadership, characteristics that God is requiring of those who have a healthy self-image, not defined by their official, though unbiblical, office title. Why shouldn't existing Church leaders desire something else when it's obvious that what we're doing currently is not working? In an article entitled "Death by Ministry," the following statistics were revealed:
1,500 American pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
50% of American pastors' marriages will end in divorce.
80% of American pastors and 84% of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.
On the other hand, House Churching Christians trust only the Holy Spirit to lead His Church, so that the manmade "order of worship" need not be etched in stone. Such an Open Church style of the future may seem risky to some, but line upon line, any objections directed at House Church are comparable to the problems that have long been experienced in traditional settings, MINUS the abusive pressure we place upon those we esteem as "pastors." From heretical teachings to spiritual abuse, where humans are involved, these obstacles have been present nearly 2,000 years. The most exciting potential benefit of House Church, however, is the strengthening of the WHOLE Body - individually and corpirately, with mutual, undistracted focus being placed upon the Head, Jesus Christ the King. This is something that has not happened under the current system. Not since the early Church, in fact. So, lest we bow to the definition of insanity, i.e., doing the same exact thing over and over but expecting a different result, today's Christian is "opting out" in a desperate attempt to grow in their faith until we can all see this thing with all cylinders firing.
When the Church begins to function with a Purpose-Driven unity, that being the advancement of the Divine Government of God and NOT the expansion of each group's own congregational or denominational empire, they will begin to discover the need for one another. Periodic inter-church gatherings will eventually usher in citywide corporate gatherings, concerts of prayer, praise and worship that will further serve to bind us together.
The early signs of this can be seen in our own House Church ministry here in Stephenville, Texas. Using only the Internet - email broadcasts, web pages and press releases - the Stephenville House Church has been gathering with groups meeting in Fort Worth, Carrollton, Lingleville, members of which have organized a January conference that has attracted House Churchers from as far away as Kenya, Nigeria, Tennessee, Massachusetts, all requesting DVD's of the event. Not only that, but several times a year, we join Christians from various local denominations and go door-to-door in something called "Operation: Jesus!" Participants pair up and canvass the community asking how they can pray for the residents, establishing "cross -stream" relationships in the process. This dynamic was also experienced among the Christian workforce in our community as many were awakened to the key role that God has given them in advancing God's Kingdom in the marketplace. Over 100 people representing many mainline denominations attended the 8-week "Brown Bag Bible Studies" held in the conference room of a local bank and facilitated by yours truly. In addition, throughout small towns in North Central Texas, dozens from the ranks of the Christian workforce are gathering in conference rooms of nursing homes several days a week in what some refer to either as the only church they feel welcome in, or as a great substitute for the service they missed due to their busy schedules. Through this "Simple Church" they are learning that they ARE the Church 24/7, regardless of any affiliations, facilities, or the lack thereof.
Add it all up and one can't help but feel that the House Church movement is clearly the foundation for the next move of God. It's something we can build upon, but it will take patience. Christians are waking up to the fact that "Church" is not someplace you GO - it's something you ARE. Yes, as the kingdoms of this world become increasingly unrighteousness, the Kingdom of God is increasing in righteousness, something Jesus explained in the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt. 13: 37-43) where they both grow side by side. Notice that it's not our job to pull weeds, but rather to sow and grow crops in prepartion for the harvest.
"If we are really going to effect the nations of the world and multiply at the pace God wants us to multiply, it has to be done much simpler...Jesus is trying to get His Church back." - Tony Fitzgerald, Church of the Nations
THE CHURCH OF THE FUTURE
Imagine walking into a Christian home and seeing people functioning in the following ways:
Eighteen people seated on couches, chairs and on the floor are eager share and hear what God has done among them this week.
Lives are transformed before your eyes as people learn to ask for prayer and others learn to pray.
Several speakers give clear, impassioned messages - because a teacher allows them to exercise the gift of Teaching
Occasional clapping or laughter occurs as the congregation praises God for something He's done in someone's life. Youngsters even get involved.
People who never spoke before find courage to speak from their hearts as relationships are forged. It's what familes do, after all.
Time disappears as everyone gets caught up in the excitement of lives being transformed and hearts being healed, and after two and a half hours and a meal fit for a king, no one wants to leave.
This is not an idealistic description of the textbook House Church. It's not a House Church meeting ten years from now either. This is a picture of what the Spirit of God is doing around the world, right now. In fact, this describes a meeting last Sunday at a Texas home where I attended. What is causing these things to happen? God is revolutionizing His Church...the Church of the very near future, a future in which everyone matters and no paid staff is overworked or frustrated. Money collected can be used to assist human needs from within their own community or from across the globe, not spent on overhead: property, salaries or office equipment.
At its center, the Church of twenty years from now will be an open church, with pure worship, true sharing, and free ministry, filled with empowered people who understand the need to "GO" and make disciples, becoming fishers of men, rather than hunkering down and getting comfortable, waiting for the fish to jump into the boat. Most of all, though still in its rapidly-growing infancy, what's happening is already showing signs of creating the working unity Jesus prayed for in John 17. It will be His Church, the explosive New Testament Church in all its resurrected splendor, stinking grave clothes left lying in a pile in the empty tomb.
"Some leaders will actually disband their organizations when they realize they are no longer relevant to what God is doing...In becoming part of this harvest, all circles of ministry or influence with individual identities will ultimately dissolve into a single identity of simply being Christian." - Rick Joyner (1993)
THE ATTACK OF THE GIANT BABY
In many countries, the House Church is simply getting too large to remain below radar any longer. We've been spotted and the critics can no longer ignore this movement. They can plainly see that this is not some passing fad. For the first 300 years of Christianity, the Church functioned through homes in just this way. Church buildings didn't become common until the fourth century, when the Roman Emperor Constantine outlawed meetings in the home and began erecting "church" buildings with Roman tax money, or utilizing pagan temples for Christian gatherings. After that, he decreed that everyone would join his state religion. As in many parts of the world today, those who chose NOT to join, preferring to adhere to the New Testament model, had to go underground and lay low under the constant threat of persecution. Today, for anyone desiring to find a biblical model of the Church, the ancient House Church remains the Biblical standard.
The world's largest branch of the Church (120 million) is in China where 90% can be found "churching" in homes. According to James Rutz, Author of Megashift and the Open Church, "The cover story in...World magazine (June 24, 2006) is on how Christian business leaders in China are beginning to change the whole situation in that country. Yes, even while Christians in many provinces are hunted down and tortured, CEOs of corporations in areas with freedom are changing the way government looks at Christianity. That is major."
Rutz said, "...Worldwide, the original Church is back, re-creating the biblical model: "Day after day, they met by common consent in the Temple Courts and broke bread from house to house." (Acts 2:46) God is again pouring out His power on plain folks, bringing a megashift – not in our doctrine, but in our entire lifestyle." He added, "House churches in North America are no longer seen as being in conflict with the traditional church. In fact, much to our amazement, noted leaders like Rick Warren have recently come out strongly in favor of house churches. Saddleback Church is even sending out their own members as "missionaries" to start house church networks! And just last week, John Arnott of Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship asked me, as a House Church spokesman, to speak at his big annual conference. Unheard of. Of course, many Christians will prefer to stay in their traditional roles, and that's OK. But now there is a strong alternative for ambitious souls who are crying out to do more, to have more, to be more."
It's God's Church and He will do with it as He wills. When all His army units are deployed, marching forth in unison as the army of locusts referred to in Joel Chapter 2, each of us focused upon the one common denominator that we all posses, i.e.,our King Jesus, well...the dark side doesn't stand a snowball's chance against this kid.
"...believers gathering in informal settings [in] homes, rented store-fronts, outdoors and apartments apparently provides the best context for the 58 "one anothers" [in the Bible] to be fleshed out." - Jon Zens, Editor of "Searching Together"
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" According to James Rutz, Author of Megashift and the Open Church,"---before I go on to say that this is good stuff and forget why I copied this: This was stated 3 times and I'm sure, judging on your ability to write, that there certainly has to be another way of citing Mr. Rutz. It would be natural for me to say that I enjoyed reading this, perhaps because I've lead the home church that meets here. This reads like a CT editorial, which I think are your intentions; at least its CT quality writing. Informative, insightful but not as colloquial as I like, but a good read nonetheless.
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