Sunday, May 4, 2008
Lately I’ve been reading a lot of stuff on the Simple Church/ House Church movement... Christians gathering together in smaller groups in houses rather than in church buildings. The reason, they say, is because they want to connect more fully and deeply with God. They yearn for a first-hand experience of their faith rather than a pre-digested, programmed experience of it.
They don’t want to pay someone to care for the poor, they want to care for the poor, personally.
They don’t want to pay someone to organize a committee to serve meals, they just want to cook it and go.
They don’t want to hear a 20 minute presentation about how they should love their neighbors as themselves, they want to personally engage in dialogue about how to put this into practice, in real life, tomorrow morning when they go to work.
They don’t want to submit a prayer request to a member of the church staff for attention, they want to pray for each others’ needs personally before the meeting even ends and they head back home.
At least, that’s my sense of it. I see similar dynamics at work in the House Church that I’m a part of—people engaged in ministry, first-hand, some for the first time. I’m hopeful that the Simple Church movement can help Christians be the church in more authentic ways, instead of just going to church.