Leadership

Email conversations and observations with people concerning House Church.

The Shaking that is now being felt in the Body of Christ most likely accelerated with Covid. Almost overnight, within the house churches, the true character of many houses of worship started getting exposed. In some larger, traditional churches and more rural places, churches started sharing pastors. Others closed their doors as members walked away because of issues connected with leadership.

This has caused some people to relocate and others to seek alternative solutions. These people are often misunderstood by those still entrenched within the system. As a result, they are often labeled with a collection of labels from backslidden to rebellious. When in reality, they are the people of God, sent out on an Abrahamic journey. To make this journey, they soon come to the realization that they must identify and divorce themselves from the religious programming they ingested, and that is not an easy thing.

Some have now sought out the house church movement as a solution but have found it lacking for various reasons. Because of this, some are now considering starting their own house meetings. So if you are looking, or if you are considering becoming a leader, then hopefully, what I am writing here can help you. The following are excerpts of conversations I have had online with people within the house church movement.

One would think the easiest way to move forward is to find and join a House church, but that is not as easy as you would think. First of all, the house church movement is currently experiencing “Paralysis of Leadership.” If you go to websites like housechurch.org, you will find many looking but not finding. If you talk to people who have been searching, then you find that there are issues sometimes within the house churches that drive them away, issues connected with leadership.

Glean what you can…

On the subject of Prepping and the Lifelessness in the Church.

“I think David’s second paragraph speaks to the center of the issue. As we are now reaping the whirlwind of centuries of self-centered religious constructs. The Reformation did a good job of getting people pointed in the right direction, but Luther did little to connect people to the Father’s heart.

In reality, it only gave the people another “system” to attach to. We simply exchanged one system for another. Right now the bulk of the Body of Christ is still interconnected with the church system.

Pastors & denominational heads will do whatever they feel justified in doing to protect their market share of believers. Yes, we are a market commodity, and each week, we return for our weekly religious dose of either entertainment or condemning preaching. This endless cycle produces little spiritual fruit, but it produces an undercurrent of unrest all around us. Not only within the body but some pastors as well as they feel “stuck” in a system that bears little resemblance to the things Jesus promised.”

In Response to the statement “Must have An Official Church Planter.”

“We are way too consumed by the form of “church” and not the life. Quite often we do not start new things like house projects, new jobs, or other things because we look at ourselves and see what we do not have.

This is a direct result of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Because of this, we see everything that takes place in a brick-and-mortar church down the road, and we become intimidated or overwhelmed by the thought of taking on such a task. But let me just say this: that is man’s vision, not God's. You are just called to assemble. To Assemble is as simple as sharing a meal on a constant basis. Don’t even worry about adding spiritual elements to it in the beginning, that will come in time. Fellowship and common unity (community) will grow as you assemble in the Lord's name.”

On the Topic of what House churches should be

“We need a basic rediscovery of what we are, not what we are told we should be. Case in point: in a typical brick-and-mortar congregation, everyone’s eyes are on the pastor. They are watching the show, and despite how they dress up their motives, it still comes across as entertainment. Yes, this is the case in mega churches and, to a lesser degree, smaller ones… but it is still there.

So, with that in mind, do we re-create the same dog and pony show when we plant a new congregation in a house? Have we escaped the problem? No, we have not. The reality is that our total focus needs to change.

Modern congregations are created in the image of a corporation, not a community. In this model, everything and everyone attends to serve the center, this helps to keep the ‘church’ monster breathing and well-fed. Yes, I am being very blunt here, but these are my true thoughts.”

Email exchange, helping another believer.

“…a couple of things. One is we grow where we are planted. Of course, the question is, where are you to be planted? The second thing is most of us who are coming out of the corporate church system need time to “detox” from that kind of thinking. The ones I know who are doing better often have done it in a house church-type setting, but there are two downsides to this.

The first one is that everyone coming out of the system and jumping into a house church subconsciously tries to turn it into what they just left. I have personally run into this more than once. The second thing is, in the house church movement, there is currently a lack of leaders. Part of this is because of false teaching about leadership, and part of this is because young leaders think they must re-create the system they just left.

My view is that such people should be in the process of helping the timid and wounded into becoming future leaders that others can receive help from. I believe this pleases the Father’s heart, and he likes to bless this kind of Kingdom multiplication.

What is needed is flexible leaders who are hospitable, kind, and loving but firm to gently guide people out of the system and into new life. There are places right now currently in need of these kinds of leaders.”

As well as.

“…let me hand you another perspective that may help you. One of the things that get us “stuck” in this endless cycle with no end is the false idea of perfection or needing to be complete in things before moving forward with the purposes God has for our lives. God never asked for us to be complete but to follow.

We learn to start where we are at, still wounded, still flinching at comments. But the Lord knows this. The reality is we all have something we can contribute, even if it's very small. Once we understand that we can help one person, then healing can begin. The degree, we can help, the one is the degree to which healing can come to us.

What I am saying is that by spiritually sowing healing in someone, the same comes to you. This is part of the law of sowing and reaping. We sow what we need so that we may reap a harvest later.

God loves the wounded warriors, but he does not leave them wounded. He uses this as part of our pathway to freedom and healing, and such things are often a humble road.