I Want You…To Plant A House Church
Maybe I haven’t said it before. Forgive me for not being more up front.
A major reason that I write is I believe God is calling many, many more people to the front lines of the harvest. It starts by leading unbelievers to Jesus, discipling them, training them to reach others, and in the process organic churches are formed.
Think of all the people that don’t know Christ. I know in the West we think everyone is a believer, but they’re not. Not even close. And the more relationships you build outside of the church, the more you realize there are more broken people far from God than you could count. But many of these people want Christ, they just have a misunderstanding of who He is. The harvest is gigantic.
The church as it exists cannot handle the harvest that could come in if the lost truly did come to Christ. Imagine a church of two hundred that meets in your city or town. Now imagine that church growing by another two hundred new converts. It would be chaos! The nets that we currently have aren’t strong enough to hold the catch.
But imagine a church of ten or fifteen disciples who have their hearts fixed on Christ and are growing as disciples. That church can add ten or fifteen new converts and become two or three house churches quickly without much difficulty. And as those new converts grow, they have the ability to start a house church just like the one they are part of now.
But the workers are few. I’ll tell you even though the harvest is great, the number of people actually following Jesus into the harvest, working among the lost, and discipling new converts is small. And if the harvest is truly great, we don’t have enough laborers.
So, don’t be surprised, if every once and awhile I look around at my followers on the blog and say, “Why haven’t you started a house church yet?”
There might be some good answers. But there might be some good excuses, too.
How Hospitality Leads To The Spread of the Gospel
One of the things I’ve learned about sharing the gospel with people since I started planting house churches is that there are significantly better ways to lead people to Jesus than inviting them to a church service. This is true regardless of whether you attend a house church or not.
In fact, one of the best ways you can be a light and present Jesus to those you know is to invite them into your home.
I know. Your home is your castle. Or your safe space. Or you just have a mess on your floor and you don’t want people over. I get it.
But inviting people into your home is the easiest way for people to see how a Christian really lives. It allows you to be vulnerable and share possibly the most precious thing you have with someone. All of this is an opportunity to talk about Jesus.
Don’t get me wrong. You’ll still have to share the gospel. You’ll still have to call people to repent and believe in Jesus. Just the mere fact of opening your door does not remove the obligation to speak the truth of the gospel. But it does open the doors of other peoples’ hearts for you to share the gospel with them.
This is why Jesus commands people to spread the gospel by staying at a house of peace (Luke 10:5-7), why the early church met from house to house (Acts 5:42), and why Paul wrote to Timothy and told him to only appoint leaders who “enjoy having guests in [their] home,” (1 Timothy 3:2). Jesus, Peter, John, and Paul all knew the value of welcoming outsiders into a home.
Let me tell you a quick story.
Fifteen months ago my dad purchased a used basketball hoop and dropped it off in my backyard without telling me. We put it up in our driveway and didn’t think much of it. This past spring, we started noticing young boys from our neighborhood showing up and playing basketball without asking us.
We had two choices. We could chase them away or we could take the time to build relationships with these kids and see where it went. And while the latter choice would be time consuming and mean our stuff would get used more roughly, we took it.
Eventually the boys started needing water. So we had cups with each kids name on it that we’d give them. Then we’d give them simple snacks. Before you knew it, sometimes 7-10 kids were eating at our dinner table, playing video games with our kids, and listening to Bible stories with us before bed. We chose to be a place where they would feel welcome and they kept showing up.
We’ve probably shared the gospel this year more with our neighborhood than in many of our previous years. And all of it started because we welcomed some kids who we could have easily turned away.
For you, it might not be a basketball hoop in your driveway. Maybe it’s your kitchen table and a cup of coffee with a neighbor who is struggling. Maybe it’s a meal with a young family around your dinner table. Maybe its the poker table in your basement that guys from your neighborhood gather around. But I guarantee you, if you look for ways to use your home for the gospel, something will turn up.
The question is, are you willing?
It’s Not Too Late
You still have time.
There are people you know all around you that are going to be by themselves on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. They may not have family or they may be away from home. They may not be believers: They could be atheists, Hindus, Jews, or Muslims.
Regardless, no one likes to be alone, especially when everyone else is with family and friends celebrating. And this year, probably in a way that is different from many years in the past, it’s easy for people to feel alone in our culture even if people are all around them.
So, it’s not too late. Invite an international or a friend with no family to join you as you celebrate. It will be a great chance to love and serve someone. It will also be a great chance to talk about the greatness of Jesus and the reason you celebrate.
Christmas is in two days. But you can still impact a life. Invite someone to join you.
Photo Credit: Hourglass by Nick Olejniczak
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 