Reason #1 We Started a House Church
In my head, whenever I have a lot of reasons for something or facts that I apply to a subject, I start numbering them. But I don’t number them really well. Whenever I use one, I assign a totally random and arbitrary number to emphasize the fact that I have a bunch of reasons or facts and this is just one of many. One example is my “Rules of Parenting.” I can’t tell you how many I actually have, but the next time I bring one up, you can be sure it will be “Travis’ Rules of Parenting #867.”
Yesterday I found another group of reasons that I could number in a similar fashion: the reasons my friends and I meet as house churches instead of as a traditional congregation. And while I could probably continue to make up non-sensical numbers, I thought it might be helpful for me to truly number the reasons we do house churches in order to see how many there actually are. My hope is after a year or so of writing to have 20 or more of these that I can point people to when they begin asking me questions about house churches.
So, with no further ado, Reason #1
I was sitting at McDonald’s with the guys in my 2&3. We had basically just finished up and were about to leave when our new friend Ahmed* came up and started talking to us. We met Ahmed last week and he told us his story of his life and his journey to Christ. Ahmed also told us he was homeless. We had asked Ahmed if we could help in any way and he told us he had it taken care of.
This week, however, things had changed for Ahmed. Without going into a ton of details, he had a misunderstanding that led to falling out with his homeless shelter. I had learned previously that Ahmed was part of a church, so I asked him if his church had helped him. He gave me a legitimate reason that they had in the past but weren’t now. But the next thing he said was difficult. “I understand why they can’t always help me out. They have expenses that they need to take care of.”
My friend and I looked at each other and smiled. It was the knowing smile of two people who knew that buildings and salaries weren’t more important than the homeless follower of Jesus trying to put his life back together. Ahmed caught our quick interchange and we explained to him that we might have thought differently about his situation than he did.
And so my friends, Reason #1 why we meet as house churches is we don’t want to put buildings and salaries ahead of the legitimate needs of others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in need. Foregoing the building and the salary has helped us to never really need to be concerned about “the bottom line” of our churches when we step out to help others. Many might say they are able to do this as well with a building or salary that they need to pay. I rejoice in this fact! But I also know of many places who have had to make these hard choices and I’m not envious of that position at all.
Reason #1 has a name. Ahmed and the 10 or 15 others like him that we’ve been able to help is why we meet as house churches.
Side note: Please pray for my friend Ahmed. I believe him to be a sincere man trying to put his life back together but is in a tough spot. And pray for him to become a faithful witness of Christ in places many of us cannot reach.
Photo Credit: [Becoming.Number.One♥] by A♥
*It may go without saying, but Ahmed’s name has been changed to protect his privacy.
A Church That Is Easily Planted
A friend of mine texted me Wednesday night. He was on Thanksgiving vacation, had met with an old friend and two of his buddies, he shared the Gospel, and his friend’s two buddies gave their life to Christ. Amazing! These are the kind of stories we live for.
But my buddy took the process two steps farther. First, he set up plans to baptize the two new believers and did so two days later. This alone is a huge step because many would have waited. It was something he’s seen done and he’s done himself. This was the easy part.
The second step was he sat down with these three guys (his friend and the two new converts) and instructed them for a couple of hours on how to follow Jesus. My friend shared with them simple steps that they can do over and over that will grow them up into mature disciples. My friend has helped these guys go from unbelievers to disciples of Jesus in a couple of days.
My point is this: It’s great to be able to share the Gospel with someone, but you also have to have a discipleship path for people that you can train them in quickly and they can do themselves. Will these guys be the start of a church? It’s hard to say at this point. But they could be if they decide to walk out the path my friend set out of them.
How about you? If you were in my friend’s situation, could you not only lead them to Christ, but baptize them? And if you got that far, would you be able to sit down and explain to them how to grow into maturity? Could the new converts be the basis for a new church? If the answers to some of these questions are no, then you may be seeing why we see very few movements of people coming to Christ in our country.
What we need are empowered believers to share the Gospel. We need believers who can and do baptize others. We need simple, repeatable discipleship patterns that can exist without a curriculum but can change lives. And what we need, friends, is a church that is easily planted.
Photo Credit: Soybean Sprouts During Early Growth by United Soybean Board
True Community Begins With One Guy
It seems kind of obvious. But it’s not.
Most people are hungry for community. They want to be accepted. They want to be loved. They want to be supported. They want to feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves.
But if you look at any successful community, you will find one brave soul. This guy (or lady) wanted what everyone else wanted, but instead of looking around for a community that would serve him, asked a different question: “What will it take to make a community?”
Now the hard part probably wasn’t the sacrifice, though there would be plenty of that. The hard part was the fear: Fear of rejection, fear of being ignored, even fear of being successful. True community, real community only happens by becoming vulnerable. And vulnerability is scary. Real scary.
So the start of every true community is one person who decides to push past the fear. They make themselves vulnerable and in doing it they provide the freedom for others to do the same. Sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly, people gather and begin to share in the vulnerability that this first person was brave enough to express. Jesus Himself modeled this for us. In the end it cost Him everything, but He left behind a community called the church which changed the path of civilization as we know it.
I believe God is looking for people like this all over the earth who do this for friends, family, and neighbors. Centered around the Gospel of Jesus and the reality that God has welcomed them as sons and daughters, they turn and invite others to a table, to a family, and to a relationship that will last longer than eternity.
Maybe, just maybe, if you could get past the fear, that might be you…
Photo Credit: Lonely Traveller by Sanoop
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 