I was a member of the Baptist Tribe from birth until age 30. Then Karen and I discovered the Jesus Movement and started a House Church. There was a bunch of rag-tag kids from Cincinnati colleges that longed for freedom and peace. No one ever published a book on The Ten Biggest House Churches in America.
Why?
Because House Churches focus on quality not quantity. I saw an ad one time for a place that sold a steak so large that it was free to anyone that could eat it all at one sitting. That is similar to a mega church. No one can actually embrace a huge church. Every person is a statistic not a member. Membership has its privileges and mega churches are like TV shows; all glitz and marketing but little depth.
Big churches want to be small so they set up small groups. Small churches want to be big so they constantly try to expand. These are not sinful or wrong but they may be misplaced goals.
I follow the Model of Jesus and build deep foundations of faith, hope and love. I want to see a rise in maturity among the members but that is hard. It takes a lot of work! Talking is easy. I have been talking since I was a toddler.
Leaders who are often able to go deep themselves, since they have missed out on being a disciple. We can't lead others where we have not been ourselves.
Since few leaders have been led, discipled and equipped, they are mystified about how to do it. As a result they talk to crowds instead of mentoring a few. As a result, the dysfunctional cycle continues. The power of the Great Commission Model taught by Jesus is stifled .
Tragic!
Gary Sweeten
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1 comment:
Size does not matter. The very human problems that afflict a megachurch can afflict a house church. Scale is the only difference.
I used to think I knew what the solution is, but now I don't know if one is possible. Humility is the answer, and only in knowing Jesus can anyone acquire it. But I see so little genuine humility in anything Christian (on a national scale) anymore, it makes me wonder if a collective experience of the genuine Church is even possible today, outside of the rare community that you hear about elsewhere but can't seem to recreate locally.
This I do know: The power is in the whisper and not the thunderstorm. But everyone not only seems obsessed with the storm, they want to recreate it everywhere. Frankly, I'd rather see the Son come out and drive away that storm.
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