House Church, Malcom X, Closer…

February 4, 2005

One major structural reformation that “Houses that change the world” has been suggesting is the renewal of cell/city churches. Wolfgang Simson suggests that our many current congregational-type churches are structural compromises, much like a marriage between a mouse and an elephant.

The church for the first three centuries after Christ flourished in homes, that allowed for an organic place of belonging and accountability. The house churches also gathered together for city-wide celebrations to hear apostolic teaching and encounter prophetic vision, while drawing more people in publically. This is why Paul wrote letters to city-churches. It was not until Emperor Constantine in the fourth-century that the congregation-type church was introduced. With this, the church became an audience under professional leadership, losing out on the powerful dynamics of both the cell and celebration.

A church that not only has a message, but is a message.

Something which spreads like an unstoppable virus, infects whatever it touches, and ultimately covers the earth with the glory and knowledge of God.

It matures under tears, multiplies under pressure, breathes under water, grows under the carpet; it flourishes in the desert, sees in the dark and thrives in the midst of chaos.

The image of much contemporary Christianity could be summarized as holy people coming regularly to a holy place on a holy day at a holy hour to participate in a holy ritual led by a holy man dressed in holy clothes for a holy fee.

I love this Simson’s writing. He even apologizes at the beginning of the book for his poor writing since English is not his native tongue. Definitely lots more to ponder.

We watched Malcolm X for our date night. What an incredible movie of faith. It brought back memories of when I had first watched the film almost a decade ago. It was one of the first sparks of hope that my life too might one day be different from the way it started. Though his story centers around the Muslim faith, I remember reading his autobiography after and as a teenager being completely captivated by his journey from the dregs of society to a leader of a movement.

I led discussions in our discovering God group and our small group this week. It’s amazing how there have been a common threads in the themes of both groups. Maybe it’s just me. I absolutely love drawing people of all types closer to the heart of God. Now if only I could get a little closer

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One Response to “House Church, Malcom X, Closer…”

mrclm said:

April 6th, 2005 at 1:24 am

One of my professors at Bethel Sem made mention one time that the idea of the early house church is quite different from what we vision as the “house” church today. His comments centered around his studies which led him to believe the Upper Room of the earliest Christian time held something in the are of 120 people. This wasn’t some poor persons single room dwelling according to him. I haven’t studied it on my own, but he is pretty wise in these type of things. We do have a house church expert on faculty (different Prof) named Thorston Moritz.

MrCLM (Big Chris)