Finding Church

Next month I will be traveling to the beautiful country of Tanzania.  This will be my second trip.  During my first trip I was accompanied by my friend Lee who had been there previously.  Traveling with someone who knows how to get around was a great anxiety reliever and made my time there enjoyable.  

I had that same sense when reading this book.  Wayne Jacobsen feels like a loving guide who’s been there before and is trying to help navigate our journey to find true church.  You can tell he has scars from past experiences but there’s no sense of bitterness in his words.  This is a great travel guide and I would highly recommend this book if you want to have a truly enjoyable time on your journey.  An excerpt follows.  You can find more information and free resources at www.lifestream.org.

Finding a traditional congregation isn’t any more difficult than finding a McDonald’s hamburger. They are everywhere and they are not subtle about it, with ever-taller steeples and bell towers that intrude into the cityscape. But what do you do if you no longer fit into those conformity-based structures? How do you find the church Jesus is building if there’s no sign on the door?

I never foresaw the day when I’d no longer be an active member of a local congregation and getting here hasn’t been easy. As much as I respect those who still find it an important part of their spiritual life, it is no longer an important part of mine. Both of the congregations I was part of in my adult years hit a glass ceiling where the institutional needs came in conflict with the life of Jesus I was seeking. I wasn’t ready to give up on the desire to participate in his church as a vibrant community of friends cooperating with God’s unfolding work in the world, and I discovered that I could have a more fruitful connection with people and share Jesus’ life more freely without all the accoutrements, political intrigue, and routine that our institutions force on fellowship.

Most people who leave end up doing what I did, looking for another group to fill the Sunday morning void and the friendships they lost by leaving. During the last couple of decades, many have found their way into home groups and other more informal gatherings. When they come together to give rise to a community of friends sharing the life of Jesus and his heart for those around them, they can be wonderful places for the church to find expression. A home or sharing a meal is the most natural environment for us to experience his family as we focus on him and his work in us, rather than the meeting.

Unfortunately, however, an entire industry has emerged in trying to make them just another system. Sometimes called house church, simple church, or organic church, books and articles tout them as the model most consistent with the first-century church. These groups meet weekly in a home often beginning with a meal and then sharing a similar ritual to many congregations with a mix of songs, Bible study, prayer, and planning activities. While such gatherings offer the potential for a deeper relational connection, however, it doesn’t always pan out that way.

I’ve been in home groups that had more hoops to jump through than many congregations. One even had rows of folding chairs with an aisle down the middle and a lectern and piano in front of a lighted cross on the wall. House church, indeed! While most aren’t like that, it did serve as a metaphor for the many house churches that use the same dynamics of conformity to control people. Control in a small group is even more destructive. Just because people gather in smaller groups and meet in homes doesn’t make them immune from the concerns expressed in the last chapter about more traditional congregations. House churches, too, can practice religious performance and miss out on life in Christ, be captive to insecure leaders, and copy a model instead of following the Master to end up just as much an expression of human effort.

In hopes of creating an international movement a lot of time and money has been invested in refining the program, identifying spokespeople, and hosting conventions in hopes of spreading a house church model as an end-time hope to revitalize the church. As much as I have enjoyed and love the people I’ve met in that conversation, I’m afraid they are falling into the same traps that originally drove them to house church. I’ve watched these people compete for visibility and influence, push their pet programs and books, and try to build a leadership-dependent infrastructure.

The problem is not the venue; it is our preoccupation with anything other than him. Any time we try to replicate a human system, it will eventually lead people away from the new creation. Even things that start out with a lot of grace and freedom quickly become pressure-filled with obligations and expectations. Real relationships don’t need them, and utilizing them rarely fixes the problem. As with any other expression of the church, enjoy it as long as it expresses his kingdom and give it a wide berth when it no longer does.

“We’ve stopped going to church and are going to start something in our home this week. Can you give us any tips as to what we might do and what we might want to avoid?” I get that email almost every week. My counsel is always the same: Avoid starting something. Once you start some “thing” your focus will shift from connecting with people to ensuring that the “thing” goes well. Home groups, with a nucleus of people who are looking for something different, are easy to start but they are difficult to sustain when the focus is on a meeting. People will eventually grow bored with house meetings but they won’t grow bored with one another if friendship is engaged.

You will find the church easiest when you stop looking for an “it,” and simply love the people God has put around you. Start with growing friendships instead of trying to find a group to join. It was no accident that the church began at Pentecost without any strategy or preconceived notion of what it would look like. They weren’t told to start Sunday services or have midweek home groups. They simply did what their new experience with the Gospel and their engagement with his Spirit led them to do. 
Learn to follow him and then engage others around you with the reality of his kingdom and watch how that bears fruit.

Wayne Jacobsen, Finding Church