I want to step back for a moment and talk about coexistence. First, let me quote myself:

It is not my goal to trash traditional churches - God has used and continues to use them for His purposes. But it is difficult to discuss the benefits of a house church without comparing them to, and viewing the deficiencies of, a traditional church.

I meant what I said there. I don't think that house churches have everything right, and that traditional churches have everything wrong. I certainly don't think that anyone attending a traditional church is wrong, or that God isn't interested and involved in what traditional churches are doing.

My brother has been involved in house churches for years. My sister and her husband started one about a year ago. I'm just now jumping in and discovering for myself what this is all about.

While I will certainly be drawn to something through my own experience with it, I also tend to analyze things before I really commit. What I'm really trying to do with this series is share both of those processes with you - both from my personal experience, and also from the ways in which house church just makes sense to me.

I've also discovered, and many of you have known for some time, that I'm just an extreme kind of guy. I think extreme measures are often the best way to address problems:

On taxes, let's scrap the IRS and replace it with the FairTax, a consumption tax.

To fix politics, I think we need to repeal the 17th amendment - which calls for popular elections for Senators - before that, Senators were elected by state legislatures, and therefore represented the states, not the people. (I got this idea from reading Zell Miller's book, but the idea has been around for longer than that.)

On education, we need to have vouchers to allow parents to choose what schools their children go to, and where the funding goes, so that competition motivates innovation.

I'm into big fixes, scrapping one system in favor of another, especially when the new system is not only better, but simpler.

To me, house church is another big fix. It's a major shift from what I've been involved with in the past. And I want to share why we're doing this, how it's different, and not just that I think it's better, but why I think it's better. Of course, our experience with it is limited, and just like anything we'll learn more as we go along. That's part of any major shift.

The thing about this "big fix," unlike the other ones I tend to gravitate towards, is that it doesn't require everyone to jump on board before anyone can experience it.

So what about coexistence? It's just going to be a part of this. Despite the fact that there is a significant trend towards house churches, I don't think traditional churches will ever go completely away - they will always represent some portion of my brothers and sisters in Christ. I think both can lean on and learn from each other - but this will not be easy.

The relationship between house churches and traditional churches has been rocky. As I mentioned in a previous post, many house churches have been born out of bitterness, from bad experiences inside traditional churches. Many traditional churches view house churches as a threat, look upon them with disdain, and do not consider a house church to be a "real" church. These relationships will have to be healed, and it will likely begin with younger pastors, on both sides, who are much more open to the possibility of the coexistence of different structures.

But even if you are committed to a traditional church, and don't think this house church stuff is for you at this point, you should be watching it - the movement is growing, and people like myself - who were once fully committed to traditional church, large weekly worship services, nice buildings, etc. - are being attracted to something that is much more simple and organic. Whatever you do, don't dismiss it, and don't ignore it.

Labels: church, house church

-- posted by Derek at 8/28/2006 09:40:00 AM  

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