Those of you who have read my books carefully — as well as this blog and the podcasts — know that I’m not an advocate of “house church.” That doesn’t mean I denounce them either.
Let me explain.
Asking me if I endorse a house church is like asking me if I endorse plants. To which my response is, “what kind of plant are you talking about? I like crape myrtle trees, but I don’t like cacti or poison ivy.”
House churches are like plants. There are extremely different varieties.
As I’ve often said, a house church is simply a group of Christians who hold their meetings in a home.
That can range from a scaled-down version of the institutional church (very common), to a glorified bible study (even more common), to a once-a-week songfest accompanied by a potluck, to a Grade-A, certified cult.
House Church vs. Organic Church: The Difference Matters
House Church: It’s about the container, not the content. A house filled with Christians. Period. Maybe there’s a pastor, maybe not. Bible study? Sure. Potluck? Why not. Video sermons? Sometimes. Worship leaders? Often.
A “house church” (or “home church” or “simple church”) is a grab bag of faith practices united only by their rejection of traditional church buildings in preference for meeting in somebody’s house. The result is often online squabbles and a potpourri of conflicting opinions.
In many cases, you will also find bitterness towards past church experiences simmering beneath the surface. Sometimes there’s an elitist attitude associated with it. That is, “Jesus is only about house church. He hates institutional churches and doesn’t use them.” Which is completely false, by the way.
In the vast majority of house churches, Jesus Christ is NOT central. He’s not the driving force of the meetings or the community. If someone visits your house church, do they say, “Wow, all those people talk about is Christ. They actually believe He lives inside them and that’s apparent by what they talk about?”
Most house churches do NOT have that testimony. Those that do are exotically rare. And if you are part of one that does, you are blessed.
Organic Church: This is where it gets electrifying. T. Austin-Sparks talked about the “organic expression of the church” in terms of divine life. It’s not about the where, it’s about the how and the why. Christ-centered fellowship and sharing, participation that is Christ-infused without a clergy-laity divide.
Believers are learning to live by the indwelling life of Christ and that’s the whole reason for their gatherings and their community life. It’s Christ and Christ alone. To know Him and to make Him visible.
A genuine organic church is a living, breathing organism that evolves through seasons. It can sprout anywhere – homes, parks, coffee shops. The key? Jesus as the focal point and invisible leader — He’s the living, breathing Head of the body, not just in rhetoric, but in reality.
Everyone contributes in the meetings and in the community as they are led by the Spirit. And the Spirit always glorifies, reveals, extols, and magnifies Christ.
Organic churches also often have an extra-local worker who has either planted them or that helps them from the outside (which is the New Testament pattern.)
Here’s the reality: Most house churches aren’t organic, and many self-proclaimed “organic churches” are pretty institutional. True organic expressions are rare gems, but they do exist. They’re not defined by location, but by life – shared, vibrant, and centered on Christ.
The takeaway? Don’t judge a church — including your own — by its cover (or lack thereof). Look deeper. Is it truly organic, or just wearing a different building?
There’s nothing magical about meeting in a home. And a physical house isn’t God’s passion, nor is it mine. Never has been.
In my earlier books, Pagan Christianity (2008), Reimagining Church (2008), and Finding Organic Church (2009), I point out that there’s a monumental difference between a house church and an organic expression of the church.
Some “house churches” (so-called) are organic. Many others are not. George Barna and I make this exact point in Pagan Christianity (p. 240).
Despite the fact that what I’ve written above has been repeated on this blog, in my books, and on my podcasts, some folks continue to benightedly engage in straw-man argumentation by falsely stating that I believe house churches are “the only way to do church.” [Cough, #Fail.]
To add to the confusion, over the last several years, the phrase “organic church” has been hijacked to mean 1,001 different things.
So the term “organic” is pretty much meaningless now. For that reason, I hardly ever use it anymore.
And so I don’t advocate “organic church” in the way that it is so often employed today.
What I advocate is Christ-centered, face-to-face community. And that’s what I describe in my earlier books from 2008 and 2009.
This means a community that is taking care of one another 24/7 . . . not just twice a week for a meeting.
A community that has a shared life together, like an extended family.
A community that has been equipped by someone with experience and calling to have open-participatory gatherings where each member has learned to know Christ, to pursue Him, and to share His riches in church meetings. (I’m not talking about anything that resembles a “Bible study,” by the way.)
A community that makes decisions together under the headship of Christ, rather than under a human head. And a community who’s goal in life is to pursue Jesus Christ and His Eternal Purpose together.
Such a community has been birthed from the apostolic declaration of the explosive gospel of the kingdom. That kind of community, friends, has always been rare on this earth.
In a much newer book — which has been rightly called my “signature work” — INSURGENCE: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, I articulate God’s passion for the ekklesia perhaps more clearly than I ever have. Including the message that produces such ekklesias — the titanic gospel of the kingdom.
As I write these words, we are NOT in a season where interest in organic church is high. In fact, it’s far lower than it was before 2012. The season has changed. And right now, I believe, that season is for the gospel of the kingdom. That is, the Insurgence.
For more detail, check out the interview below.
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