Time Magazine recently had an article on the emergence of home churches. Perhaps this is a sign of the hunger people have for authentic Christianity. Hopefully it is a sign of a return to a form of worship more akin to New Testament faith. Large, super-church facilities have been more a sign of American visible success orientation than a true movement of God's Spirit. The visibility has been obvious, but the impact on society has been negligent. My vision for the future is one with large, empty church buildings from which the actual church has departed to meet in homes and small conclaves. When evangelical churches quit worrying about numbers and budgetary needs to sustain such large edifices and programs perhaps they will begin to concern themselves with authentic faith and the power of God truly manifesting itself without the pseudo-authenticating trappings of material success.
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4 Comments:
I agree that smaller is not necessarily better than larger. My main point is the converse: larger is not necessarily better than smaller. The American assumption is that "if it's large it must be God at work." But I think the place for home churches is emerging apart from the urgency of which you spoke. Perhaps it is urgency of another sort.
An argument I used to hear against home churches was that they were too small to "accomplish anything." Another Americanized corruption of the gospel?
I am an active member of a small church that has grown out of a home church initially based on the american church of christ. Despite our growth however we do not own a building out of choice as it is cheaper to rent than build and upkeep and the money is thus free to help those in other countries who really need. This I feel is a good result of churches remaining in small active home groups and appears to me to be far more akin to the examples of the early church in acts seeling all they possesed to help eachother.
I believe home groups will grow in proportion to the growth of desire in Christians for more intimacy in Christian relations and worship. Surely, the materialism of the modern superchurch facilities, etc., will eventually come under judgment and disappear in favor of the non-ownership facilities of which you speak.
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