As I prepare for a conference in Thailand that involves presentations on Church Planting Movements (David Garrison’s staff) and House Church (my little piece), I have had my thoughts drawn back to the basics of simple/house church that I always want to keep before me:
- It’s all about Jesus. It’s not about how, where, when, we gather or who we gather with or what we do when we gather or if we gather or don’t gather… It’s about a love relationship with Jesus who has called me by name, implanted His Spirit within me, transplanted me to live in heavenly places, and allowed me the joy and privilege to have just a few minutes here on this earth to serve Him with my life. He is awesome, and He is the centerpoint, and He is life, and He is the only reason, and it really, really does not have to get complicated… He is!
- Knowing Jesus means we get to live in partnership with Him everyday. We live by His power, under His guidance, motivated by love for Him as we are sent into a world that needs to encounter Him. He works through me, in a very unique way, every single day and every single moment. I am the church–a called out one–with His presence in me and with me every day and in every moment. The adventure is not about "going to church" (an impossibility) but being the church–His beloved who lives in His presence–always.
- I get to gather with others who love Jesus. By his grace, I frequently get to gather with people I consider to be family: fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters in Christ who know me, support me and who are part of that mutual encouragement that takes place when the Body of Christ fellowships. What a privilege and joy (even when it gets messy). These gatherings are no more "church" than my everyday life… but I do commit myself, best I can, to love those Christians whom I gather with regularly as well as to bless anyone in the Body of Christ that I am given the opportunity to bless and/or build up.
There is really not much more to it. Everytime I try to complicate it, God has to remind me that it’s always about simple, simple, simple (when it comes to "church" life, i.e living-with-God life). We can dialogue about many things– many good things– but, for me, most of the rest of the story is about how to live without religious baggage or anything else that hinders the basic life-love story that we are called to.
I enjoy the many conversations that we have on these subjects… so I’m not just trying to provide a trite little summary. I just find it helps me, regularly, to keep my eyes on the heart of the heart of the matter. This post is for me…
Comments
6 responses to “Some Basics”
Well said! Eloquent and sincere! I prayer that the conference goes well and is a blessing to all involved. Bring us back a souvenir from Thailand.
C
Nice post, and I appreciate your sincerity. May I ask your opinion (as a randomly chosen blog), from a home-church person, and maybe from an Emergent person? Can you give an explanation for the habit I notice in Emergent people to drop the titles before and after the name of Jesus? Just seeking a coherent explanation. Technically speaking, in many verses in the NT the name of Jesus isusually preceeded by the word “Lord”, and followed by the word “Christ”.
Thanks. I make no judgement on motive, just need a clue.
I’m not sure I consider myself an “emergent person” only because I still do not really understand the term nor its use. But, if you are asking why I personally often refer to Jesus without the “Lord” and “Christ” (which I probably do), I can’t really say… I think, really, it’s merely a simplification for which I mean no disrespect.
Ok. That’s cool. Interesting, too. I am studying to speak on John 20, and I am asking where people are these days, regarding the Lordship of Christ. I was wondering how close people are today to being able to say what Thomas said, “My Lord and my God”. That was an eye-opening expression for Thomas (some call it a revelation). I wonder how far removed it is from our experience today of knowing Jesus, like you talk about above. Make sense? Do we have the same experience as Thomas, or was that an experience for then, and this is now?
But, you helped. Thanks.
Just two cents on Thomas’ encounter of Jesus… I think he basically said “Wow!” like some would say “Jeeezus!” or “Oh my God!” (which is perhaps where these expressions got their origin anyway), but John in his style, reads much stuff into the reality and notices that it is a revelation of Christ. In other words, that was not what Thomas intended to say right then, but later might have recognized the Holy Spirit speaking through him.
I read the passage again… John writes Jesus commended Thomas for believing though, so he might have a hint of what was happening. I still think that they did not catch on everything until Pentecost… On the other hand, it seems like for John a sort of Pentecost is happening right in the next few verses… Dispite all the simplicity (and it is!), the Gospel according to John is not all that simple. We grasp it, but there is so much more! We see like through a dim glass, you know?..
Hi. Jeff, it seems like they had a hundred names for God in the OT. Sometimes I call him “Lord” Sometimes “Lord Jesus” and sometimes “Jesus”. Sometimes I call him “help me”. And sometimes I call him “Wow!” (I mean the word “wow” is what comes out, but I’m really calling him, in my spirit.) I also have serveral names for my wife, some of which I couldn’t print here 😉 There are terms of intimacy, and terms of respect. Each flow from naturally between the two of us.
And Roger, thanks for the post. I’m going to have to learn more about the practicals of what you’re doing and how it’s working… but for now, I really appreciate what you shared.
As some say, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”