Regaining the 'Brotherhood of Believers

Simple
The church as we know it is the most complex hierarchical system on planet earth. We need to do our part to return it to the simplicity that Christ promised. Instead of looking at the church we need to look at what we believe as Christians, and how we then act that out. I believe that about 90% of what we believe and act out has more to do with tradition and our churched culture than the faith we are called to in Christ. To reach all strata of society we must be as simple as possible. Paul writes "there was a path of faith that did not follow the path of history" (Tyndale NT Commentary), and in Acts 15:28 he tried to reassure the Gentile Christians that they would not have to live out a Jewish culture when he said that they would have "no greater burden" than was necessary put upon them. After reading the first part of this letter my father wrote to me; “How easy it is to put unnecessary burdens on those who come into the family of faith. Burdens that ultimately can be a hindrance to them being who they are meant to be for God; Paul’s attitude is very wise and very liberating. He would want Christian’s to be set free. They have enough demands upon their lives. They do not need additional burdens. Just that which is necessary to be the People of God for this generation.”We too must remove the burden that we place on new believers. Each of us as we read this will come to different conclusions about how we can simplify our faith, and the activity and expectations that arise from it, and that’s great. If we all in our own way par back as much as we can, we are beginning, inch by inch to release ourselves from 2000 years of growing complexity and cultural millstones. Everything we add that is extra to our faith builds a deeper chasm between us and our lost brother. So how can we simplify our faith? Well, don't read a book on the subject! Read the Bible. Read specifically Jesus Christ’s commandments to us, and then look at the book of Acts and observe how the early believers first responded to his commands. Then look at your own life, and consider what you can add that the early believers did and you are not doing, and take out what they didn't do and you are still holding to.

Small
The larger a group is, the more skill, hierarchy and cultural conformity there is needed to maintain it. Staying smaller can help keep a group simple, non hierarchical and more real. Whether you are not a believer, a new believer, rich or poor etc, the way you meet must be familiar and 'normal' to your culture. To a Jewish person, gathering around a Shabbat meal is normal and familiar, to a secular Kiwi it just seems bizarre. How do the people in your relationship networks gather? For some it might be a hui on a Marae, for others it may be big family get togethers with lots of food. In some cultural groups 40 or 50 people is a normal sized get together. For the Japanese, 4 or 5 people is more than enough. In Kenya the Masai people gather spontaneously around a certain tree and stand on one leg leaning against their spears, while they pray and tell stories of Jesus before they wonder off to keep an eye on their cattle. That's a Masai church, to a Westerner going past it would appear to be just a bunch of guys having a yak. Remember Jesus said "Where two or three are gathered in my name there I am also".

Sent
One of the greatest fallacies of our Christian walk whether in Institutional Church or as an organic Believer, is the apparent obsession we have with believing it to be Biblical to invite people to 'our thing'. Whether inviting people to church or to a gathering, it seems we have been indoctrinated into believing that this is how we extend the Kingdom of God. Yet no matter how often we invite people to 'our thing' many do not come, and if they do come they rarely stay on. This 'invite them in' fallacy is not mentioned at all in the New testament (In fact the opposite is shown), and I believe is largely responsible for the church turning into a middle class institution with a limited capacity to see the Kingdom of God extended. Jesus told the Ecclesia "to go into all the world and preach the gospel" he did not tell them to bring the people back to 'church'. When someone comes to faith, we often unwittingly rip them out of their friendships and families where they are of influence, and plant them into an alien group which acts unfamiliarly and where they have no influence. We then consider it a success if after a year or two they think like us, talk like us, dress like us, and are growing in influence amongst us. That's crazy. Perhaps if we actually focussed on doing what Jesus told us, we would go to where they are and endeavour to reflect the Kingdom of heaven where they are. Going into their home, taking the church to them. Leaving them in their places of influence, letting them retain their culture and connections. When the Jailer and his family came to Christ, the Apostles did not tell them to start coming along to their local church, the Ecclesia was that Jailer's family, there was no concept of getting them to come along to the Jewish Christians' gathering. One of the reasons that God is moving so mightily in persecuted countries is that it is very difficult for people to be invited to church, so by accident more than design, the Church in these countries is having to follow the pattern of the New Testament, not the pattern of the Western Church. Working so hard at getting people to join us, brings us uncomfortably close to an unbiblical and ego oriented practice. Being sent is all about dying to self as there will be no groupies to validate us or to encourage our pride.

Remember, Simple, Small, Sent