poached from opensource theology
People keep leaving the “church” to go to house churches (which may be more of the “church” than our buildings in warehouses with pastors wearing cutoff jeans and bleaching their hair to be relevant), and now I understand why.
I’m hanging in there because I think the church can sort it out… but these are the five reasons I would cite to leave the church:
5. My pastor hasn’t had a relationship with a non-believer in over 10 years
4. The leaders of my church are workaholics and I find it hard to believe they have a healthy relationship with the Lord when they don’t have the time for their family
3. I’m sick of it being about one man. Be that the pastor, or the musician or whatever, I want to see them raising up other people and sending them out, content to have many small churches instead of one mega church
2. There are 1,000 people who attend my church. I know 50 and only care about 20 of them. I attend a small group to go deeper with those I care about, but I have no reason to remember the name of the guy whose hand I shake between worship and the sermon
1. There is no place to really do ministry, the leaders will not let go of control. I want to pray for people, bless people, watch out for people, be there for people. I want to be invited to do what the Lord has called me to do.
We should not be using the word Church to describe a House "Church". We should use the Greek work Oikos ( which means household - Acts 16:31 "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ ans you will be saved, you and your household" ).
The word "church" is a translation of the Greek word Ekklesia.
The English definition of the word "church" bears little resemblance to the word Ekklesia. Ekklesia is made up of two greek words , "ek" = out of ( as in exodus ) and "kklesia"= assembly of elders. So the first century believers went out of the Temple system in Jerusalem, into Christ. The Head of Household, usually a Man, became "Prophet, Priest and King" and King repsonsible for the total well-being of his own household ( spiritual, social, economic, health etc.). The word "Church" is used in 5 ways in modern English "(1) a building designated as a place of worship, i.e. a church building; (2) all who profess faith in Jesus Christ regardless of particular theological beliefs; (3) a denomination; (4) a single organsied Christian group, (5) the Body of Christ, the universal 'church'." op cit foot note to Acts 7:38 p.1282, The Open Bible, New King James Version Study Edition (1983) pub. Thomas Nelson.
The Ekklsia refers only to the last two, (4th & 5th) parts of the defintion. The Roman Church is essential responsible for adding the other three elements which infects our thinking
today. I prefer, therefore, to use the word Ekklesia in describing what God establishes in our own temple ( 1 Corintians 3:16-17, and 6:19-20 ) and own homes. An Ekklesia is formed when "two or three meet together in Jesus Christ's name". I put it this way - the 2 or 3 can meet anywhere, anytime as individuals, or as households. Therefore, when 2 or 3 ohuseohld meet together they form an ekklesia. I believe that if we understand this then we can go a long way to clarifying our thinking when we do our best to understand what our Almighty and agaping Father Godhead does in our lifes when He causes us to walk away from the estalbished church system. If you want to pursue the Biblcal basis for this line of thinking please visit website kiwibamboo.co.nz and then click into Kiwibamboo News and scroll to the discussion on The Bride and The Harlot. The central thesis is that the Church system is The Harlot, and The Bride of Christ is The Ekklsia which is the all important Household ( oikos + oikos+ oikos = ekklesia). This pattern of thinking is, I believe, what The Holy Spirit teaches us in The New Covenant. I think that all of us have been fed a lot of bulldust by the system. It is The Holy Spirit who works within us who somehow manages to get our attention, and to change our stubborn clinging to error. What goes in first makes the deepest impression, and that leaven of the "Sadducees and Pharisees and of Herod" ( church buildings, ,upholding the old status quo, doctrines, wanting to be seen to be looking good and be accepted by others etc., doing a 'Holloywood' ) is the hardest to shake off! Praise the Lord, nothing is impossible for God working within us. Your brother in Christ, Lawrence.