It is not surprise to you, my loyal readers, that I missed yesterday's post! I want to pay my debt and leave you with two, yes TWO, posts today. I was going to make two actual posts, but that just did not make much sense, so instead I will give you two wonderful topics in ONE post. I know, truly amazing, and here we go!
1. The Messy Me:
We are having issues with Jared and potty training. When I say “we” I really mean “me”, because it seems like Jared does not have nearly the problem with poop in pants that I do. And, even though I know that my emotional response to his actions is detrimental… it is still hard not to get mad when he poops in his pants. I realize more and more, though, that my anger is often rooted in my own selfishness, not in his actions. His actions create work for me, work I do not enjoy. They require my time, my energy, my focus, my attention… they require me to stop thinking about me and think only about him… and not the fun him, the messy him. And, once again I see just how far separated from God I am. The love He displayed (and displays) for the Messy me was just amazing. I swear I have learned more about God through my kids than just about anything else in life. If you do not have the blessing of children of your own, spend some time around somebody else's. The chance to see yourself through God's eyes is just too important to miss!
2. Perry Noble prompted this:
About two years ago I began a book on "When Christianity is illegal in America". Since I am probably the only one interested in thinking about such a future... I just stored it away in a computer file. In that book I basically talked about the inevitable movement of the church out of the current Campus-driven model into a Home-based model. It is inevitable, regardless of what we do on Sundays. The short version is that either Christians will begin operating like pastors in their own communities and bring new life to our campuses, or our communities will turn against us and close our campuses... forcing us to become pastors in our communities.
I then wrote my little idea on what a "House" church would look like. Apparently the term is now "Missional Community" because people don't like the connotation of "House church" anymore. Whatever the tag you put on it, it will face some serious issues in America for at least a couple of reasons. I am writing about this because once again I got into this discussion just this last week with some pastors.
Issue #1 - Personal Freedom. We have too much of it for the house-model to work well. That is one reason it flourishes in places like China and the Middle East. It goes beyond just political freedom though, it is about mobility, lifestyle, mindset, and so many other things.
Issue #2 - Personal affluence. Financial need creates physical need. Physical need creates community. Sure it also creates conflict, but it creates community as well. This was true of the early church, it is true of the Chinese church and the African church and many others where the people have great physical need.
It is my personal opinion that our Freedom and Affluence in America mean that we need fewer relationships and that they can be more separated than in other cultures. I know people who have "friends" who don't even live in the same state, much less next door. We can keep up with these people easily, and since most of our relational needs are social, not economic, then it works.
That said, I still believe that a House-centered church is the way of the future. It is inevitable, because that is the way church works. It does not mean we will ever need to stop congregating at our Campuses, but church happens in community, not on campuses.
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