5 MINUTE VIDEO: Part 5 - Women In Church? [5 Fold Women]

Many hold up the 5 Fold Ministry as the pillar of strength that is essential for the growth and health of the Church.

But are these 5 gifts - Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers - exclusively for men? Or is there any evidence in the New Testament that women can also hold these positions in the Body of Christ?

Take 5 minutes and hold on to your hats as Keith looks at New Testament evidence for female Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Pastors and Evangelists.

5 MINUTE VIDEO: Part 4 - Women In Church? [1 Cor. 14]

Take 5 minutes [or more] and listen as Keith explains what's going on in 1 Cor. 14: 34-36.

Why does Paul say that women should remain silent in the assembly? Why does he appeal to the Law? Why does he say that "it is shameful [disgraceful] for a woman to speak in the church"?

And what is the missing word in most English Bibles that might provide a huge clue to what's really happening in this passage?

You'll know these answers and more in about 5 minutes.

5 MINUTE VIDEO: Part 2 - Women In Church? [1 Tim. 2:11-15]

Take 5 minutes and listen as Keith explains what Paul is talking about in 1 Timothy 2:11-15 and why we can't just take this difficult passage at face value without first considering the cultural context of the place and time - as revealed by looking at Paul's previous experiences in Ephesus [where Timothy was when Paul wrote him this letter], and as Paul explains his purpose for writing the letter in the first place right at the beginning.

This and more are in today's video post.

We hope you're enjoying this series! Please subscribe, leave a comment and ask any questions you might still have after watching the clip.

HOT TOPIC?

PODCAST [Subversive Radio] WHO DECIDES? ORGANIC CHURCH LEADERSHIP

Is the idea of a church without a Senior Pastor unbiblical? Do we need "Spiritual Parents" to guide us? Or was Jesus serious when He said, "Not so with you!" regarding the practice of lording over one another in the Church?

Listen as Keith responds to a recent post from house church leader, John White who believes that human leaders are necessary for healthy churches to grow.

Follow Who?

Leadership is a hot button topic these days. Not only for thousands of Christian gurus and wannabe “leaders” out there, but also for pastors and teachers who hope to become the next mega church founder or bestselling author. It’s nearly epidemic.

The other day I read a Tweet that said something like, “Real Christian leaders can honestly say, ‘Follow me as I follow Christ’".  That set me off. I replied: “The mark of a true Christ follower is that they follow Christ, not human leaders”. In response to that someone Tweeted back: “So Paul is encouraging people NOT to follow Jesus when he says, ‘Follow me as I follow Christ’?”

And that’s what led to this blog post.

If you’re following anyone other than Christ, you are not a Christ follower. That should be plain enough. But to elaborate, let’s take a closer look at Paul’s oft-quoted statement: “Follow me as I follow Christ.”

As usual, the real problem comes when we take a single verse like this one out of its actual context and begin to apply it to situations and practices that were not intended by the author.

 

In this case, we have to go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, starting around verse 23. Even though the verse in question actually starts chapter 11, it’s necessary to go back to the end of chapter 10 because the verse is finishing up the end of a thought that begins there.

Here’s what Paul is saying at the end of Chapter 10. He’s wrapping up a discussion about how the Corinthians should behave when it comes to exercising their right to eat meat sacrificed to idols. This was an issue in their community. Some of them thought it was a sin, others thought it was no big deal. Paul assures them that it really isn’t an issue, but stresses that they should not practice the eating of meat sacrificed to idols if it causes one of their brothers or sisters to stumble in their faith.  So, Paul wraps up this thought in verse 31 by saying:

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Cor.10:31-11:1)

Did you catch that?

He’s using himself as an example in regards to eating this meat. He says, “I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage…” and then he ends by saying, essentially, “Do what I’m doing when it comes to eating this meat because this is what Jesus would do too.”

What Paul is not saying is, “I’m such a perfect example of Jesus that you should just start following me instead of trying to follow Jesus.”

Paul would never suggest that anyone should follow after him (as if they were Paul’s disciples). How do I know this? Because at the beginning of this very same letter, Paul rebuked them for exactly that:

“What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor. 1:12-13)

Later on he says:

 

For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Cor. 3:4-7)

Also, in the book of Acts, Paul warned the church with very strong words to avoid leaders who tried to gain their own followers, saying:

“I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:25-31)

What troubled Paul most of all was the knowledge that, after he was gone, men would rise up “to draw away disciples after themselves”. Paul was broken-hearted to think of the Body submitting to the authority of men rather than to the authority of Christ.

Why would this concern Paul so much? Why would it cause him such anxiety and emotional turmoil? Perhaps because Jesus made the issue of leadership within His Body very clear: It was designed to be a family, an organism and a community, not a hierarchy.

In the Church, our only Head and Leader is Jesus.

"Christ is the head of the body, the church; Christ is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,that in everything Christ might be preeminent." (Colossians 1:18)

"And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." (Ephesians 1:22-23)

So, once again, let me say, “Christ followers need to follow Jesus, not human leaders who misquote the Apostle Paul.”

 

-kg

 

10 Barriers to Effective Followership

The Christian church is not in need of more leaders today. We are not having a crisis of leadership. We have a leader. He is flawless. He is marvelous. He is sufficient.

What we have today is a desperate need for more followers. We need people who will listen to our leader and put his words into practice.  Nothing else will rescue the Church from complete irrelevance.

Only this is required: Listen to Jesus. Do what He says.

Here are 10 Barriers to Effective Followership:

1. Focusing too much on being the leader.
2. Acting as if only trained professionals are capable of following Jesus.
3. Believing that average people are not “good enough” to be like Jesus.
4. Using the word “leader” too often.
5. Forgetting to be a servant to everyone.
6. Talking more than you listen.
7. Thinking your ideas and wisdom mean more than everyone else’s.
8. Reading books about “leadership” instead of remembering to serve in obscurity.
9. Staying in our comfort zones instead of going out into the world to serve others.
10. Accepting the lie that “good works” somehow nullify God’s Grace.

Please, let’s stop talking about leadership and focusing our attention on leaders. We have a leader. It’s Jesus. Let’s get on with the task of following Him today.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matt. 7:24)

“Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:17)

It’s not that I don’t believe in leadership. It’s that we already have a leader and his command to us was not to “Lord it over” one another but to realize that we are all brothers and sisters. He modeled one thing to us: Love. He washed our feet and then told us to do the same for one another.

To be clear: I’m not talking about doing good works to be saved. Those who are saved will do good works. Or, as I often say, “Swimming won’t make you a fish, but if you’re a fish you’ll swim.”

Or, as Paul says:

 

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:8-10)

Our job is to follow our leader. He is the shepherd. We are the sheep.

“Follow me.” – Jesus

 -kg

 

 

 

FOR LEADERS ONLY

Today’s article is directed only to the leaders among us. We all know how important leaders are in the Body of Christ, and that’s why I want to take this moment to address all of those who are leaders in the Church.
However, this article is also – at the very same time – addressed directly to everyone who calls themselves a Christian.

Let me explain:

First of all, every follower of Jesus is commanded to love:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)


Secondly, loving one another means serving one another:

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free, (therefore)…serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:13-14)

Third, those who are leaders in the Church must be servants:

“The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:11-12)

Therefore, if every Christian is called to be a servant, and if loving one another means serving one another, and if those who serve others are leaders in the Body of Christ, then every Christian is a leader.

That means Christianity is for leaders only.

The more we serve others in the Body of Christ, the greater we become. The greater we become the more authority we are given to serve others. The more we exercise our authority to serve by serving more people, the greater servants we become, and the greater we become in the Kingdom. It’s really very simple.

WHAT ABOUT NON-LEADERS?

Simply put, lack of leadership in the Body of Christ is a disease. Some call it “Diotrephesia”.

“I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not acknowledge us. Therefore, if I come I will call attention to the deeds he is doing – the bringing of unjustified charges against us with evil words! And not being content with that, he not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but hinders the people who want to do so and throws them out of the church!” (3 John 1: 9-11)


The symptoms of Diotrephesia are:
*Always seeking to be first
*Strong desire to do all the talking
*Tendency to "Lord it over" others
*Fixation with literature, conferences, and titles that imply leadership is about being in control rather than being a slave.
*Tendency to assume the entire church fellowship is under his authority and control.
*Continually finds ways to exploit the talents of others for his own gain.
*Keeps others dependent upon himself for spiritual health

There is no room in the Body of Christ for any so-called “non-leaders”. The New Testament has nothing to say about followers of Christ who do not serve, or embrace the greatness of being humble. Those in the Church who refuse to serve must be taught how to serve, or be served themselves by everyone else until they either become so ashamed of themselves for their lack of leadership that they also begin to lead by serving.

LEADERS, SERVANTS, AND FOLLOWERS
Those of us who are leaders in the church (and that’s all of us) are called to be just like Jesus, and even Jesus “did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life” for others. Paul the Apostle follows up these thoughts by pointing out that everyone in the Body of Christ is called to love – and to serve – everyone else. In short, everyone who calls themselves a Christian is, in fact, a servant, and therefore, a leader. This means that Christianity is for leaders only.

See you at the Leadership Conference on Sunday.

-kg

THIS IS WHAT LEADERSHIP LOOKS LIKE ACCORDING TO JESUS

Like this....




Not like this....

What's Wrong With Organic Church? (Part 7)

Lack of Strong Leadership?

This criticism of organic church comes from those outside the movement, not from those within. Mainly because the perception of what leadership should look like differs from what most of us have come to expect in the traditional church setting.

When I was a pastor on staff at a traditional church I was seen as a leader. This meant my success was literally measured by how many people were following me and, more importantly, how good I was at getting them to do the things around the church that needed to be done. In my case this was either serving the poor in one of our regular outreach events, teaching Sunday School on Sunday mornings, attending a youth event, or showing up for choir practice.

As a leader I was expected to read books on leadership, to attend pastor conferences where leadership skills could be developed, and to target those in our church who had leadership potential and recruit them for my particular ministry.

In a traditional context, a good leader is charismatic, inspirational, and motivational. He or she is graded on how many people respond to instructions and perform the desired activity.

In an organic church all of this is thrown right out the window. I once described it this way to someone who didn't understand what leadership was like in an organic church. I said, "instead of a top-down, CEO-style leader like we're used to seeing, imagine someone on their knees with a towel around their waist who is washing someone's feet."

Jesus is our model for leadership in the organic church, and frankly it's much, much harder to emulate his example than it is to just take charge and tell everyone what to do.

As someone who spent a few decades learning how to be good at being up front and telling people what to do and think, this new servant model was much more challenging for me. And it still is.

When our house church group first started I used to answer every question that was asked in our share time. Mainly because whenever anyone asked a question every eye would turn to me in expectation. Everyone saw me as the leader, the expert, and I was only too ready to demonstrate my expertise. Partly because this is how I was trained, and partly because I'm a little bit proud and being seen and treated as the resident expert on the Bible made me feel important.

One Sunday morning when one of our members asked a question about a passage we were discussing together I took a different approach. She said, "What does this verse mean?" and instead of answering I sat back and said, "I don't know. Does anyone else here have an idea?" And after that I did everything in my power to give away the spotlight to the rest of the Body.

Usually I allow someone else to play the guitar during our singing times, but lately I'm the only person who feels comfortable doing this for our group. The problem this created for us was that it put me in the front of the room and after the singing everyone was left staring at me, once again, in expectation of what I was going to do or say to lead our group. To counteract this I used to play the last song and then, while everyone's eyes were still closed, I would get up and leave the room. When people opened their eyes I wasn't sitting there and it forced the group to take responsibility for the share time without looking to me for guidance. I would only return to the group after I heard them talking from the next room, usually carrying my second cup of coffee, or a book I wanted to read from.

If anything, leadership in a house church context is more about what you don't do and how you facilitate the group to function and grow apart from your constant oversight. There have even been meetings where I'm not even there! Usually those are the best meetings of all, I say.

Leadership as Jesus modelled for us was not top down, it was bottom up. He always found ways to ask the right questions, to recognize the people on the fringes, and to model a radical form of service to those he was leading. Jesus was a master at leaving hard questions unanswered, and asked hard questions of his own in order to help people work out the answers they were seeking. Even though he was full of knowledge, even though his disciples desperately wanted him to just tell them what to do and how to think, he continually kept them mentally and spiritually engaged by always giving them some other mystery to work out, or some new concept to explore.

I am not like Jesus. Not yet. I mean, I really wish that I was, but the truth is that I'm still learning how to let go of my authority and position and to help others to grapple with His Word and to be lead by His Spirit as they follow Jesus daily.

Certainly, I do have something to contribute to the church family that God has made me part of, but I do not have all the answers. I have part of the message, but according to the New Testament, God will lead each of us by His Spirit and has already gifted everyone in our fellowship with the gifts they need to be a blessing to others in our fellowship. The ministry of the Body is found in the Body, and not in me or any other expert. Allowing Christ to be the Head of His Church and to lead us whenever we gather together is not always easy, but it does require much more faith and a lot of grace for one another as we learn how to share and to serve one another in His love.

Peace,
kg

THE DISCIPLES ON LEADERSHIP AND HIERARCHY

The disciples of Jesus were very concerned with leadership. Early on they spent a great deal of their time discussing issues of hierarchy with one another. For example:

"An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest." (Luke 9:46)

Even at the Lord's Supper, when Jesus announced that one of them would betray him, and that he would suffer in order to establish a new covenant between God and man, the disciples took a break from discussing which of them might betray Jesus in this way in order to discuss the very important topic of leadership:

"A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest." (Luke 22:24)

Earlier on in Jesus' ministry the mother of James and John came to him to engage in a dialog about leadership, saying:

"Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom." (Matthew 20:21)

Of course, James and John themselves were also quite eager to move up in the hierarchy of the Kingdom and so they also came to Jesus to talk about leadership issues when they said:

"Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." (Mark 10:37)

Even when they traveled from town to town, the disciples loved to talk about which of them was the greatest of all.

"They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, [Jesus] asked them, 'What were you arguing about on the road?' But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest." (Mark 9:33-34)

Yes, the disciples were extremely fixated on the topic of leadership and hierarchy. But Jesus wasn't. In fact, in every single one of these cases, Jesus took the time to stress to the Disciples that, in the Kingdom of God, leadership didn't have anything to do with being top dog. In fact, if they wanted to be great in the Kingdom of God, they would have to get used to washing feet, being everyone's servant and acting like simple children.

In the Kingdom of God, the only boss is Jesus. He is still the head of His Church and no one else. All the rest of us are brothers and sisters in His Family.

Jesus reminds all of us that the least among us is the greatest of all.(Luke 9:48)
He models a servant style of leadership for all of us to follow (John 13:4-17)
He boldly declares that, unless we can become humble like little children, we will never enter the Kingdom of God.(Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17; Matthew 18:3-4)

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:5-8)

Jesus pointed to both Jewish (Religious) and Roman (Political) hierarchies and made a point to contrast those systems with his own model. He sternly warned his disciples not to “lord it over” one another as the Gentile rulers did.(Mark 10:42-45) He also commanded them not to follow the example of the Jewish leaders who loved the praise of men and built their own kingdoms to glorify themselves. (Matt 23:8-12).

Eventually, the disciples got it. They abandoned their pursuits of hierarchy and they embraced the loving, servant leadership posture that Jesus so beautifully modelled for them.

We see this when Peter appealed to the Church as a fellow laborer in Christ and referred to himself as a "fellow elder" rather than as an Apostle:

“To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” – 1 Peter 5:1-4

Paul echoed this also, saying:

“Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.” – 2 Cor.1:24

People love leaders. We love leadership. We flock to those with the greatest talent and ability. But this is exactly what Paul warns the Church about when he rebukes them for identifying themselves as followers of Appollos, or Peter, or even of himself. (see 1 Corinthians 1:11-13)

Instead, Paul warns all of them not to become disciples of any other man, or leader, but to fully submit to Christ alone as Lord and Savior and Teacher.

When Paul was preparing to return to Jerusalem he wrote a letter of farewell to many of the churches he had helped to plant and nourish. As he encouraged them he took the opportunity to remind them of something that had been burning in his heart for three years. It was something that, in his own words, he “never stopped warning each of (them), night and day with tears.” – (Acts 20:25-31)

What do you suppose it was that concerned Paul so much? What could bring him to tears like this? What could compel him to constantly remind and warn those first Christians “night and day”?

Was it false doctrine in the church? Was it the coming persecution? No, it was something far more devasting to the Body. The rise of teachers and leaders who would draw disciples after themselves rather than pointing them directly to Christ.

“I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” – Acts 20:25-31

What troubled Paul most of all was the knowledge that, after he was gone, men would rise up “to draw away disciples after themselves”. Paul was broken-hearted to think of the Body submitting to the authority of men rather than to the authority of Christ.

Think about this. Paul is mainly concerned that men will rise up from within the Body itself and, in his absence, set themselves up as leaders and draw disciples to themselves.

Why would this concern Paul so much? Why would it cause him such anxiety and emotional turmoil? Perhaps because Jesus made the issue of leadership within His Body very clear: It was designed to be a family, an organism and a community, not a hierarchy.

In the Church, our only Head and Leader is Jesus.

"Christ is the head of the body, the church; Christ is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,that in everything Christ might be preeminent." (Colossians 1:18)

"And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." (Ephesians 1:22-23)

-kg

NEW ARTICLE AT GINKWORLD.NET

My article, "It Shall Not Be So Among You!" is up now over at the new and improved Ginkworld.net.

Read the article and comment
HERE

Thanks,
kg

IT SHALL NOT BE SO AMONG YOU!

When Paul was preparing to return to Jerusalem he wrote a letter of farewell to many of the churches he had helped to plant and nourish. As he encouraged them he took the opportunity to remind them of something that had been burning in his heart for three years. It was something that, in his own words, he "never stopped warning each of (them), night and day with tears." - (Acts 20:25-31)

What do you suppose it was that concerned Paul so much? What could bring him to tears like this? What could compel him to constantly remind and warn those first Christians "night and day"?

Was it false doctrine in the church? Was it the coming persecution? No, it was something far more devasting to the Body. The rise of teachers and leaders who would draw disciples after themselves rather than pointing them directly to Christ.

"I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears." – Acts 20:25-31

What troubled Paul most of all was the knowledge that, after he was gone, men would rise up "to draw away disciples after themselves". Paul was broken-hearted to think of the Body submitting to the authority of men rather than to the authority of Christ.

Think about this. Paul is mainly concerned that men will rise up from within the Body itself and, in his absence, set themselves up as leaders and draw disciples to themselves.

Why would this concern Paul so much? Why would it cause him such anxiety and emotional turmoil? Perhaps because Jesus made the issue of leadership within His Body very clear: It was designed to be a family, an organism and a community, not a hierarchy.

Jesus sternly warned his disciples not to "lord it over" one another (Mark 10:42-45) as the Gentile rulers did. He also commanded them not to follow the example of the Jewish leaders who loved the praise of men and built their own kingdoms to glorify themselves. (Matt 23:8-12).

Peter and the other Apostles obeyed Jesus and appealed to the Church as fellow laborers in Christ and fellow elders in service to the Body saying:

"To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock." – 1 Peter 5:1-4

Paul agreed saying:

"Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm." - 2 Cor.1:24

This is also what Paul is warning the Church about when he rebukes them for identifying themselves as followers of Appollos, or Peter, or even of himself. Instead he warns all of them not to become disciples of any other man, or leader, but to fully submit to Christ alone as Lord and Savior and Teacher.

Paul warned the church "for three years" and "never stopped warning" them "night and day with tears" about this dangerous tendency in the Body to put anyone other than Christ at the head of the Body.

If I were to ask you, "Who is the leader in your church?" What would your answer be? Is your leader "Pastor Bob?" or is your leader Jesus Christ?

I've noticed a troubling tendency in today's Christian Church to gather and identify ourselves based on whose church we attend. Just name any famous church and you can name the leader of that church. You know their names. People will even say, "I go to [insert celebrity Christian pastor’s] church!" rather than to say, "I go to Second Baptist".

Forgetting for a moment that "going to Church" is, in itself, a misunderstanding of the New Testament idea of Church (ecclessia)- We cannot hope to fully embrace the priesthood of the believer without first letting go of the man-made, pastor-driven form of Christianity that holds us captive.

Who is your leader? Who is the head of your Church? Are we, as a Body and a Bride, fully submitted to Christ as our Lord and Husband? (See Ephesians 5:22).

Are we guilty of "lording it over" one another in a top-down hierarchy of Church? Jesus said that we are all brothers in His Body. He commands us not to call anyone "Father" or "Teacher" because there is just One Father and One Teacher and He is the One to whom the Church belongs.

Let us take seriously these words of Jesus. Let Paul's tearful appeal to us soften our hearts. Let Peter's humble example shame us all for elevating one man above the rest of the Body.

As Jesus said to His disciples: "It shall not be so among you!" (Matthew 20:25-26)

How I wish that it were not so among us all.

-kg

What Makes Me An Expert?

A few weeks ago I set up a little online survey to get feedback from my [Subversive Underground] subscribers. The responses have been great, so far. But there was one that really hit me harder than all the rest and I wanted to respond here since I don't have the email address or the name of the person who made the comment.

Here's the comment:
"What makes you the house church/church renewal/church reform/new wineskins guru of the day? Some of us have been trying to do this for 30 years, with little results or encouragement; Yet we aren't considered a voice worth listening to; certainly not gurus. why is that? -- a discouraged leader"

My first response is that I don't consider myself a guru or even necessarily a "voice worth listening to". My hope is to share some of what I'm learning with others and encourage people who feel the same way.

The discouragement in this person's comment is palpable. I wish I could reach out and hug this person, or bless them in some tangible way. Mostly because I know that he or she is not alone in this feeling. There are many, many people who don't experience the thrill of house church. Many friends of mine here in the OC and online have shared their stories of failed attempts to find others who want to fellowship this way. I know men who have struggled for years to plant a house church that will last longer than a few months or years without fizzling out.

Just today I sent an email to a brother in Christ who had questions about leading a house church and wondered about his own ability to make it work. Here's a little of what I shared with him:

**
I think the main thing to take away from the discussion is that it's not about you. It's about allowing the Holy Spirit to be in charge and taking your hands off the wheel.

Our house church is coming up on 3 years now and it is thriving and growing (almost too fast) and it has NOTHING TO DO WITH ME! Nothing. At. All.

I don't bring dynamic teaching every week (no one does). I am not the attraction here. People are coming to "be the Church" and this is a safe place for them to discover how to do that.

So, leadership is a loaded topic and I feel like it's more about just being who you are and allowing everyone else to be who God has made them to be...warts and all.

Being a good facilitator is my only contribution, and I still need more on-the-job training in that actually. Learning to listen, learning to allow questions to hang out there and dangle, learning to keep our dialog on track, and learning to listen to the Holy Spirit are the main things I do every week. It's not about being agressive or taking charge. It's actually more about being passive and letting God take charge (which is much more difficult and takes a lot more courage and strength than assuming power, believe me).

I'd encourage you to pray for God to build a church in your home that is exactly what He wants. Pray for God to do something so awesome in this church, in these people, that no man would dare take any credit for it. Then step back and watch God do exactly that. At least, that's what He did in my case.
**

So, if you're struggling to get your house church off the ground, or if you're feeling less than adequate for the task at hand let me tell you --You're not alone.

We're all weak and the sooner we admit that to one another the better. I'm just as screwed up as the next guy...that's why I need Jesus. That's why we all need Him.

This one goes out to all the wonderful children of God out there who long for a house church where everyone loves as Jesus commanded and has yet to taste the fullness of that.

Please don't give up. Please continue to walk out the calling that God has given you to "be the Church" where you are. Even if you do it alone, with your own family, sitting on the living room floor with a Bible open and a few out of tune, accapella hymns. Keep the faith, my friends.

Peace,
Keith