Pilgrim Soldier

Yesterday Patrik and I were chatting about church and I expressed my frustrations at the fascination we Christians have about size. Off the back of this he directed me to the following link:

http://www.housechurch.org/basics/simson_15.html

This is the writing of Wolfgang Simson, who I have to admit, I have never heard of. As I started to read what was written it came across as the best explanation of house church that I have read, and I found myself agreeing with a considerable amount of it.

There is though a major problem with the idea for me. Simson suggests that God is calling his people to put aside the ‘old style’ of church which we are used to and instead embrace the house church movement. I can’t quite square this with the obvious calling and rising passion for many people in this Salvation Army of ours.

I do believe that house churches are an extremely valuable expression of church, one that is closer to the New Testament model of church than many others. However, at the same time, I feel God still has a job for denominations to do. The question is how can they be liberated from the sort of monolithic structures that they have become over the centuries.

Maybe the answer is simple! House church is a great way to go if you are starting a new church, but is impratical for those who feel called to a particular denomination. Here house/small/cell groups are the obvious answer to the problem. I look at the small group I am a member of and feel more comfortable there than in the Sunday meetings of the corps that group is part of.

Having said all that, I do think Simson makes some incredibly valid points about the way church has gone since Constantine converted. If we can find a way to liberate the church and reclaim the New Testament sense of community the world would be a better place for it!