For at least the past decade, there has been an interesting shift in Christianity. While some are flocking to mega churches with flashing lights and large concert-like bands, many people are actually trading in typical churches for home churches. This is exciting and somewhat scary at the same time. It shows that some Christians are taking their faith seriously enough to break the mold and try something new. This is exciting for those who long to break free from an establishment that is often based on money at worst or based upon a structure that was never intended (and in fact preached against) at best, but it is also scary because a radical faith is sometimes a harmful one if not based on sound principles. If someone gets a random belief in their head and makes a cult out of it, you get things like the Kool-Aid massacre of 1978 where 918 people died, or flying planes into our twin towers killing 2996. More likely, however, you get a devoted group of friends sharing in a common desire of intimate friendship and deeper spirituality which does not generally revolve around killing.
For those still within an established church, I do not wish to come off as indicating that it is wrong to do so. There are many benefits to an established church including daycare, special programs, great music, better reach and support of the neighborhood, more connections for friends, more people to help in times of trouble, etc. It does not make one wrong to choose an established church and it does not make one better to choose a home church. The real right or wrong comes down to who or what one is serving. If God be Love, then be sure to follow Love no matter which decision you choose. Sometimes the bad is worth putting up with if the good overshadows it.
While my goal is not to prove anything wrong with the current establishment of churches, I would like to show a contrast between it and home churches to better help comprehend this shift. When we read in the book of Acts, we can see what the early church looked like and compare to what the church of today looks like. The churches were basically home churches or public space churches. They did not purchase buildings or uplift a single leader. In fact, Paul spoke against following any specific leader such as Paul or Apollos and we can see that they took turns sharing their won lessons. Jesus specifically said not to call any other person teacher or father since God himself is supposed to have that title. Jesus put every person in charge of their own understanding of following a God of Love as led by the spirit of Love. He did not want anyone else to rule over anyone else which easily takes advantage of the poor like had occurred with the Sadducees and Pharisees. I dare say that this is common in many churches across America if not the world.
It is a great time to reflect upon the original teachings and to determine what has shifted over the past 2000 years and perhaps shift back as necessary. A lot can happen when the only means of communication is via written papers travelling by donkey. In a world where most leaders ruled by fear of torture and controlled via religion, without something like the internet for fact-checking, it was very easy to mislead people and corrupt or fake what someone had said. This shift to home churches is a great beginning as people question why church is done the way it is done and trying to determine on their own what is the correct course of action. So extreme kudos to those trying out home churches or considering them. For those still within the establishment, kudos for even reading this as it shows you are not simply taking what is given you but are instead considering for yourself what is true as Jesus commended.
The methodology of church, however, is only the beginning of the iceberg. It is what began a degradation of sorts to the original intent of Jesus' good news. Just as Jesus preached, the wheat and the weeds have grown together and I do believe these home churches are the first steps at separating them if they focus on the original intent of loving their neighbors as themselves. Following that rule alone sums up all the other intents of Jesus' message and will help one better understand the true good news he preached. I have done much of this searching myself and have concluded that the rabbit hole goes deeper than we might think. Most of us won't like the answers we find and will attempt to cover our ears and cry out heresy much like the Pharisees did to Jesus. If, despite the warning, you are interested in learning more about the ways Christianity could improve, please check out how "Christians are Revolting". Please forgive the less-than-happy cover-art and title which can easily be misconstrued. The point is merely that the Bride of Christ is in active revolt against Jesus himself, but this could certainly have been depicted with a positive perspective as opposed to the negative one. Reaching toward and understanding the original message of Jesus is amazing compared to what we have today, and that amazingness should have been uplifted over simple stating what is wrong. Live and learn :-).
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