A missional movement?

There have been some big numbers discussed these days regarding the contemporary house church movement. A recent study by a credible pollster and friend of the simple church expression has claimed that literally millions of people in North America are participating in "house churches" (i.e. simple church, organic church, etc.) . Taking in consideration several personal encounters, it just seems that a lot of lovers of God are simply dissatisfied and disillusioned (and in some cases deeply wounded) due to their church experiences in the U.S. context. Therefore, it is not hard to affirm the potential accuracy of recent studies.

I'm an insider to the U.S. house church movement, and I am excited about what God is doing through some dynamic churches and networks of churches across the country. However, as an insider, I wish or rather hope that these numbers are an overestimation of the situation. I don't necessarily leap up & down as if this is great news. Wonder why? Let me tell you.

If millions of believers are part of house churches across the U.S., then there should be multi-millions of dollars every year being generously poured into feeding the hungry, providing for refugees, and sending church planters into the poorest communities of our cities. This is what I would expect from faith communities that don't pay for big building projects or sustaining costly programs. I've heard of a house church network in Waco, TX that raised one million dollars for Gospel causes and of house churches supporting missionaries, but I haven't been so overwhelmed to see something congruent with such high statistics.

If more than 5 million believers are part of house churches across the U.S., I would expect that we would begin feeling the impact of a missional force on this continent. Relationships are the medium of the Gospel message, and simple church is just that -- simple, reproducible. A missional movement of this magnitude would shake the foundations of our society.

As an insider to the house church movement, my concern is that we could be participating in a reformation of sorts rather than a missional movement bringing justice and salvation to our cities and to suffering people around the globe. Reformation is not a bad thing if it is actually reform, but at times reformation movements fall short of the deep issues of the soul of a people that call for collective repentance.

I advocate for 'doing church' in organic, relational, and simple ways. I've seen the freedom that it unleashes with the help of the Holy Spirit. However, without repentance that leads naturally to mission, we may find ourselves to be rich & well-fed Christians only filling some need in the Maslow's pyramid instead of bringing transformation to our world.

I celebrate that we may be taking good care of one another through the relationships of our simple churches. That is overdue. May it spill out into neighborhoods of the hurting, the poor, and the marginalized. I pray that we may be attentive to the suffering rising from the cities across our land and around the globe. If people and resources have been unleashed from high infrastructures and control mechanisms, then be unleashed indeed. Be unleashed indeed.