Messy Communities

It seems to be a recurring theme lately, but someone described to me recently just how "hard" organic church is. "But," she said, "do I return to what is "easy?"" I went on to explain that organic/house church settings are not at all church utopia, but rather they are environments that make transformation likely BECAUSE of the messiness. What happens when believers meeting in a living room or coffee shop get past the "honeymoon" phase of life together? Scott Peck is helpful here.

S. Peck describes four phases of community. 1) There is Psuedo-community. Everything is on the surface. 2) Then, there are periods of chaos. This is when the "honeymoon" is over. Conflicts rise. Expectations remain unfulfilled. The temptation to retreat back into consumerist (please me!) religion raises its head. 3) We then turn to self-emptying. This is what Paul points out almost 2000 years earlier in Philippians 2. Many groups never move beyond the second stage but retreat back to psuedo-community out of a sense of fear. 4) True Community happens when we refuse to return to what is easy. I've seen this most often when community is bound together because of a common mission.

For the many on the outside looking in, "house church" is hard. It is hard because there comes a time in the life of every individual and every community when the question rises whether we will indeed go deeper, whether we will move into Agape love that bears with one another, whether we will live for others beyond ourselves, whether we will discover the profound joy, peace, and purpose that only comes through surrender. I'm not sure if this is possible without the messiness, without the "honeymoon" fading into history and getting into real messiness.

I'm an evangelist and love seeing conversions. However, pray not only for the harvest, but that we will grow deeper, have courage, and cast away all fears to live fully in the way of Jesus.