Imagine Christians meeting in your area
or city again in two places, just like in New Testament days:
1. "From house to house",
decentralized in many house churches, and 2.
Meeting repeatedly at a real big and central place, a modern
version of "Solomon's colonnades"; a big hall or
stadium.
In the houses they would authentically
share lives together, live organic fellowship and thus be
a true shopping window of God for their neighborhood. In the
large citywide celebrations they would mark their unity in
Christ, express the fact that they belong together, have a
big festival together and allow as many housechurches as possible
to click together for the big vision and take on the shape
of a regional transdenominational gospel movement. That would,
just like it did before, truly transform whole cities and
regions through the gospel of the Kingdom of God. And nobody
could deny that "you have filled Jerusalem with this
teaching" (Acts 5:28).
In many areas of the world this two-stroke-model
of church (the very small combined with the very large) is
stirring again, especially since the new Millennium. Authenticity
in real life, the synergy of housechurch and Citychurch means
this: on the small level organic communities and extended
family-type communities in houses (or wherever people's lives
gravitate); on the large citywide level: regular or irregular
huge meetings of Christians, who overcame all small-minded
barriers and understood that they are one in Christ and also
one before the eyes of the world. It is as if Christians start
to rearrange themselves according to an invisible magnetic
field with two magnetic poles, just like the good old iron-filings
on the overhead projector of our physics teacher. What is
God doing here?
The corporate identity of Church
Where is the true home of the Christian
church? Where does its identity lie? I would like to point
out the four levels on which Christianity expresses itself
today: the house (cell, level 1), the one-pastor-church (the
traditional congregation, level 2), the citywide or regional
dimension of church (Citychurch, celebration, level 3) and
transregional networks of churches, the denominations (level
4). I assume everyone is in agreement about the existence
of the universal Church, the Body of Christ on earth, which,
technically, would be level 5. Here I want to briefly highlight
each of these four levels:
1. The cell (housechurch, "small group")
is typically the church in the house, usually between 3 and
15 adults in size. Here people can live in real close relationships
and therefore disciple each other. Most housechurches function
organically - their members are in direct natural contact
and share lives with each other.
2. The congregation (one-pastor church)
is of "medium" size and typically has between 16
and 300 members. The congregation functions more formal and
planned then an organic housechurch, is more organized and
usually has a Pastor, staff, common worship services and different
programs. This type of church often works parochially and
serves members of a specific geographical area, and nearly
always uses special church facilities, a sanctuary or church
building serving special religious purposes. The members usually
do not have a direct and natural contact with all other members
any more; they are simply too big for that, and the structures
of a Sunday-morning-worship-service-oriented church does not
allow too much organic fellowship of all its members.
3. The celebration is the real big gathering
of Christians, 300+, who gather within their city or region
to document their unity in Christ, celebrate what God has
done for them, expecting the return of Christ together. These
celebrations are often facilitated by Christians with apostolic
and prophetic ministries. Such celebrations can happen outdoors,
or in stadiums, conference centers or other large halls. For
those attending these meetings it is impossible to be in touch
with all others, and most just happily drown in the crowd.
4. The Denomination is usually a national
(or international) group of churches with a common bond, the
network of all Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Mennonite
or Pentecostal churches etc.
The New Testament "two-stroke model"
of Church
In the New Testament we expressively find
only two of these four levels of church: the housechurch or
cell (level one) and the celebration (level three); the church
"from house to house" and the citywide corporate
community called the church in Antioch (Acts 14:27), the church
in Jerusalem (Acts 15:4), which met for a while in the colonnades
of Solomon in the temple. The "Church of Antioch"
was nothing else than the sum total of all housechurches throughout
Antioch - not the sum total of all denominational congregations,
since there simply where no denominations nor congregations
at that time.
The housechurch offer healthy family dynamics,
a private home and true nest for each person, an organic space
of the church in the community, where Christians share their
lives together, are accountable to each other, and not do
but be the church exactly at the place where they spend most
of their time, in their houses, tents, apartments, or on the
roads, squares, offices and cafés.
The Citychurch was the public dimension
of church, where all Christians of the City or the region
came regularly or irregularly together for large celebrations,
mostly breathing quite an electric and grandiose spirit of
the occasion. That was the place where the housechurches could
click and connect with the rest of the Body of Christ, see
and become part of the big picture, find their place in the
net, and experience apostolic teaching
and prophetic vision. This unfailingly leads to a certain
vortex-effect, making it difficult for large sections of the
society to not see what is happening here. We sometimes observe
these dynamics for a fleeting moment in one of the evangelistic
rallies or conferences most of us know.
Such a gathering of the Citychurch could
literally shake a whole city, a region or area.
Geographical identity
The church in the New Testament was called
after its geographical location, not carrying the label of
a denomination. The church of the region or cty was the sum
total of all housechurches in a city or region. The Church
of Ephesus, Antioch, Jerusalem or Corinth consisted of all
born again elievers of the city. Paul wrote his letters to
"the Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Corinthians",
the corporate identity of the Body of Christ in the arious
areas. It is true that some cults have picked out that element
of truth, isolated it from the rest of the gospel of the Kingdom,
therefore istorting it and preach it as a law. It does not
devalue the principle of the Citychurch if a few marginal
groups have made it their special flavor.
If od looks at your city, what does He see?
The church in Houston, Hamburg, Taipei, Buenos Aires and Johannesburg.
Do you see what He sees?
Overcoming Denominationalism
In the course of church history the congregations
(level two) formed associations of churches called denominations
that have a common "denominator". They trace themselves
back to a certain teaching (the Anabaptists, the Baptists,
Pentecostals), a method (Methodists, Presbyterians), a founding
person (Lutherans, Calvinists, Mennonites) or a place (Moravians,
Anglicans) or carry a confessionalist statement in their name
(catholic, orthodox, independent).
Today there are around 30.000 different
denominations in the world. What would Paul say to that? Paul
had heard from the Corinthians that they say: "I follow
Paul, another I follow Apollos, another I follow Cephas, another
I follow Christ". In modern day language this would read:
"I am a reformed Christian; I am a Baptist; a Pentecostal;
a Methodist". Paul's reply? "Is Christ divided?"
(1. Cor. 1:12-13). The obvious answer is no. Paul
does not mince words for denominationally oriented Corinthians.
"I follow Paul, and another I follow Apollos - are you
not mere men?" (1. Cor. 3:4) In other words: Paul goes
on to say that this mentality Are you acting according to
the spirit, or according to the flesh? Paul goes on to say
that this mentality of fragmentized thinking leads Christians
to stand still, drink only milk and cannot digest solid food,
because they are "mere infants in Christ". Then
he goes on to point out the only solution for this dilemma:
the cross of Christ. At the cross of Christ there is the only
real answer for the fragmented body of Christ: self-denial,
the crucifixion of our pride, to let go of selfish interests
and repent of the preaching of self, and humbly submitting
ourselves to each other. Shall the unity of the Body of Christ
remain a romantic dream, a distant vision, a cry or an empty
phrase of diplomatic church politics for the next 2000 years?
Or are there anywhere on this planet disciples of Christ who
fear God more than men, who are radical and consequent enough
to obey the clear standards of the word of God? Where is the
city on earth that takes the first step?
Until today Sunday morning is probably the
most embarrassing hour of Christianity, the hour in the week
where all of Christendom is blown apart by an invisible wind
into all directions, Christians leaving their homes and hurrying
off to their different churches and preaching centers, often
enough brushing by each other on their way. The times of this
kind of Christianity is gone, its hours are counted, because
it neither glorifies God, nor is it biblical, nor can it truly
fulfill the apostolic tasks and mission which God has commissioned
the church today.
Changing the Tracks: from 2/4 to 1/3
I was previously stating that biblically
church is at home on two levels, one and three. In another
picture we could say that Church is like a train running on
two rails forming one track: rail one (the house) and rail
three (the city or region). This is where Christian loyalty
and accountability is expressed most healthily which can also
be seen by the fact that money is collected on those levels.
Today most churches have sought their identity on level two
(the one-pastor-congregation) and level four (a special denomination).
Most Christians are so taken up with their own set of programs
and activities within their church (level 2) plus the occasional
involvement through denominational agendas, that they are,
in practice, effectively isolated from the rest of the body
of Christ in a city or region. Many cannot afford to fellowship
with Christians in their own neighborhood, because the denominational
churches they all belong to run separate programs and effectively
create parallel universes they feel obliged to stick with.
The result is nothing short of institutionalized inefficiency
and the death of synergy. Many also suffer from a drastic
kind of spiritual malnutrition through long years focusing
on a small fraction and part of the large church of God. As
a result, they develop an unhealthy and tribalistic clan-mentality
and potentially even form signs of spiritual incest - all
while they might well develop a similar feeling of superiority
like the Corinthians of old. They might feel "privileged"
to be watching over a unique spiritual heritage or tradition,
or feel outstanding because of specially treasured insights,
experiences or special alliances with extraordinary servants
of God
The good news is, however, that God is changing
this setup, and many Christians - especially those of the
younger generations, simply do not accept this as an unchangeable
fact of live. They instinctively know, that something is very
wrong with the denominational system of "two & four",
and that God has never created church to be that way. If it
is the hand of humans that did it, it is legitimate to allow
God's hand to undo it
again and let the great restorer of truth, health and life
also restore his own body again. It is not only globalization
that drives Christians to look beyond their boxes and to seek
fellowship with other Christians in their region and neighborhood,
who long to share lives locally and celebrate together in
citywide celebrations. It is God's spirit who is doing an
extraordinary thing in our time that will bring back to life,
unity and apostolic
efficiency what humans have so utterly manhandled and divided.
Time for prophetic fusion
In the coming months and years we will see
a fusion of Christians, groups and whole churches, who recognize
that they have the same spiritual genetic code, and who would
like to live and work much more closely together in their
neighborhood and city or region, because they feel that is
what the Lords wants them to do. In a growing number of cities
and regions of the world many churches will see that what
they share is endlessly much more than what seems to have
divided them in the past. Yes, and it will be not mere technical
information, but a life changing revelation to them that they
do have a powerful common denominator, a common vision, very
similar values and the same heartbeat - because they quite
simply have the same Lord.
Many traditional churches including many
of the "new independent" churches planted in the
last 20 years also share another phenomena: they do not really
grow or do so only sporadic; they are facing formidable growth
barriers, their members are kept busy through myriads of programs
and in-house activities, the pastors are in and out of certain
stages of stress or even burnout, the financial liabilities
are often depressing and almost everyone knows: something
is missing, something is wrong.
Sounds familiar?
Church X in Y is receiving a fascinating
offer to buy a large auditorium with Z-seats. Although the
project is way too large financially and practically, this
is the beginning of a lively discussion. Some are just convinced
that God is offering them the long awaited revival locality
and space to grow for their church, others are less enthusiastic
and warn to take on such a crippling financial commitment.
They agree to bring this subject before God and various commissions
and have it tested. But the result of this testing phase is
strangely unclear, the way forward seems blocked and the parties
with differing views are more divided than before. No matter
how carefully they are drafting financial plans, ends just
do not seem to meet, valuable members take their leave over
the issue, the building commission seems to move in circles
and it all looks like a dead end road. After 6 months of undecidedness
a businessman buys up the auditorium and starts using it for
commercial purposes.
The same course of events looks totally
different, however, if you see it from the perspective of
the emerging Citychurch. God is not at all offering the auditorium
to "church X", but to the Citychurch, the collective
body of Christians in town. God wants to bless the Body, not
an arm or a leg of it and leave out the rest. What God wants
is to provide a place for the Citychurch and their citywide
celebrations, probably in return to many earnest prayers for
revival and unity of the local Christians. If any one single
congregation does not grasp that God does not see His own
Body as divided as humans do, they will misinterpret God's
intentions completely, and consequently try to direct all
or at least the lions share of His blessings to them and through
them.
The "2 percent-architecture"
I can see God again and again offering to
the Christians in a number of regions and cities a really
big building, auditorium or ground, a modern day version of
"Solomon's porch" of the early Church in Jerusalem,
so that there will be a place to convene as the Citychurch.
My estimate is that the emerging Citychurch in many countries
will initially attract about 10 percent of the population
in their regions. If such an auditorium would be used multiple
times, like an average of 5 times a week, such a center should
offer space for about 2 percent of the population in a region
or city.
Through death to life
Countless "prophecies", warnings,
sermons and exhortations have gone out from and to Christian
leaders, bis ops, pastors and lay leaders for centuries decrying
the utter dividedness of the Body. To what avail? The core
issue is: if we continue to avoid the cross of Christ, there
will be no true Church. Unless a kernel of wheat falls to
the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it
produces much grain. This dynamic is not only valid for individual
Christians, but for Christianity as a whole.
But now I can see it happen: a good number
of churches and groups in a region or city who are spirit-oriented,
God-driven and mature enough leap out of a crippling mentality
of congregational independence and autocracy, step across
all small differences and reach out to each other. I already
see them reconcile, cry, pray, laugh, fall into each other's
arms and literally melt into something new together - a God-sized
and God-shaped church. This will be the prophetic start of
a new chapter in church history. How could this happen in
the real world?
The churches and groups who are ready for
this melt into a unique movement with geographic, not denominational
identity: the Citychurch
* As many of all born again Christians as
possible meet again and again for citywide celebrations
* A ministry network (including the Eph.
4:11 ministries) is emerging as a regional pool and empowerment
structure
* Many house churches emerge in neighborhoods,
schools, scenes, offices and wherever people spend the lions
share of their life
Some striking advantages of this development
* A milestone towards the unity of the Body
of Christ will be reached
* Relief for all pastors and full time workers:
everyone works less, but together we achieve more
* We will more fully use the god-given gift
potentials: everyone will be able to work within the exact
focus of his gifting, calling and anointing (like Eph. 4:11),
and does not have to be "everything to everybody"
* Together we will leap across traditional
growth barriers (like the 80- or 200-barriers)
* A new chapter of local church history
starts and might well become a prophetic model for other areas
and cities
* Christianity, which has been divided into
ineffective small fractions would gain a dramatically higher
"visibility" and a voice in the city which is difficult
to ignore
* Relief for staff workers and volunteers
who run programs for the sake of the programs
* Through the pooling of resources on city
level there will be an immediate increase in the quality level
of ministry in areas like children's ministry or biblical
teaching
* Far bigger and more permanent pull - like
an all-year evangelistic rally
* Common use of city-level buildings/auditoriums
(which could be financed together)
* Saving resources (five medium-sized halls/church
buildings might well be more costly to entertain than one
rather big auditorium)
* This clear expression of Christian reconciliation
will lead towards a public image correction of Christianity
* Constant informal communication and short
roads to each other enhance quality of full-time ministers
who work in the region, because they can start using one central
office as a common resource pool
* Discipleship, multiplication and integration
of new believers can happen in the house churches on neighborhood
and village level using citywide resources
* Sunday morning preaching tourism will
be reduced greatly, saving money, time and embarrassment
* More effective church discipline: black
sheep can be disciplined on a regional level much more efficiently
and will find it increasingly difficult to hop churches without
changing their lives
* The high percentage of unchurched Christians
and those hurt or excluded by the existing structures find
a revolutionary new concept of church to click with
* Each church or ministry has particular
strengths which can flow together into a pool towards a citywide
synergy and corporate handling of training, evangelism, prayer,
public relations etc.
* Many gifted Christians are literally divided
by their "ministries"; this deadlock as well as
denominational glass walls would tumble down which have hindered
true cross-fertilization and cooperation long enough
* The new generation of Christians are getting
an adequate platform: most of them are simply not interested
in denominations, but seek small groups to be real and they
like to participate in large regional or citywide celebrations
* The constant clash of available dates
and the collision of separate interests would be dramatically
reduced, since those serving full time will stop living in
their own small world driven only by their own set of agendas,
programs - and appointments
* A true postmodern structure of redeemed
diversity is much more ready for the future and publicly presentable
* Christianity takes on a more meaningful
shape and becomes not only a Jew to the Jews and a Greek to
the Greeks, but global to global citizens, truly local to
patriots, and even becomes the Y and Z to Generation X.
Leap over walls
At this point in time, I see 4 formidable
roadblocks which have grown into crippling strongholds and
thought-patterns in the minds of many which need to be overcome
by everyone involved. (I have expanded on this in my new book
"Houses that change the world") These are the four
"walls" we need to leap over in faith (Ps 18:29)
today before significant change will happen:
1. The institutionalization of fleshly Christianity
("Can I not be an average Sunday morning Christian just
like everybody else?")
2. A denominational mindset ("I am
in the world's best Church!")
3. The congregational misinterpretation
of church (the one-pastor-congregation "is" the
real expression of church)
4. The hierarchical, religious misinterpretation
of biblical leadership (and therefore church structure) to
be pyramidal and top-down
Practical steps
God himself is sovereign, and true strategy
flows out of intimacy with Jesus. Copying spiritual recipes
for instant success is out; that is why this process will
start in various shapes and forms, following no firm models,
patterns and rules in each city alike. However, there might
be similar dynamics and principles we need to be aware of.
That is why I would like to make only a few observations about
what I feel are non-negotiable elements which need to be in
place before such a major reshaping of Christianity:
* It is never a structure - no matter how
biblical - which changes Christianity from outside in, but
a life changing encounter and relationship with Jesus, the
renewing work of the Holy Spirit and a return to biblical
standards to change us all from the inside out.
* A significant portion of Christians in
a region or city are ready to deal with this proposal with
a "Berean mind" (Acts 17:11) and pray with their
open bibles about it and not hide behind human traditions.
* Those churches, ministries, groups and
individuals who can agree with this vision, its values and
who share a common heartbeat carefully start the process of
transformation and fusion. I do anticipate between 1/3rd and
2/3rd of all born again Christians of a given area or city
to move towards a Citychurch fusion in the coming years. Those
churches (ministries, groups, individuals) who prefer to carry
on in their traditional ways should be able to do so without
loosing face, or have a standing invitation to join the process
at any time in the future.
* Christian leaders are ready to stop pushing
their own thing or agenda, and in humility consider others
higher than themselves and become part of something much bigger
than anything they could ever achieve alone.
* "Submit yourself to each other"
(Eph.5:21): the end of the worldly one-man-principle of leadership
requires a very significant step of humiliation: "Number
one" persons (senior pastors, presidents, directors etc)
of churches and ministries would have to step down and become
a "number two" person - like everyone else in the
priesthood of all believers. If everyone submits to each other,
no one would be number one any longer, except Jesus Christ.
We will have to cease working based on status and organized
accountability, but work based on spiritual function and organic,
mutual trust. We would have to move away from top-down leadership
and delegating systems of authority to work with (not under
or over) each other; not any more in hierarchical pyramids
of power, but in a togetherness and synergy of gifts and callings.
* We could adopt a common statement of faith,
like the Lausanne Declaration or the statement of faith of
the Evangelical Alliance, or draft a new statement together
in the cities or regions.
* "Seek you first the kingdom of God"
- not building up your own church, ministry or empire, would
have to be a common denominator and foundational value of
everyone involved.
* "Seek the welfare of the city"
will become more important than "each of us has turned
to his own way."
January 2001
Wolfgang Simson,
Postfach 212,
8212 Neuhausen 2,
Switzerland
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