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House Church - Learning the Art of Simplicity Within the Body of Christ

By Chris Keenan

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Published: 15Aug2011
Word count: 1088
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I've spent so much of my Christian walk trying to learn the ins and outs of how to make a healthy church community come to life. The problem I have found, is the lack of simplicity in most of what I've studied.

The true church model that Jesus modelled was in fact one of simplicity. In some ways, it's simplicity that creates trouble for so many people. The term simplicity is often associated with a person who is viewed as "simple" or unintelligent. The term simple is also misused to sell a lot of products and services that aren't in fact as "simple" to use as the advertisers would like us to believe.

In a world that practically worships the belief that "more is always better," simple church can seem like quite an oxymoron. The traditional church model is run by professionals that have a much greater knowledge base than the laity. If the church system they were a part of was in fact simple to run, they would be out of jobs, which may in part explain why the system continues to exist in the same basic form it has for hundreds of years.

A quarter of a century ago I was taught that 50% of all the people I would encounter during the course of a business day, are lonely. A simple solution to that problem is for people to be friendly, to take the time to listen to people, to take an interest in what is going on in their everyday lives.

But what if our lives are so busy and chaotic that we don't have the time or energy to actually listen to others? What if the church structures we're a part of don't allow time for people to share with one another, to "carry each other's burdens," what then?

Well the results are pretty clear: the Christian church has little relevance in modern society because in large part the traditional church system doesn't make space for it's members to be heard. People who have grown up outside the church pay it a visit and realize that they don't need to go out to be ignored and irrelevant, they can just stay home to get that sort of treatment.

So, the genius of the simple church model is found in large part, in what isn't done as opposed to what is being done. Eating together is quite simple and at the same time quite effective in building bridges between people. There are no long lectures about how we ought to work on becoming the body of Christ. We simply sit together and share a meal, and in the process, become the body of Christ through our shared experience. The key is found in our ability to stop doing the complex things that don't bring us closer together, so we can partake in the simplistic activities that do.

Chris Keenan is the founder of Help for House Church. They provide a one of a kind learning environment for followers of Jesus to learn about simple church and how to become the church and not simply "go to church." Their one of a kind service makes learning about organic church easy and convenient.

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