Cough Mark Driscoll Cough. The reasons you mention are why operating outside of a denomination terrifies me. I absolutely need to be held accountable. I disagree with my denomination constantly but it provides necessary checks, balances and resources.
I hear you brother, Pastor, Elder. Arrogance is a big part for sure. It’s not only that those who operate like that don’t like accountability it is part of a twisted nature that never really repented deep down inside They are the privileged ones the ones who can do know wrong. Church history is awesome and filled with incredible men and women. Some are heroes of the faith and some are villains. Thanks for keeping us thinking. I’m part of a church plant. Reformed in doctrine. It’s exciting but a little nerve racking too. As an old guy growing up a pagan then becoming mainstream with the Alliance in Canada, things have changed but Jesus never. Glory to His name. AW Tozer helped me cut my teeth back in the day. Now I’m listening to podcasts like the Pugcast and stuff from Canon plus.
I was part of a "missional community" network of house churches in North Carolina. It was a child of the A29/TGC world. That said, I think we did it fairly well in that we had a plurality of elders, oversight, and discipline. We did not, however, guard the sacraments well, and the whole organic emphasis thing was a constant frustration for me.
Curious at what you think about Alan Hirsch. You mentioned some others in the article. Hirsch's focus on apostolic leaders and the APEST test was big influence in our house church culture.
In the end we moved and God placed us in a different church to which I am grateful.
Interesting, I can attest to the truth of your points. As a young 20-something woman I was for two or three years attending a house church and in hindsight I observed how easily we slipped into something sect-like. It was founded by a couple that left another church very hurt and after a while the pastor (the only man of our mini group) started questioning the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Oh yeah, after some years the pastor started an affair with one of the women attending.
Well said. We can read a dozen new posts today about the dangers of the “institutional church” … and I get it … but you are 💯 correct that zero structure also can bring zero oversight or zero checks and balances or zero accountability … bad news usually follows.
I started to get involved in a house church. Went for ~2 months. Led by a very kind and caring pastor. But to your point, I realized that the whole group was built around this one guy. If he died, the group would instantly disband.
This is a great essay. From personal experience, I'd say that this arrogance isn't just limited to independent churches but also independent worship/reading. In the Acts, we witness what is essentially a secret between the God and the Apostles. It starts with, "God led me here," then "Maybe I'm reading this for a reason" and leads to "I'm the chosen evangelist of God." It fuels vanity where humility ought to have taken precedence. And no one is around to correct us except the Internet, which focuses on numbers more than reliability.
Cough Mark Driscoll Cough. The reasons you mention are why operating outside of a denomination terrifies me. I absolutely need to be held accountable. I disagree with my denomination constantly but it provides necessary checks, balances and resources.
I hear you brother, Pastor, Elder. Arrogance is a big part for sure. It’s not only that those who operate like that don’t like accountability it is part of a twisted nature that never really repented deep down inside They are the privileged ones the ones who can do know wrong. Church history is awesome and filled with incredible men and women. Some are heroes of the faith and some are villains. Thanks for keeping us thinking. I’m part of a church plant. Reformed in doctrine. It’s exciting but a little nerve racking too. As an old guy growing up a pagan then becoming mainstream with the Alliance in Canada, things have changed but Jesus never. Glory to His name. AW Tozer helped me cut my teeth back in the day. Now I’m listening to podcasts like the Pugcast and stuff from Canon plus.
I was part of a "missional community" network of house churches in North Carolina. It was a child of the A29/TGC world. That said, I think we did it fairly well in that we had a plurality of elders, oversight, and discipline. We did not, however, guard the sacraments well, and the whole organic emphasis thing was a constant frustration for me.
Curious at what you think about Alan Hirsch. You mentioned some others in the article. Hirsch's focus on apostolic leaders and the APEST test was big influence in our house church culture.
In the end we moved and God placed us in a different church to which I am grateful.
Interesting, I can attest to the truth of your points. As a young 20-something woman I was for two or three years attending a house church and in hindsight I observed how easily we slipped into something sect-like. It was founded by a couple that left another church very hurt and after a while the pastor (the only man of our mini group) started questioning the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Oh yeah, after some years the pastor started an affair with one of the women attending.
Point number two, the restorationist delusion - sounds like an argument for the Catholic church! Time to come home!
Well said. We can read a dozen new posts today about the dangers of the “institutional church” … and I get it … but you are 💯 correct that zero structure also can bring zero oversight or zero checks and balances or zero accountability … bad news usually follows.
I appreciate these thoughts.
I started to get involved in a house church. Went for ~2 months. Led by a very kind and caring pastor. But to your point, I realized that the whole group was built around this one guy. If he died, the group would instantly disband.
This is a great essay. From personal experience, I'd say that this arrogance isn't just limited to independent churches but also independent worship/reading. In the Acts, we witness what is essentially a secret between the God and the Apostles. It starts with, "God led me here," then "Maybe I'm reading this for a reason" and leads to "I'm the chosen evangelist of God." It fuels vanity where humility ought to have taken precedence. And no one is around to correct us except the Internet, which focuses on numbers more than reliability.