6-12 million

"Last night (10/21/10), Brian Williams on NBC's Nightly News reported that, at a time when the Crystal Cathedral in California is filing for bankruptcy, 9% of American Protestants now attend only house church. This is an estimated 6-12 million people."

11 more reasons to abandon the institution

A Summary of Historical Reasons to Reject Tithing

For the following reasons which have been supported by many ­ reputable authorities in this chapter and elsewhere in this book, tithing cannot be supported as a valid doctrine found in early post-biblical ­ history.

One: It is certain that Jewish-Christians in Palestine continued to send tithes to the temple as part of their obedience to the law (Acts 15 and 21) at least until A.D. 70. Post-biblical history proves that most of these never abandoned the Mosaic Law, refused full fellowship with Gentile Christians, rejected Paul, later split into factions, and disappeared around the end of the fourth century.

Two: Jewish Christians, like Paul, who had been trained in the strict traditions of the Mosaic Law would have never accepted full-time support for teaching the Old Testament Sacred Writings concerning Christ.

Three: Jewish Christians viewed tithing as purely law, which they specifically ordered Gentile Christians not to obey (Acts 15 and 21).

Four: Jewish Christians were taught to earn their living through a trade and not depend on charity. Both Jewish and Christian sages were ­ supported by the communities through support of their trade.

Five: The secular crafts and trades of many rabbis and later church leaders are recorded in history. Many church historians comment on the fact that the early church leaders sustained themselves by a trade (rather than by tithing). This is documented by numerous footnotes in this book, especially the chapter on First Corinthians 9, Acts 20, and this chapter.

Six: The church was early considered “un-licensed (or illegal?)” and it was ­ considered an “outlaw” since approximately A.D. 80. The Romans required all citizens to register their livelihood and proof of sustenance. For at least the first two hundred plus years after Calvary, anybody claiming to be a full-time gospel worker would have been arrested as an insurrectionist who had no evident means of support such as a trade.

Seven: Since Christians were sporadically killed by mobs and the government for much of the first three centuries, it seems improbable that the earliest leaders would openly reveal themselves (by not having an obvious trade) that they were full-time church leaders.

Eight: When the New Testament was written, very few, if any, of the churches were organized into a ruling-bishop system which would require or sustain a full-time minister. The churches were too primitive, too small, too poor, and often had to hide from the authorities to meet. Church buildings did not exist because they would not have been tolerated until about A.D. 200 and did not flourish until after A.D. 260 before being destroyed again in 303.[11] Persecution varied widely around the Roman Empire.

Nine: The earliest churches did not distinguish between “clergy” and “laity” for several centuries. Gifted lay members preached and carried out other functions which were later restricted to full-time ordained clergy. For example, a gifted “administrator” may have been in charge while another gifted person “preached” and another gifted person “taught” the Word. This fact would preclude giving tithes when numerous laity exercised their spiritual gifts.

Ten: It is very likely that even slaves held leadership roles as elders and bishops in the early church. The noted scholar, F. F. Bruce, says that “Pius, bishop of the Roman church towards the middle of the second century, if not a slave himself, was at any rate the brother of a slave; and Callistus, bishop of the same church in the early part of the third century, was an ex-slave”.[12] Slaves would certainly not accept tithes for their sustenance!

Eleven: Perhaps the best post-biblical argument against tithing in the Ante-Nicean church is the church’s overall attitude towards Christian virtues, ethics, poverty, and asceticism. To state it plainly, “Poverty was ­ considered a virtue, especially among the clergy!” While still retaining fresh memories of the first apostles and disciples, the miracles of the first ­ century, and, while still expecting a soon return of Jesus Christ, the pre-Constantine (pre-A.D. 325) church, was a charity organization which received offerings only to serve the poor, widows, and orphans of society. See Philip Schaff’s detailed comments in my chapter on First Corinthians 9.

from http://www.tithing-russkelly.com/id15.html

bored stiff

another day in the office. i am often bored to death sitting inside the 'four walls' of the church - what am i supposed to do, come up with programs to start? after i've done a little preparation for the weekend service i'm often at a loss as to what to do. i really enjoy working with sound systems and cleaning house, but how profitable is that in the big picture?

one of the best things i do is grab a book and head to the local coffee shop. i get some reading in. i am able to soak up some vitamin d outside. and i often run into people from church or the community and strike up a conversation.

the irony of conflicting philosophies

the two things i enjoy most about going to church are playing music and preaching. it is highly ironic that these two elements have little value in my definition of 'ministry' and how i see the kingdom of God.

1. music is one of many mediums in which we can connect with God. 'worship' music in american churches has in large part become a hyper-feminine exaggeration of the real deal; we have placed far too much emphasis on what we feel during a corporate singing experience and judge how good it was by how many goose bumps we were able to raise. our lyrics often reflect our feelings and stray from focusing on who God is and what he has done. and our music leading has become highly egocentric: we love our rock stars, even in church. worship is for the most part how we live our lives 24/7 and what we do for a few minutes during a 'worship' service is only a small part of our relationship with our God.
2. preaching is also egocentric: lets all gather around the wise one and listen to what he or she has to say. there is little or no interaction and the pressure is on the preacher to deliver a good message each week so the preacher spends too much time during the week whipping up another barn burner and spends less time with people. aren't we supposed to be coming together and all of making a contribution? but that would not be feasible in a large group... but when did large groups become important?
3. i appreciate that liturgical churches make the sacrament of communion the central focus: who Christ is and what he has done for us and is doing for us today...
   

discipleship = friendship

i don't care much for the common definitions of 'ministry'. this common definition includes programs that keep people busy but fail to connect them relationally, large groups of people, large statistics, events, spiritual mile posts like 'salvation' and 'water baptism' and 'the baptism in the Holy Spirit' and involvement in 'full-time ministry', etc., etc.

no, i think real 'ministry' is much simpler and less discernible.

we are commanded to 'go make disciples'. Jesus modeled discipleship as hanging out with a small group of followers for several years even before they really 'believed' and certainly before they were 'saved' or 'baptized in water' or 'filled with the Holy Spirit'. sounds very much like friendship.

so if discipleship equals friendship and we can only be friends with a small amount of people... (we can have many acquaintances though) and friendship can be determined by something as simple as having someone into your home for a meal and conversation, then success in 'ministry' can often be as simple as having friends for dinner. forget the large events and busy, draining programs - we are influenced relationally and seldom corporately. if we are going to do this whole 'going to church' model, than it has got to be simple, it must not keep people busy at the expense of them never having time to build friends. we are to be friends with God, friends with other believers, and certainly friends to people outside our faith community.


we have had several families / couples into our home already in this new position and we are reminded that this is where the rubber meets the road. sunday morning, preaching, music, events, etc. all may or may not have their place, but friendship is the heart of God.

feelings of desolation

several weeks into my return to church culture and church work (as a pastor). i have feelings of desolation:

1. what am i doing back here?
2. the 'going to church' model seems tedious and involves so much unnecessary busyness that is not essential to faith
3. is it the church institution that changes lives or the church (believers) who care about people and are influential in culture and lives?
4. how much of my time can be consumed in maintaining and administration?
5. i want to go back to my old way of living.
6. won't i let people down in their desire for someone to do strong programming to build the church numbers up?
7. one person talking, singing songs that may or may not be meaningful to God or the people in the congregation
8. did we make a big mistake and jump to another community and rip our roots up again?
9. 12 to 16 million americans are now meeting in home churches - ouch, why did i leave that model?
10. we really loved our old house which had great views, lots of sunshine, beautiful nature all around, etc. we miss that house and are feeling nasty about the sale about to go through
    

on the other hand, i enjoy

1. being with people one on one
2. building teams
3. playing music and leading worship
4. brainstorming new ideas to help people connect in worship with God and each other
5. getting involved in the community
6. helping the 'church' get involved in the community
7. cleaning up messes in the building, improving the sound and video systems
8. being on a team and relating to the other pastor and his wife and the administrator

and

1. how did we come to the conclusion that this move was right when are philosophy is 'being the church' instead of 'going to church'? did God have something to do with convincing us to make such a drastic move?
2. who are we here to care for?
3. how will God use this move to do something good in and for us?
4. sometimes i get excited about what i could do here (short flashes of dreaming)
5. we were always pretty close to be able to pay our mortgage and bills and this is a new start to be more conservative in our finances and get ahead again...
   

the journey continues and it isn't boring...

questions about 'going to church' model

i have a lot of questions about the 'going to church' model

1. are we so busy that we sacrifice meaningful relationships?
2. do we make it too complicated? this program, that program, this model of doing church, etc. we have 'worship leader' magazine to help us discover and learn all the ins and outs of singing songs together. hmmmmm, really?
3. are we doing kids a favor my pulling them away from their parents and other mature adults?
4. do kids ever get included in the larger group of believers when we age-segregate them?
5. do we expect everyone to enjoy singing or use music as the only form of connecting with God? are there not many other ways to connect with God?
6. how much effort and money do we put into events that never result in people connecting in relationships? how many events do we put on that simply draw other church people?
7. do we intentionally help people connect relationally?
8. why do we focus on sunday morning so much?
9. how can a 'church' serve the community more?