Who needs buildings when you have homes? Here’s a video I made where I describe why I’m such a passionate promoter for house churches. The seven reasons are the following;
1. They’re biblical – Acts 2:46, 1 Cor 16:19, Col 4:15 and other passages tell us that the early Christians met in homes. The earliest archeologically discovered church, the Dura Europos church, was a house church. In fact, church buildings where people didn’t eat and sleep wasn’t constructed until the late third and early fourth century.
2. They’re utilized – again, people actually eat and sleep there. Most church auditoriums – the big room with a lot of pews – stands empty for the most part of the week. Homes, in contrast, are usually used daily.
3. They’re small – and this is a good thing! 1 Cor 14:26 tells us that everyone attending a church meeting should contribute with something. When was the last time you’ve experienced that? Frankly, you need a small group to have such a wonderful spiritual interaction.
4. They’re missional – or at least they should be. As I explained in my last 7 reasons video, I think that all Christians should evangelize, and a house church structure is very suitable for such a mission. Acts 2:46 says that the early church both met in homes and in public places – let’s do likewise!
5. They’re flexible – when auditorium churches grow, they usually have to rebuild their building. When they shrink, they also need to rebuild. House churches, in contrast, have more homes to use when more people join the church and when less people are part of it, the church simply can use less homes. And it’s all free! This brings me to my next point:
6. They’re cheap – I mean, extremely cheap. My own house church spend 0 euros on facilities for obvious reasons, which gives us more money to missions and evangelism. In contrast, a Pentecostal church here in Sweden sold their building for 4 million euros and spent all of that money on a new building. Imagine if they had become a house church network instead and given the money to the poor and to spread the Gospel!
7. They’re sufficient – church buildings are simply unnecessary. If the early chruch isn’t evidence enough for you, do some quick research on the house church movements in China, India or Iran. They’re growing like crazy, experiencing amazing signs and wonders and really represents Christ well. I think it’s time that house churches arise in the West as well that aren’t just church plants, but auditorium churches selling their buildings and going apostolic.
[…] 7 Reasons Why House Churches are Awesome […]
This a great article! Thanks. House churches are definitely biblical. This is the way churches were started. Churches should NEVER have been turned into institutions with denominations, huge buildings. I currently am the organist/pianist at a 270 year old Presbyterian church, where many attend solely because their ancestors did, or because of the beauty of the old stone building. If the building was demolished, and we worshiped in a one room shack, most of them wouldn’t be there!