Experimental House Church
(a work in progress)
By
R. Cody Smith (also
a work in progress) 
“What
do you mean, experimental house church? Are you saying, you don’t know what
your doing?” Yep, that’s correct, and I’m trying real hard to become
an expert at it!
At
first it was a little disconcerting, but I’ve grown to like the concept
very much. It seems that the more I think I know, the more likely it is,
that I’ve left God behind, somewhere in my wake. By not knowing—and
proud of it—I have purposely left all the important decisions up to the
one who really does know—God.
Please
don’t misunderstand, I didn’t just fall off a turnip truck (too
easy)—no—I’ve lived long and studied hard to discover just how
little I really know.
The
following however, are some things that I’ve picked up along the way. I
think God has showed me some; the others just make a lot sense to me and
seem to work. You’ll have to decide for yourself, which is which. I
guess we could also call this, “Everything I Think I Know About Starting
a House Church.”
Pray:
Let’s get real and not
start out by kidding ourselves about the possibilities (nil) of a
prayer-less ministry. Having tried and failed at all other methods I am
convinced that the most important thing I can ever do, is to pray.
I
personally find consistency in prayer to be one of the biggest challenges
in my life. If I’m not vigilant, my lofty goals can easily slip on down
my list of things to do, and show up somewhere after “check your
email.” More often than not prayer requires a lot of discipline and
often resembles plain old hard work. Sometimes it helps me to think of
prayer as the heavy lifting of ministry. I imagine myself lying on the
bench in a pool of sweat, my biceps are quivering and burning under the
strain, just one more repetition, 350 pounds of dead weight slowly climbs
aloft, and clink, finds its way onto the rack. Another prayer sent home…
Prayer
also enables me to work from daily guidance, remember, even Jesus
only did what he saw the father doing. One day is about all I can usually
handle anyway. When I get too far ahead of myself I am easily overwhelmed
by the possibilities. Simple obedience is always easier, like falling out
of bed. Why make things more difficult? One day at a time.
Praying
for the lost has the added benefit of allowing God to work his way in my
own heart, enabling me to begin to love them just the way they are, just
the way God loves them too. The Kingdom is for everyone who God is
calling, not just the good candidates, not just the ones I like
personally.
Some
church planting experts have pointed out that intention is an essential
part of beginning a church movement. Ok I agree, It’s sort of like
tennis, if I hit the ball without a thought of where I want it to go, it
could end up just about anywhere (usually does).
There
is a difference between being intentional, and developing programs with
five-year plans, and the balance is struck in prayer. So I say, by all
means pray, and pray intentionally; pray with a purpose, pray specifically
that God will fulfill the vision set before us. He wants us to succeed
even more than we do, but please let’s not make our plans in a boardroom
and then expect him to give u some kind of rubberstamp approval after the
fact.
Pray for and expect miracles, but if they don’t come right away don’t
worry, we’re going to need a lot of maturity on order to respond well
when they do.