RAIDER said:
I know that some on the HAC FFF do not attend traditional churches, but rather have home church. I think this will be a good topic for discussion. Here are some questions to get things started:
How often do you see someone come to salvation in Christ?
This question displays a fundamental difference in our thinking especially in regards to ecclesiology (the identity and purpose of the church) and soteriology (the means of salvation).
Ecclesiology: The church is the called-out community of believers. It is not a service, a building or anything similar. As such, one cannot "come to church" without coming to Jesus. It goes without saying that a non-believer can attend a meeting expressly for believers, but that doesn't mean we should change the reason for the gathering of the saints.
The gathering of the saints is for the saints, not for non-believers. The church should be a training camp for the evangelist, a hospital for the broken, a classroom for the immature, a courtroom for the victimized, a kick in the tail for the antagonist, a resting place for the tired, a mirror for the rebellious, and a pep rally for players on the field among many, many, many other things. It's also important for each member to know they will be every one of this things at various times and so will need a place that fills all of these roles.
The aims of the gathering should not be primarily evangelical. Shifting the focus from the believer to the non-believer fundamentally changes the purpose of the church. The members are to be evangelists in their own spaces...they learn how that is accomplished within the context of the church.
Soteriology: Salvation is not a single decision in time by an individual. Salvation is something that is happening before a person is even born, while they walk the earth, and even after their death. The members of the church in a home setting, just like the members of the church in a traditional setting, are being saved when they walk through the doors.
What is our job? We plant. We water. God brings growth. A lot of the time that growth isn't even visible...it might be roots moving deep underground that aren't even visible. Personally, I teach our people to work on seeing everything through gospel lenses, so when they are at home, at work, at the grocery store or wherever, they can find ways to disciple others. For example, one of our team is having regular conversations with several co-workers about Jesus and the role of faith. Will the coworkers follow Jesus? Who knows...that's not the point. The point is that our people are being faithful disciples and witnesses. We leave the rest to Jesus.
How often do you see someone baptized and discipled?
As I stated above, we disciple every day. As far as baptisms, it's going to vary widely from group to group depending on who has seeded and planted prior and, most importantly, whether God has chosen to make their mission field a fertile place for new converts. We are a very small group, and we had one baptism in the last year. It was especially meaningful to me because we were baptizing my son, and I got to participate in it.
Do you take an offering and if so how are the monies used?
We don't generally pass a bucket or anything. As someone has a need, the others pitch in to help fill that need. We also occasionally take up monies (or other things) for other different purposes such as reaching out into our communities.
Do you support missionaries?
Individually, many of us support missionaries. Corporately, we don't often support missionaries but there are exceptions. For example, the daughter of one of our families will be going to a certain country for nearly a year, and we are providing support for her.
How many services a week do you have?
Depends on how you define "service". Because of our size, our group meets bi-weekly for a formal study where we also have a potluck. We are also meeting frequently with each other for a variety of reasons including sharing skills (e.g. a mechanic helping a non-mechanic), shared dinners out, and double dates for couples. More extremely, we have even had a couple take in individuals who are part of the group to live with them for various lengths of time. Are any of those less services than the formal meeting?
Do you recognize the office of a bishop, elder, or deacon?
Recognize? Sure...our group is not large enough to have anyone in an official capacity but those roles are filled informally. As (if) we get larger, we would probably make the positions formal. More importantly, we teach everyone that they are exhibit the qualities of elders (teacher examples) and deacons (servants) wherever they find themselves. We also recognize that certain people have certain talents, and those people use those talents accordingly for the benefit of the whole body.
