I’m not saying you shouldn’t check out an organic church, but the form and structure isn’t really the issue. Are you experiencing life and peace in your relationship with the Father? As you pursue Him, He can lead you into whatever type of gathering works. There is no harm in checking out different flavors and styles. But don’t pursue the “one true way to do church.” Press into your relationship with God and rest in His leading.

This book brutalized me.

I am a mature fundamentalist, relatively conservative by relative standards…

I have been in church since 1993, the same flavors, the same styles.

Now I am faced with the monumental shift of just considering “organic” church-ing.

People… such a task, such a request, such a challenge. I am not a coward and am able to consider that maybe I am doing something wrong… but… I have a family that sits at altar every night of every week for the past 14 years… and they need me to know what I am doing.

I need somebody to speak to about this subject and can find no “organic” church listings anywhere on the web.

Do you have a suggestion for me?

-Matt

In the same way, God sent earthquakes to topple the Greek temples. The Christians moved in pretty quickly to claim those marble blocks and used them to make new structures, this time dedicated to the Lord.

So “Pagan Christianity” is an earthquake, it’s a Roman army, that is tearing down what we might otherwise always have kept because it is so big, so grand, so….deeply entrenched in our whole identity as Christians.

Still, I have these points:

1) An oil lamp dating from the first century after Jesus ascended into heaven, very plain, non-glazed, very simple, except for a distinct cross on the top, with notches on each of its ends. I viewed this lamp in an old stone church in London which had in its “basement” stonework and catacombs from the time London was originally a Roman outpost. The church’s pastor told me there were lots of these lamps, made by first century Christians. I wondered over that, at the time (1987), because I had heard that crosses were not considered symbols of our faith until much later. “Clearly not true” said a voice in my head as I looked at this plain little oil lamp. “Clearly believers knew the power of the cross in Jesus’ time and considered an object honored that bore its symbol.”

2) Greece in 2000, looking at marble structures with crosses carved on most of the blocks. The tour guide (not a Christian) explained to us that in the first centuries after Christianity came into being Christians would come to these temple sites after an earthquake and claim all the toppled marble blocks by carving crosses into them. After despoiling the blocks in this way nonChristians would not want to use them, so the Christians would use these blocks to build their own meeting halls. Happened very, very early after the birth of the church

3) One bishop rule began also very early in the church’s life – a mere one hundred years. Why? That is the big, big question. What was more attractive about one bishop rule than the more organic (to use your word, and I like the word too) life of the church up until then? As my husband and I talked about it, we remembered together the doctrinal battles the apostles faced from the very first day, practically. Paul battled the Judaizers (and poor Peter got caught in the middle), the pagan-influenced antinomianists and the pagan-influenced ecstatic worshippers. John battled the Gnostics. Once these mighty men of faith had died, their protégés were the go-to guys for these issues. One bishop rule must have been inevitable after that.

4) The sheer growth of the church must have presented meeting-together issues. Once they were banned from synagogues and the temple, where would they go? In real life wealthy people opened their homes, and medium wealthy people had their homes remodeled to handle the size of the congregations. Christians were building meeting halls long before Constantine.

I warmed to the ideas in this book, but began to feel nervous about the research in it because though I am not a scholar, and only an armchair archeologist at best, my own personal experience seemed to contradict what the book purported as true. Has anyone else verified the research in this book?

Also, I feel that there were two premises that were stated as though uncontrovertible and I am wondering how firm the foundation is under them — were the first wroshipers truly intentional in their choosing to meet in each other’s homes, or were they, as I think, just doing what came next?

And the other was that one bishop rule happened purely from the top down, somehow, and was the precursor to ordination; that the laying on of hands and supporting the elders had nothing at all to do with ordination. I am willing to believe that, if I could see some more explanation of why, exactly, one bishop rul showed up so early in church history — practically right after John the Apostle died….??

Perhaps there is not model. I was (many years ago) swept into the Kingdom of God in a mighty revival and move of the spirit. Soon all of our friends and family also accepted Christ and were “born again” by the spirit. Instantly there was a bond and and a desire to be together and share our faith together. We were almost constantly together meeting from house to house. It was a loving family. Perhaps this coming together is just a natural outgrowth of truly being a loving family.
In our dysfunctional society with our dysfunctional families it is hard for many to understand this great bond of love that used to bind families together.

iEach of us could make a list of traits of “lvonign and close” families, the things successful families do; like eat together, spend time togeter etc and try to do those things. However that would not make us a family. It is by blood and by adoption that we become joined together into the family of God.

What we need is not worship, accountablility, new forms, but new hearts filled with the love of God.