HOUSES THAT CHANGE THE WORLD:
the return of the house churches
By Wolfgang Simson. OM Publishing. 303 pages
ISBN 1 85078 356 X
This is one of those books that will excite and infuriate, challenge and annoy. As with every book, your response obviously depends on where you are coming from in terms of your traditions and assumptions, but one thing is certain; it doesn't sit comfortably with the dominant cultures in contemporary evangelicalism.
At the heart of Simson's basic thesis is that we have entered into a Third Reformation in which God is reforming the very structures of church and returning us to a model that better reflects the New Testament understanding of church. At the beginning of the book he proposes 15 theses that express what he and 'millions of others around the world' believe the Spirit is saying to the church. These include the obvious (Christianity is a way of life, not a series of religious meetings), the interesting (Developing a persecution-proof spirit), the scathing (Out of the hands of bureaucratic clergy and on towards the priesthood of all believers) and the contentious (The church has to become small in order to grow large).
Close our buildings?
As the title indicates, Simson is interested in, and an advocate for, a household model of church, and describes its growth all over the world. As someone who is currently involved in such a model in The Crowded House, I am obviously more disposed than most to what Simson has to say. And yet my response to the book is one of uneasiness and a reluctance to encourage my friends in more traditional churches to read it! The reason for this is that I find the basic premise of the book rather too simplistic. I'm left with an impression that all we need to do to see 'revival' (whatever that means) is to close our buildings, move into homes, sack the clergy, recognise the so-called Five-Fold Ministry of Ephesians 4, start citywide celebrations and turn communion into a meal. But my experience tells me that it isn't quite so simple. Neither am I convinced that God is quite so concerned about structures as I might like him to be!
In conclusion, my advice is: read the book and consider the challenges. But in the end, whether you meet in a home, a dedicated building or a rented hall, make the gospel the priority and commit yourselves to continuous reformation in the light of the Scriptures through the grace of the Holy Spirit.
