House Church Baltimore

Isn't it much more practical to have a building? 

A building allows large gatherings, a place in the community that attract people, a place to operate programs, more options than what a house might provide, facilities for the disabled, nurseries, etc.  Let's examine these one at a time:

A Building Allows Large Gatherings: Large gatherings are good for few things.  Namely, they are good for passing along information from one person to many.  They are quite poor at developing deep relationships, which the church should be majoring in.  As well, passing along information is only a small part of making disciples, perhaps the least effective.  There are two types of learning.  One focuses on information and the other focuses on transformation.  A history teacher can effectively communicate and teach large crowds because the end goal is the transfer of information.  A guitar teach must not only teach information, but also verify that the student can translate that information into practice. He can only have a few students at a time.  Making disciples of Jesus Christ must be done like the guitar teacher.  Obedience and transformation are much more important than the acquisition of information.  Additionally, Jesus rarely gathered large crowds to himself.  In fact, it can be argued that he was constantly running from crowds and trying to communicate with few.  Why are we trying to get big crowds?

A Building Attracts People in the Community: A building can have a beautiful LED sign and a steeple with a cross to attract people.  The bible says, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."  It does not mention attracting people by signs and steeples. We are trying to show people we are Christians with signs rather than with our love.  Our love for one another should be so great that people are attracted by that.  As it is, we shut ourselves up in buildings and hope they come in to see us.  Jesus told us to GO and we want them to COME.  VIDEO

A Building is a Great Place to Operate Programs: When did Jesus tell us to reach the world through programs?  Why do we think programs are the best way to help people?  Programs end up being very non-relational most of the time and they end up focusing more on statistics.  Every Christian should be in his/her own community, talking with people, helping them, and developing relationships that can be built upon.  The gospel is built on relationships, not programs.

A Building Offers More Amenities Than a House Can Provide: A house does not need amenities for 100 people.  A house only needs amenities for 10-40 people.  Each house church can determine which house among its members would be most appropriate to meet at.  

A Building Has Facilities for the Disabled: If there is someone in the house church with a disability, there are options available.  One option is to have a church member help them get to the house meeting.  Another option is to have the meeting at the person's house who is disabled.

A Building Has a Nursery: If church members have children, there are many options of how to care for the children.  MORE HERE

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