Monday, June 15, 2020
House ministry
Acts 20:20
You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. (NIV 1984)
Inevitably, culture affects the way religion is practiced. In this regard, western culture has had a profound effect on Christian conduct and practice, not just in the west but around the world. Culture itself has been influenced and altered by technology, especially by communications technology, from Gutenberg to Google and everything in between.
Culture and communications technologies, separately and together, brought the church completely out of the home. In recent times, however, technology has been nudging the church slowly back to the home. Now, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, that nudge has become a push that will not relent.
But it was always coming. Anyone who believed that HBO, Netflix, and others would move our entertainment to on-demand streaming services on our living room walls, laps and palms and think that church would only happen in a set place and at a set time is not like the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times.
And anyone who would see Airbnb become the largest accommodation business without owning a single hotel or bed; or see Uber become the largest player in the taxi business without owning a single taxi, should quickly ralise that very soon, the largest churches may own no pews or buildings.
The Covid-19 pandemic may be the “burn” that places the church in a new “orbit” from which we engage and minister to a lost and dying world.
Historically, fellowship, and the structures and practices which supported it, got replaced by the demands of a growing public ministry. This type of ministry often includes well-rehearsed, sometimes professional, musicians and singers, followed by a gifted speaker, often of some renown.
To facilitate this on an increasing scale our churches over a few centuries evolved into buildings and spaces which are designed to maximise the use of space so we end up sitting in rows looking at the back of the head of the person in front of us while someone looks at the back of our head.
This replacement of fellowship led to the introduction of instructions to ‘greet somebody in Jesus name’ or to touch five people and tell them something, and then slap three people and say I am an overcomer, or whatever.
In our key verse today, the Apostle Paul is reminding the elders and leaders of the Ephesian churches that he was active in ministry both publicly and from house-to-house.
This house-to-house ministry was not a new thing that Paul had done. Look at Peter, on the day of Pentecost, after they were filled with the spirit, Peter preached publicly to a large group in the city and from among them three thousand people were saved, baptised, and added to the church. It must have been spectacular to hear and watch.
However, when it was time for the Gospel to break free from its Jewish shackles and into the Gentile world, it took place with Peter in the privacy of the living room of a Roman centurion. “The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.” Acts 10:24.
Peter was aware that what he was doing was against the culture of the time, his host knew it too. “He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him.”” Acts 10:28.
This event was spectacular too because Peter said, “Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” Acts 10:47.
In the homes the impact was often profound, affecting not just the person to whom they came to minister or engage, but the entire household.
To be fair, there are many churches that have a Cell Group movement that encourages members to host weekly Bible Studies at their homes. However, we now have to make a determined effort to use our homes as a place of ministry, and, those of us who are ministers, have to make a concerted effort to connect with the homes of people to provide ministry.
There will always be a place for public ministry, with or without the touching of your neighbour. However, the arrival of Covid-19 and the anticipated aftermath will have the impact of driving the church away from big buildings permanently. Not today, or this week, but soon.
Many pastors with whom I’ve spoken in the last few days are anxiously waiting for the restrictions to be lifted so that they can return to the buildings, even if that means less people in more services. They need to know that many people who were away during the period of physical distancing restrictions are never coming back. These people are not losing their faith. They just want church on-demand. They want the church where they want it, and when they want it.
We can see, from current trends, that the new frontier for church growth will be in homes and on devices. The current and next generations will not be finding faith in large events because they are not going to be attending our large events without good reason. Relationship with God is a good reason, and home and mobile devices are great places to find that.
Pastors and ministries will have to challenge the sinner in the palm of his hand and on his VR headset. The worship experience will have to be designed to be delivered in virtual reality, augmented reality, or some other next generation digital platform. When we preach we might be looking at the Avatars and they might be looking at our holograms. And our sermon structure will have to change to be delivered in short bursts at pit stops in action-packed games in cyberspace with participants distributed globally.
In short, follow the pattern left by Jesus and the apostles throughout the New Testament. Leverage public ministry for all of its benefits, and be committed to private ministry, house to house, and personal engagement.
The new required training is for digital engagement, where ministry is made up of pixels, bytes, and data packets. Delivered episodically for binge watching at home, with options for further engagement, or delivered personally to the handheld device, watch or glasses.
We might keep the beloved phrase, “I see that hand” but “see” and “hand” might already be completely different things than what they used to be.
Think on these things:
- Where/how do you consume most of your content on a daily basis?
- How many events have you participated in without leaving home?
- Have you ever had a moving spiritual experience while engaging on a device?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would truly understand the times and serve God well in our generation.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
Note: Photo used without permission. Trying to establish rights holder.