House Church 3

The chances of me actually doing a house church are pretty slim. In this exercise of trying to articulate the kind of church I would be interested in joining I think I am defining it right out of existence. The chances of anyone else wanting to join something like this gets slimmer with each new articulation. In the end, I will likely sell out and go with the crowd, joining something because it entertains my son, or provides some more avenues for meeting some new people. I wish it weren't so. That may be the primary reason why I write these posts is to dream a little. Wouldn't it be nice if...


My fictional house church would have a thing called the hot seat. Instead of trying to make each other comfortable by reinforcing our defensiveness, we would actually confront each other when appropriate. This sort of confrontation would target the defensiveness rather than reinforce it. There is a place for affirmation, but too often we reinforce the status quo in the other (probably a sort of countertransference) rather than confront to get to the bottom of an issue.

We tried a milder version of the hot seat in a youth group I led a few years back. I told the youth, "I don't know if or how you end up in the hot seat, but if you find yourself there, embrace it!"

Our defenses and the inconsistencies in our life are well-entrenched. How else could you directly expose them without some confrontation? Who better to do the confrontation than others that have and will walk with you on the spiritual journey? I could imaging a time of breaking down, coming through it with a more honest sense of who we are and better prepared to live differently.

Sounds a lot like the encounter groups of the 60's and 70's, but there are only so many ways to make that kind of progress. On the other hand, there is always LSD - ssssssssssaves time.

Told you I would define my house church right out of existence.