Several years ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with Wayne Jacobsen here in Lexington. He probably doesn’t remember much about the meeting, but I remember being slightly discouraged. At the time, I was just getting started with this ministry of helping folks start simple churches and I didn’t get the sense from him that he was all that excited about simple churches! I had read his book So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore?” (download free here) and really resonated with the main character’s frustrations. While I agreed that “house church was not the answer” (a realization the character discovers), I’m not really sure that I understood this truth to the depth that Wayne did at the time of our meeting. I remember even listening to these talks below and enjoying them, but under-appreciating the message.
More recently, I have revisited these talks and listened with fresh ears. Certainly, we all speak from our experiences and my guess is that Wayne’s experience with the church and even “house church” may not be exactly like mine or yours. There are a lot of different ideas about what “house church” is. My sense is that the Christian life and church experience for which we have advocated is a bit different than Wayne’s “house church” experience, but I could be wrong. Nonetheless, I can see how a church of any kind can easily become focused on the wrong things. I know many of my best efforts have resulted in a skewed focus.
Through this Transition series, I have been encouraged and reminded of where I want my focus to be: living in God’s love. Any believer will be encouraged and challenged by this series–especially those of you who are seeking to walk with Christ outside the traditional structures we have called “church.” You may not agree with everything he says, but I think you certainly will be challenged to think about Christ, His love, and the Church in ways that will be helpful.
I am grateful for Wayne’s wisdom and the way in which he speaks of the Church and the Father. May you be encouraged, too! We would love to hear from you! Leave your comments below!
Listen
UPDATE: Check out Wayne’s Book “Finding Church”…one of my favorites for thinking through how these talks impact “church.”
CLICK HERE to listen to the audio on Wayne’s website
CLICK HERE to listen to the audio on podcast via iTunes (note: you will likely have to search for the very first podcast episode)
Download “So You Don’t Want To Go To Church Anymore” Free Here.