The Change
American Christianity has long ago passed the time for the Come and Hear It strategy for evangelism to the Live It, Then Share It strategy.
The Come and Hear It strategy (come to the church building, sit face forward, be quiet and listen) worked in Christian America where everyone, saved and lost, was taught the Bible at home and in school as well as at church. They went to church, as the old saying goes, in order to "go along to get along."
Current America is a mission field. The masses are Biblically ignorant. By the way, that fact includes most church attenders. How many of you have actually read the Bible at least once from cover to cover? That is to say, have you read every word in every book of the Bible? And actually paid attention? This has to be the starting point for all of us who truly want to know God, His Son Jesus Christ, and what it means to belong to Him. First, read it attentively, then, study it. Take personal responsibility for your own spiritual growth and Biblical knowledge.
This change means that churches need to revamp. They are already dying and have been since the mid-Twentieth Century. Maybe the remnant can salvage the wealth that lies in the properties and buildings to repurpose for the new fellowship model that goes back to the original model of the New Testament. Buildings are good and needed. They can be used. But, I've got to tell you, nothing is more powerful than being a guest in a welcoming home.
A few Christians who have already seen this shift have made changes. They gave up talking to deaf ears. Those clinging to the model that came out of the Reformation Period of Europe are so invested in it that they cannot see the forest for the trees. They actually believe that it is the biblical model even though they cannot find it in the Bible. It is past time for Christ Followers to awake and seize the moment before it is totally too late.
That is why I wrote the book, Start a Church in a House. The book simply gives an idea of starting a church in your home and what it takes. My hope is that starting a church in a house will teach the power of the simplicity of the New Testament model. My hope is that it will educate my brothers and sisters on the power of the Early Church--the Biblical Assembly and Fellowship--and the power of fellowship with Jesus in a relaxed, informal setting.
Take some time to simply give these ideas some honest thought. Do it while reading the New Testament book of Acts.