Five reasons why you should NOT join a house church

That's not a typo in the headline.

Our friends at Seedbed published a guest blog post from yours truly that lays out a quintet of reasons for why many people may try out house churches, but also why those same people should re-consider their motivations.

If you’re just curious, or seriously considering leaving your brick-and-mortar church for a house church (or simple church, organic church, micro-church, etc.), we want to assist you as you prayerfully seek God’s will. Aside from their many advantages, below are five reasons why you should not join—or not start, for that matter—a house church.

1. It’s so much easier.
Get ready to roll up your sleeves! It is indeed less labor-intensive on many fronts to be a part of a simply organized house church. There’s no grounds-keeping committee or set up/strike down team, as two examples. Yet there’s a surprising amount of work that takes place. It’s enjoyable work, for sure, but every “regular” is expected to pull his or her own weight in a variety of tasks, be it preparing a meal to serve, helping to prep/clean up the house of this week’s host, or studying just as hard as you would for a sermon or Bible study for this week’s interactive lesson. You also find yourself getting pulled into helping others outside the meeting more often as you’re sharing life together. No one gets paid, so everyone must pull together for the home-based church to succeed. Simpler, yes, but not “easier.”  ...

Read more: http://seedbed.com/feed/reasons-you-should-not-join-a-house-church 

Image credit: Justin Skinner / Thinkstock (via Seedbed.com)