Christian author George Barna will be a radio guest tonight to discuss (defend?) his latest book, Revolution. Thanks to Zane Anderson of House Church Unplugged for tipping us to Barna’s interview.

I imagine Barna is making the rounds to respond to the broad criticism he and his book have received from many Christian leaders and teachers. Rod Heggy and I both read Revolution and agreed that, while we share Barna’s discouragement about the poor shape of the modern America church, he has gone too far by endorsing the abandonment of the local congregation.

In my review of Barna’s book, (“You Say You Want a Revolution?”, Dec. 28, 2005) I wrote:

Revolution … exalts the decision of many “revolutionary” believers to drop the church from their busy schedules. … To those revolutionaries Barna pronounces: whether you become “completely disassociated from a local church is irrelevant to me (and, within boundaries, to God).”

In Rod Heggy’s review (“Barna’s Revolution,” Dec. 23, 2005), Rod wrote:

[Barna concludes] that the local church concept is approaching obsolescence … Barna’s “discovery” of a large “breed” of Christian “revolutionaries” who do not have the time or feel the necessity for local church involvement, or even worship service attendance, seems poorly explained or documented. Rather than concluding that these Christians are marginal or backslidden … Barna concluded that these Christians represent a “significant recalibration of the American Church body.”

Barna will discuss Revolution at 8 p.m. (Central) tonight on Moody Broadcasting Network’s “Open Line” call-in show. At this link, you can find a radio broadcast in your area, or listen to the show live online, or if you are a pod person, download the podcast after the broadcast.

I predict that Barna will tell us we have all misunderstood his book — that he didn’t really mean what we think he said. I don’t think there is any misunderstanding what Barna wrote. As Christianity Today put it in the title of its review, Barna’s message is: “No Church? No Problem.” But I’m not surprised if, in response to the backlash he is getting, Barna is doing some back-pedaling now.

HOUSE CHURCHES TEMPTING, BUT NOT THE ANSWER
Thanks to Zane Anderson for the tip. Zane’s blog is called House Church Unplugged. House church leaders probably love Revolution. In it, Barna predicts that the local church as we know it will decline to about half its current participation level by 2025. One of the alternative forms of worship that Barna predicts will fill the void is the house church. House churches have already given up on the traditional neighborhood congregation; they are among the “revolutionaries” Barna praises.

I am not an advocate of the house church movement. However, I am very much in sympathy with what the house church movement is all about. There is something beautiful about stripping away all of the noise and nonsense of the modern American church experience, to gather with a handful of believers in someone’s home for a simple time of worship. During 40+ years as a Christian, most of my fondest moments of worship, of Bible study, and of fellowship have been in just that setting. Gathered in someone’s living room, sitting face to face, with open Bibles, the wind of the Spirit blowing through the room. That is awesome. It worked for the early Church for two centuries before the first church buildings were introduced to Christian culture.

But there is an important distinction between house churches and cell churches, and I would advocate the cell church as closer to the biblical model. A cell group meeting is almost indistinguishable from a house church meeting. However, the house church is a church unto itself, while the cell group is part of a larger church, i.e., a corporate body composed of many cells. Cell group members participate both in cell meetings and large-group worship services. The hub of our fellowship and body life should be small groups meeting in homes, but the connection to the larger group has its advantages, too. The first Christians met in homes, but were very closely connected with the other home groups throughout the city.

Nevertheless, Zane, I understand only too well what has motivated you and your fellow house church members to take that approach. I hope your house church is prospering. If you are willing to give us a description of your house church experience, I would be happy to publish it as a guest post.