House Churches: Strategically Leveraging Kingdom Resources for Missions

By Robert Wassel – V.P. of Advancement – PIONEERS

Like cereal at the bottom of the bowl, the last half of our “CLT” (Church Leadership Team) meeting ended as we had expected, soggy.  Membership was up, programming was up, expenses were up, and giving was, as usual, down.  To no avail, arguments to maintain mission giving were sliced with the same budget-cutting knife that cemented the church’s strategic priority – itself.

Regardless of what type of church you attend, one thing is certain: similar stories about the church’s use of resources often frustrate those who have a heart to participate with God in his global plan of redemption.  While some are excited and convicted to take part in traditional giving to congregational churches, others feel that the church has been reduced to fueling the bottomless engine of infrastructure and programs.   Like most of us, you’ve probably witnessed the fleecing of God’s resources.  Or, perhaps like me, you’ve participated in it and are now repenting and intentionally focusing on strategically leveraging kingdom resources for reaching those who have no access to the gospel and no one to tell them.

Just as God is the author of our amazing DNA, the first century church is also fearfully and wonderfully made.  At its core is life-on-life evangelism, discipleship, participatory learning and teaching, and a trust in the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of each follower of Christ.  Additionally, God has given the house church a natural mechanism allowing it to strategically leverage kingdom resources.  Not only does this natural mechanism exist, God’s intent for the church is to leverage those resources for his glory and fame among the unreached.  From Genesis 12 to Psalm 2:8 to Revelation 7, God’s Word is clear that His heart is to gather worshipers “from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.”  According to the Bible for All World Prayer Map, “American Christians spend 95% of offerings on home-based ministry, 4.5% on cross-cultural efforts in already-reached people groups, and 0.5% to reach the unreached.”  As a volcano with the power to redesign the landscape, the house church lies in a God-ordained position of influence and strength to reverse those statistics and play a significant part in this gathering of worshipers before the throne.

Strategically Positioned
In a typical congregational church, dollars often travel several miles down the funnel of ministries and programs before they make contact with front-line needs.  Statistically, the average church in America spends very little on missions, and much less on missions that focus exclusively on reaching forgotten peoples.  Although disappointing, the math sheds a brilliant light on the strategic position of the house church.

While the traditional church often struggles to find funding for a labyrinth of “real, relational, and relevant” programs and staff, the house church is strategically positioned to do more with less.  Without the burden of overhead, the house church is naturally positioned to utilize God’s resources for his purposes – directly.  Like the free-trade coffee phenomenon, simple churches cut out countless middle men by directly connecting the supplier (church and its resources) to the consumer (recipient in need).

Additionally, this process has a God-ordained way of natural advocacy to reaching the unreached.    When we are involved in direct giving toward bringing the message to those who have never heard the gospel, we experience the life-on-life ministry God intended for the body of Christ.  We move from spectator to advocate, from passive to active.  Ultimately, our strategic position of financial strength allows us to respond to more (and deeper) global needs as they arise.

Leverage-Centered
Several years ago, I was challenged to understand stewardship from a biblical perspective, rather than a convenience perspective.  Once I understood God’s purposes for my finances, (as a steward, not an owner), a passion to give more began to grow.  My wife and I took some classes, got out of debt, and started giving more generously.  Eventually, we became frustrated that we didn’t have more resources to bless others with.  With so many needs and so few dollars, the joy of giving also started to shrink.  Because our heart to give grew while our paycheck remained the same, we began to seek the Lord on how we could participate in making a bigger impact with so few resources.

The Lord showed us that we can do more by engaging others to partner in collective giving.  In essence, we learned how to leverage small gifts for great gain.  The house church shares this characteristic – that of leveraging the collective gifts of the body of Christ for greater impact.

Let’s not ignore the obvious biblical implications as well.  God intends for us, again through the natural order of His church, to live as a fully-functioning and interdependent body.  By his design for the church, we are to not only “do life together” and pray together and minister together, but God intends for us to give together, leveraging the collective power of offerings.

Kingdom-Minded
When it comes to giving, people do so for many reasons.  Some give to feel good, others give out of guilt.  Some feel obligated to give, while others are motivated by a burden.  For all who know Christ and seek to play a part in his story to redeem the lost, we must passionately and sacrificially give for all of the biblical reasons demonstrated in the first-century church.  Not to do so puts one at risk of sitting on the pew of narcissism where giving is reduced to nothing more than paying for goods and services.

This kingdom-mindedness begins with an expression of the humility Christ modeled for us, “…He humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on the cross!”  There was nothing Jesus held back for himself, emptying completely even a desire for self-preservation.  Why?  Jesus was about a heavenly kingdom, not an earthly one.  Randy Alcorn, in his book, The Treasure Principle, notes, “But I’m convinced that the greatest deterrent to giving is this: the illusion that earth is our home.  Where we choose to store our treasures depends largely on where we think our home is.”  As you and I weave our hearts with God’s desire to receive worship from every nation, tribe, people and language, our giving aligns with His kingdom.  Psalm 2:8 says, “Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possessions.”  When our “kingdom” becomes subservient to His kingdom, participating in the fulfillment of “making the nations your inheritance” becomes our global calling!

Resource Rich
Consider the math. A house church with 15-20 adults giving only $200.00 per month toward unreached peoples can accomplish indescribably more than its traditional counterpart.  What group of 20 adults in a congregational church can mobilize upwards of $50,000 each year toward missions to the unreached?  Moreover, at $200.00 per “giving unit” each month, there is certain to be much more of God’s resources remaining for local ministry opportunities.

This built-in leveraging factor that God infused into the DNA of a church is one of the greatest strengths the Lord has gifted the body with.  The question becomes, how would God have us use it to make his name known among the nations who will one day worship together at the throne?

As a way to “Strategically Leverage Kingdom Resources,” Pioneers has created a giving mechanism specifically with the house church in mind. If your house church is seeking a way to leverage kingdom resources for missions, contact Robert Wassel at rwassel@orlandoteam.com to learn more about Advocate Circle opportunities.