Several years ago I left traditional institutional denominational church pastoral ministry and received a lot of criticism from my colleagues on planting a house/organic church fellowship.

Criticism from my fellow traditional ministers didn’t surprise me as much as the criticism I received from other organic church advocates, including random unexpected emails and even letters chastising me and trying to correct me, for not doing church according their understanding of how house/organic church should be done.

It still humors me to think that some in the house/organic church movement come across just as militant about their organization, structure, and format as do the very institutional churches they are decrying.

The real issue may be past experiences, hurts, or hang ups from their former institutional church involvements that left them burned or at least unhealed and therefore expressing their disdain against those who don’t do church as they do church.

I’ve been guilty of unnecessary rhetoric myself, but I think its fine to explain one’s perspective and opinions about church organizational and philosophical differences without deriding or belittling another’s vehicle to grow in their Christian faith.

After all, the church is still the bride of Christ regardless of where she sits on Sunday mornings, truth itself (John 14:6) is still what sets people free not the human “truth teller”, and the Spirit of God is still the only means used by God to convict the human soul to change (John 16:8).

I’ve accepted the fact that God has not called me to convince anyone of how they should do church, but I firmly believe that we who do appreciate and advocate a New Testament fellowship gathering should not be side tracked by complaining about those who may be tares among our wheat.

Let’s keep in mind the lesson that Jesus taught in Matthew 13:24-30 when He said do not worry about trying to separate the tares from the wheat, because that will only harm some of the wheat that is those fields, and besides it’s the work of the Master at the reaping time.