Bacon, Eggs and God

Healthy Church Zone

After visiting churches in all 48 lower states, where the majority of congregations are listless, sluggish, and shrinking, I discovered that there is healthy church zone; it is a hundred miles wide and stretches for about 700 miles. This place is just ninety miles south of Key West, Florida. Yes, in Cuba the church is surging forward.

In Cuba all sectors of the church are growing: conservative, rural, and urban. So what is different there? What can we learn about Cuba’s church growth?

Cuban congregations gather together according to the many examples set forth in Scripture. Almost all are house churches that serve their immediate neighborhoods. As a congregation increases and outgrows its limited space, it just reproduces into another congregation down the street. Obviously, they know that not one of the apostles ever spoke about building programs to construct places solely for the purpose of gathering together. I dream of the day that believers start following the examples and truth found in the Word of God and stop following after man-made traditions.

In Cuba, denominationalism and church brands are not emphasized. There are no marquees, clever branding, catchy slogans, or denominational posturing. The president of the Cuban association of churches says that churches work together with common purpose. The top instructor at a prominent Bible college said if students come in with denominational arrogance, they soon lose it when they realize the true focus is Jesus. Simply Jesus. Pastors around the globe should keep that in mind, before the church closes its doors, they lose their salaried positions, and end up hunting employment in the secular world.

Cuban ministry is purposely relational. Churches grow through one-on-one relationships, building friendships, establishing trust, serving their next-door neighbors, and enjoying one another. Take a lesson here, because it is impossible to have one-on-one relationships when meeting in a structural church with 100, 200, 300, or more people showing up a couple times each week to worship.

Cuban Christians are not worried about religious persecution. Yes, Cuba is a Communist country with strict regulations imposed on religious institutions, but the believers work within the confines of government constraints. Cuban Christians avoid politics, just like Jesus Christ and his followers did, discreetly staying under the public radar. This gives them time to focus their attention and love on the Lord and their Christian brothers and sisters.

Believers in Cuba openly display the joy of being the family of God. Sunday mornings turn house churches into jubilant celebrations of togetherness. Congregations revel in the simple enjoyment of being in the presence of the Lord and one another. In most structural churches around the globe, congregants grumble if there is no coffee in fellowship hall or if someone takes their favorite parking place or if they don’t get to hear their favorite hymn.

And now for the gut check fact: money does not control them. The average wage in Cuba is $20-25 per month. There is no ambition to build a financial empire or opulent buildings. Now hear this preachers: the people still give freely from their meager pockets. National church leaders tell us that a congregation is financially self-sustaining with just 20 members. Get a clue people, because you can be self-sustaining with just 20 people when you are not paying off a construction loan for a building that sits empty 5 days a week, when you don’t have a salaried staff, and when you are meeting together in homes just like the early Christians.

Best of all, when asking the president of the association of churches what they need from other Christians, he said, “Most of all, we need your friendship” “You don’t need to bring Jesus to Cuba. He’s already here.”

Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Romans 16:5

The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house. 1 Corinthians 16:19

Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house. Colossians 4:15

And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house: Philemon 1:2