Hybrid, What?
Hybrid is a term that's being used more and more these
days. Hybrid forms have one goal: to provide us the
best possible outcome. Hybrid forms occur when two
elements of different entities are joined together for a
particular purpose. Two distinct, but equally qualified
parts are fused together to form a superior result.
It's a Hybrid World...
According to Dave Browning, author of Hybrid Church: The Fusion of Intimacy and Impact, "it is a hybrid world." Browning noted the numerous examples of hybrid forms in our world today:
In biology, the offspring resulting from cross-breeding of different plants
In the world of bicycling, a model combining the design features of a road bike and a
mountain bike
In automotive transportation, a car that combines an internal combustion engine with
an electric motor
In finance, an economic vehicle that combines elements of debt and equity
In golf, a type of club that combines elements of a driver and an iron
Why not Hybrid Church?
Immediately, the religious echelon begins licking their lips with a mouthwatering taste for something liberal, compromising, and unsupported by the truth of Scripture. For many, just the word 'hybrid' conveys some sort of unholy mixture of truth and error. However, Hybrid Church is just the opposite. Hybrid Church is NOT an attempt to mix one theological truth with another less viable teaching in order to form a new, more improved doctrine. Hybrid Church is an attempt to pull the true Church back to a more balanced consistency with the biblical view of the Church.
Two extremes can be found today in American culture. On the one hand, there is the mega-church. The mega-church is blessed with a name for itself, along with the ability to IMPACT its community in immeasurable ways. On the other hand, there is the micro-church: that small, often overlooked group of people that carry little impact in their community but offer enormous amounts of love and INTIMACY to their constituents. Hybrid Church is an attempt to fuse those two biblical qualities.
The Jerusalem Strategy illustrates this early fusion in the book of Acts. The earliest Christians worshipped in the Temple (Acts 5: 42), and Paul rented the hall of Tyrannus in Ephesus (Acts 19: 8-10). Yet, they enjoyed the intimacy and close fellowship with one another as they "broke bread in their homes" and "praised God" together (Acts 2: 46). This pattern continued according to Acts 5: 42: "And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ." Paul later augmented his mass evangelism by moving it into the homes of people (Acts 19 -20).
Mass meetings varied in terms of locale: the Temple, in and around the synagogue, the marketplace, the open air, and such public platforms as Mars Hill. However, in terms of the smaller gatherings, one consistent setting seems to have prevailed - the home.
Hybrid Church is an intentional effort to bring both the IMPACT of today's mega-church and the INTIMACY of today's small-group church together to form a more perfect union between the two. The goal is to decentralize the 'edifice complex' that we have inherited from centuries of church history and to reinforce the value of both BIG and SMALL. The Church can be BIG as many SMALL 4Ghc Groups gather all around our community functioning as the Church.
Test-Drive Value
While buildings and structures can and will be utilized for large-group gatherings, administrative operations, and ministry support, the Hybrid Church model allows us to:
1. mitigate any mixed motives that are more materialistic than spiritual by lessening the
need for multi-million dollar structures and requiring simplicity and modesty,
2. invest more dollars into community and worldwide ministry, and
3. model our belief as Christians that we do not GO to church; but rather, we ARE the
Church
