The chief end of man is to enjoy God forever!

It is natural that every aspect of you should hunger for God. This is really not a supernatural thing, but rather it is what you were created for. Your relationship with God is not some obscure issue relegated to the unseen realms of the spirit. Even for the uninitiated, it is not a spooky thing. Even your physical body was designed to be a host, a carrier of Him. He fits you like a glove. Your mind, your decision making processes, your emotional life and even your natural body yearn for the harmony that comes when the eternal God steps inside of you and wears you like a garment. In fact, Adam wore God like clothing! He didn't know he was naked in the Garden of Eden because he never was until sin entered. As we are clothed with His glory presence, we become lost in the divine. God rests inside of me, and I walk inside of Him-spirit, soul, and body.

Movements Change With Each Generation

We may define "movement" as a "coordinated change to replace present conditions with a new lifestyle."

The wide chasm between "Clergy" and "Laity" had existed for centuries when Martin Luther broke with Rome, proclaiming "The just shall live by faith."
With these words, Luther unknowingly triggered a "Reformation Movement"--a rejection of the papal control of the church.
As we evaluate what happened, we can learn about what always happens when a movement is launched.
1. THE FIRST GENERATION IS LAUNCHED WHEN TOTAL DISSATISFACTION WITH PRESENT CONDITIONS BOILS TO THE SURFACE.
Some decide they will not tolerate the present condition and begin to ask, "How can this be changed? What can I do about it?" Instead of owning a vision, the first generation is owned BY the vision. No price is too great to pay to make the change take place.
So it was: Luther had a fire in his belly. He would not rest until he let the world know how he felt. The 95 Theses were posted on the wall of the church in Wittenburg. It is not extravagant to say "all hell broke loose." Even assassination was attempted to shut him up.
Early Adopters then follow, encouraged to join the movement. They also burn with a fire in their belly.
This is what can be said of the first generation: they have a fire burning within! The cause is more important than their own existence. It is important to repeat: they do not own the vision. The vision owns them.
2. THE SECOND GENERATION IS LAUNCHED WHEN FOLLOWERS DECIDE THERE MUST BE MORE STRUCTURE TO GUIDE THE MOVEMENT.

Luther hammered the rebellious document on June 15, 1520. Melancthon participated with him from the beginning, but his humanistic convictions quenched the fire. His attempts to synthesize the theological foundations of Luther occupied him. In 1560, his "Corpus Philippicum" paved the way for the next generation. He never threw an inkwell against the wall. For him, the Reformation was all about doctrinal issues. The fire was replaced with a focus on dogmatics.
3. THE THIRD GENERATION THEN LAUNCHES WHEN FORMS CONTROL THE LIFE OF THE MOVEMENT.

Lutheranism, narrow and harsh, appeared full blown in 1580 with the Formula of Concord. In only 60 short years, the fire had turned to structure and structure birthed a frozen state of formal religion.

THE CELL CHURCH MOVEMENT IS REFLECTING THESE CYCLES.

I remember back in the 1950's when I was told by Donald McGavran I should meet Yonngi Cho. We were just a few guys here in the States who had decided the church lacked New Testament community. Sitting dismembered body parts in pews and treating them like children to be taught instead of soldiers to be trained was untenable. We shared ideas, compared notes, sarcastically said "Copyright means the right to copy." We would find a better way! Cho's model became copied by many. But alas! The theology of community was totally missing and many pastors found themselves discharged for their passion. Only a handful of men in the USA moved into the cell church theology and practice. Overseas, where community and persecution drew the people of God together, the movement flourished. Not in the USA.

What did happen? Those who wanted to "modernize" their church structures began to add the "Small Group Pastor" to the staff. He had one job: create "holding tanks" so members would not become restless and cruise to the competing church across town. Give them "busy work" to keep their idle hands busy. But never, ever, tell them there is NO distinction between the hired holy men and the tithers in the pew. Just give them something to feel they are "serving God" in any sort of small group.
I truly believe we will run out of gas soon. I sense there is a generation of people leaving the organized church and sitting at home, forming little "house churches" that are in reality one more expression of dismembered body parts, "not discerning the body"--which always has two wings: the small Basic Community and the glorious gathered assembly that celebrates the glorious Body of Christ that is all over the earth.
If you want to ponder this even more, pick up a copy of my last book, Christ's Basic Bodies.