I've Been Thinking About This…

Some books are easy to read – even non-fiction. There are a number of reasons that come to mind: One is that you agree with them completely and spend the entire time saying, “Yes!” to everything you’re reading. These books affirm your point of view on the matter. A second reason is that the book sets out perhaps just one thought – new to you – and spends the rest of the time showing you how you would have come to that conclusion yourself if only you’d been thinking down that path. Books like this are exciting, because it’s as if they’re introducing you to a part of your own mind that you haven’t met yet.

Simple Church, by Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger, is a book that appeals for the second reason. It’s a fast read even though it’s not a particularly small book; it’s engaging; it guides through several examples; it bases the conclusion on some solid evidence and its logic is well presented. But above all, the idea is infectious.

The one new thought is this: to follow the true mission of Christ (which presumably all Churches should want to do if they call themselves a ‘Christian’ church) is to be obedient to Matt 28:19 and Acts 1:8. What do successful churches do? They stay focused on their process; distill it down to the minimum to be effective; and protect it. The process that often seems to work best these days is a three-step tool –

1. Step one is to invite people to attend, and provide an environment where they feel comfortable staying.
2. If they stay and eventually accept Christ, then step two is to connect them with others in the church who are more mature and who can help them to grow.
3. Finally, the third step is for these new members to take the lead: to bring their strengths to bear inside the church, and to invite others through the door.

A three-step process such as this, say the authors, is also easy to turn into a metaphor and remember – this helps members understand what the church’s drive (focus) is all about. This method has been developed and adopted by some of the fastest-growing churches in North America. North Point calls the three steps “Foyer to Living room to Kitchen”, and several churches (i.e., Cross Lane Community Church in Terre Haute, IN) have copied that metaphor. Saddleback uses a similar one. But it’s just a metaphor. The real key is to simplify church down to its basics and not get sidetracked by the latest, greatest idea. Programming is potentially distracting – instead, push what would have been ‘Yet Another Program’ into the existing process.

I don’t think the three-step process would have worked in mainstream churches 100 or even 50 years ago – the focus in churches was all about allowing people to come to church, not about going to the people. But today, some churches are reexamining the original mission (sort of ‘getting back to the basics’, if you will) and looking for ways to fulfill it more effectively. Again, I don’t get the sense that the authors are saying the three-step process is the only one that works.

What is being said here is, “Clarify your vision; focus on the mission; don’t let yourself get bogged down with programming that takes effort and energy away from the mission; get rid of the pet projects and deadwood that are strangling the effectiveness of your ministry. ”

And that’s good advice for any endeavor.

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