My youth ministry friend Stacie told me about a book that I should read called “Simple Church” that was written from the perspective of intentional discipleship without all the insaneness of programming exhaustion. I asked the question this week “When did church become such a burden on the family?” It seems that as we fill our calendars with really wonderful events, programming, classes and studies that we fail to realize that our most dedicated members will be worn out trying to come to all the things we have offered. And how many things do we do without any intentionality for spiritual growth? Yes, we should have things that are just for fun and yes we should have a variety but the reality is that trying to keep up with a fast paced entertainment culture is killing us. The church can not meet all the needs, of all the people, all the time. We need to find our thing that we do well (while growing spiritually and bringing people into relationship with Jesus) and just do that. And if someone wants a different type of program, study or experience we need to be okay saying that they should go down the street and find what they are looking for. Could simple be the new black?
Quote from the book: “To have a simple church, you must design a simple discipleship process. This process must be clear. It must move people toward maturity. It must be integrated fully into your church, and you must get rid of the clutter around it.”
So why does simple sound so hard? “Imagine that your church is no longer just busy but is alive with ministries and activities that make a difference. Such is the simple church revolution.” This gives me hope that starting a church from scratch might actually be easier than serving in an existing church. : ) http://www.facebook.com/#!/LivingWaterTulsa
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