Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples

Chapter One

Out of complexity, find simplicity. ~ Albert Einstein

Relax. This book is not about another church model. If you are a church leader, you have been exposed to plenty of models. Most of them are on your shelf. Or worse, you have blended a bunch of models into one schizophrenic plan. If that is the case, neither you nor the people in your church are really sure what your church is all about. We see it all the time.

Go ahead, let down your guard. No new program is going to be pushed. There will be nothing new to add to your calendar. If anything, you will be encouraged to eliminate some things, to streamline. This book will help you design a simple process of discipleship in your church. It will help you implement the model you have chosen. It will help you simplify.

Keep your eyes on the words at the beginning of each chapter. Four simple words. Clarity. Movement. Alignment. Focus. Those four words will speak volumes before we conclude the book.

After hundreds of consultations with local churches and a significant research project, we have concluded that church leaders need to simplify. They are constantly asking, "How can we make all this work? How can we put all the pieces together?" Many of the church leaders we talk to are seeking an escape from the not-so-simple life.

The Not So Simple Life

Pastor Rush is on his way home from a conference on church ministry. He loved the time away, the challenging messages, and the extended times of prayer and worship. But he hates how he feels right now. The conference notebook sits on his lap filled with all that he learned and all that he wants to do. He wants to open it, but he can't. He wants to think about the future, but his mind is filled with the details surrounding the rest of this week.

As the plane takes off, he only feels the weight of the responsibilities that await him. Somewhere between ten thousand and thirty thousand feet, he puts the notebook (and his dreams) in his bag.

It is Wednesday afternoon. He feels a little guilty not being at the weekly visitation program last night. He feels more guilty for enjoying the night off. The Tuesday night visitation program was his baby, his paramount program, when he came to the church several years ago. It soon became the passion of many people in the church. He is grateful those people caught his passion and feels like a traitor for resenting the additional night away from home.

Tonight, he has to (wishes he wanted to) lead the prayer meeting at church. He tells himself he will share something God taught him in a personal devotion. By doing so he will have time to return some phone calls before the prayer meeting. Experience tells him the messages on his desk and the e-mails on his computer will be many. He knows they are already there.

The financial team is meeting after the prayer meeting, so he will not be home until after 9:00. He does not lead the meeting, but he needs to be there. Hopefully his kids will still be awake when he gets home.

Tomorrow morning he is having breakfast with one of the men on the church board. He does not know what it is about, but he thinks it will only add more to his mounting list of responsibilities.

Then there is a staff meeting and maybe some hospital visits. Tomorrow night he and his wife are in a small group. He has recently encouraged everyone in the church to be in a small group, and he wants to lead by example. He genuinely loves the group when he gets there, and he wishes it did not feel burdensome. He asked each staff person to be in a small group and prays they don't feel the same way he does right now.

He has little work done on his message for the upcoming Sunday morning worship services. He is in the middle of a series on relationships. He taught on relating to your spouse last week, and he longs to live out some of the practical principles he shared: date nights, picnics, and so forth.

He wants to make that happen in some way this week. Friday night could work. He commits to pass on the invitation to attend one of the local high school sporting events. He knows that will disappoint one of the board members who has encouraged him to be more visible in the community.

Saturday afternoon, after his son's ball game, he will spend much of the day on his message. It looks like another "Saturday night special" is in store for the Sunday morning crowd.

This weekend he is going to speak on relating to lost neighbors. He wishes he had some personal stories to share, but life has just been so busy lately. He thinks of all the times he has pulled into the garage after late nights at church or church-related activities. He hasn't met the new couple two doors down. He tells himself they just moved in a few weeks ago but then remembers it was six months ago, at least.

He knows that if he is not relating to his neighbors and inviting them to Christ and to church, he cannot ask his congregation to do so. He wrestles with changing his message, but he has already announced what he is going to preach. He shakes his head and slumps a little lower in the seat.

He is tempted to witness to the person sitting next to him on the plane just to get a personal story for his message-nothing like a good airplane story to get a crowd going. He rebukes himself for the improper motivation. The passenger is asleep anyway. Must be nice.

Pastor Rush reaches back into his bag. He pushes the conference notebook aside and grabs a legal pad.

He has the weekly staff meeting after his breakfast appointment. This will be the only time he has to prepare for it. He decides to keep it brief, jotting down only a few items to discuss. He knows there are some staff issues that need to be dealt with, but he does not have the time or emotional energy to raise them.

He begins to think about his message for Sunday night (which is different from Sunday morning). He has taken some criticism lately for the quality of his Sunday night messages. He understands why. They have been underdeveloped. He is trying to work on them earlier in the week, taking some of the time away from the Sunday morning message preparation.

This Sunday night there is a neighborhood block party. His wife will go while he is at church. He thinks, At least one of us knows our neighbors. Of course, people will wonder why she was not at church. The tension is mounting. He slumps deeper into the seat.

He knows there has to be a better way. He knows it and continually admits it to himself and the Lord. But there is no time to discover it (whatever it may be), much less time to putit into action.

Like other conferences, Pastor Rush was impressed but is coming home almost depressed.

During these times, Pastor Rush has disciplined himself to remember his calling into ministry. When he was in his early twenties, he committed his life to vocational ministry. He mentally goes back to those days when he wrestled with his career path.

God had given him an unquenchable passion for the church, for the Word, and for people. He knew God had set him apart to serve the church. He still does. He still has a deep burden. The nagging in his heart to make disciples through the ministry of the local church is still there. That conviction has not wavered, only grown. But he knows so many things have been placed beside it, even on top of it.

Yet, he is in this for people.

At thirty thousand feet Pastor Rush is thinking of people in his church. He is praying and thinking. Some tough questions are emerging. Are the people in his church being transformed? Is his church making real disciples, the kind of disciples Jesus made? Or is everyone just busy?

He glances over at the sleeping passenger next to him. On his lap is the airline's magazine, and it is opened to a full-page advertisement for a popular media device. The top of the advertisement says Simple. Out of curiosity Pastor Rush pulls the same magazine out of the seat pocket in front of him. He finds the page to further examine the advertisement. It is interesting. He snickers.

Simple sure sounds good.

The Revolution

Simple is in.

Complexity is out. Out of style at least.

Ironically people are hungry for simple because the world has become much more complex. The amount of information accessible to us is continually increasing. The ability to interact with the entire world is now possible. Technology is consistently advancing at a rapid pace.

The result is a complicated world with complex and busy lives. And, in the midst of complexity, people want to find simplicity. They long for it, seek it, pay for it, even dream of it. Simple is in. Simple works. People respond to simple.

The simple revolution has begun.

Apple knows this.

They are pioneers of simple. They are a part of the revolution against complexity, pushing it forward on the technological front. Pick up an iPod and find one big button. Connect it to your Apple desktop, and music automatically downloads. Plug your printer cable into the USB port, and you are ready to go. "Plug and play," the mantra of a computer generation hungry for simple.

Even Apple's graphic design is simple. Look at the logo. An apple with one color has replaced the former multicolored apple. Their artwork on their products and in their stores is subtle. Their cultlike followers are vocal missionaries to the simplicity they offer. If you know someone with an Apple, you know what we mean. You have been prodded to join Apple's part in the simple revolution.

The iPod is a case study in action. If you are unfamiliar with an iPod, it's a portable music or video device that can be listened to with headphones or in a vehicle. It is the symbol of the present generation and is simpler than any eight-track, cassette player, or CD player. In an amazing coup that other companies are admittedly mimicking, Apple was able to take advanced technology and make it simple.

The outward design has only one circular button. It has four touch points surrounding the circle and one touch point in the middle, but it looks like one button. The iPod is more expensive and offers less performance than many of the devices sold by competitors, but it dominates the market. It is simple, and people respond to it.

The iMac is further proof. The iMac is Apple's version of a desktop computer. The attraction is that all the components of a computer are consolidated into one. The monitor contains the central processing unit, the speakers, the network and USB ports, and the CD-ROM. It comes in a single box with a keyboard and mouse. This simplicity makes the buying decision easy. There is one choice.

It is simple to assemble because of the few parts. Since Apple makes the software that comes with the iMac, there is one number to call if something goes wrong. One decision. One box. One contact. One price. Simple.

Google knows this.

Google is one of the fastest-growing companies in American history. It has made sophisticated technology behind Internet searching simple and speedy to users. The popularity of Google has skyrocketed as Web users are flocking to use the search engine. People love and respond to the simple look of Google's search engine. Perhaps as much as 75 percent of all Web searches are done on Google. They are in clear command of the search market. For Google (and its investors), the simple revolution has been very rewarding.

The amount of white space on their home page screams simplicity. Click on google.com and only twenty to forty words are found on their home page. That's it. It is simple taken to a whole new level. If simple supersized were not an oxymoron, we would use it here. Compare Google's look to other search engines such as YAHOO! or MSN where users are confronted with hundreds of words on the opening page.

Google keeps its search page simple for the sake of the user. The philosophy behind the simplicity is that users are unable to effectively process too much information, that too much information is slow and cumbersome. Google believes users should not be assaulted with information that is not relevant or applicable to them.

Graphic designers know this.

Graphic art has reacted toward the complexity and clutter of the postmodern era by embracing what some have called "the new simplicity." Glance at some of the top graphic design magazines such as I.D. or How, and you will see hints of the simple revolution.

Or just take a look at simple revolutionary John Maeda, a leader in the graphic world. Maeda is a professor of design at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1999, Esquire magazine recognized him as one of the twenty-one most important people for the twenty-first century. He is also the 2001 recipient of the United States' highest career honor for design, the National Design Award, and Japan's highest career honor, the Mainichi Design Prize.

Not only is Maeda one of the world's most renowned graphic designers; he is also an advocate of simple. He codirects SIMPLICITY, an experimental research program at the Media Lab at MIT. The research is designed to develop technology that is simple to understand and operate. The goal of the project is to help users break free from the intimidating complexity and information overload of modern technology. It is a funded revolt against complexity. Maeda also writes regularly on his Web log, his online diary. The name of the Web log, as you guessed, is simplicity.

Southwest Airlines know this.

Southwest is North America's most successful and profitable airline. It is also the most simple. There are no assigned seats, just groups. And the groups are based on the passenger's arrival time. Food is minimal.

There are also no hubs. The planes fly the shortest distance between two points. In other words, you won't be stopping in Atlanta or Chicago on every flight. All of this simplicity saves the passenger time and makes the company money.

Papa John's knows this.

Papa John's makes great pizza. According to the founder, John Schnatter, the secret to the company's success has been its simplicity. Look at this statement found on their Web site:

At Papa John's we have a simple formula for success: Focus on one thing and try to do it better than anyone else. By keeping the Papa John's menu simple, we are able to focus on the quality of our product by using only superior-quality ingredients.

People have embraced the simple menu and the simple philosophy. What began as one store just over twenty years ago has mushroomed into the third largest pizza franchise in the United States.

Interior designers know this.

Real Simple is the name of a popular interior design magazine and Web site (www.realsimple.com). People are responding to the concept. Real Simple has been the most successful magazine launch in a decade. The magazine promotes simple interior design and instructs readers how to keep their house, kitchen, and meals simple.

Even the king (or queen) of interior design, Martha Stewart, knows simple. Not because she lived the simple life in a prison cell but because she advocates simple design. Perfect and simple are two words commonly heard on her program and seen in her articles.

At least, that is what our wives tell us. We don't claim to know about Martha firsthand.

Marketing gurus know this.

Marketing and advertising executives are using simple slogans and advertising pieces. You know that because you have seen it. That is not all though. The revolution goes deeper than that. They are marketing their products as solutions for our complicated lives. The message is: "This product will simplify your life." They know people respond to simple.

In a notable marketing book, Simplicity Marketing, Steven Cristol and Peter Sealey teach executives to position their products to promise customers a more simple life. They argue that an effective brand will reduce the stress of the customer. The value that many products offer is clutter reduction.

Take for example the marketing of the South Beach Diet. The diet market is cluttered. New diets and weight-loss strategies come along all the time, but South Beach promised the potential dieter something other plans failed to deliver: simplicity and less stress.

The founder and author of the South Beach Diet movement explains the essence of his diet this way: "What started as a part-time foray into the world of nutrition has led me to devise a simple, medically-sound diet that works, without stress, for a large percentage of those who try it." Did you see it? Simple and stress-free. Besides a way for favorite desserts to actually be sugar-free, what more could dieters ask for?

OK. By now you get the point. Simple is in. Simple works. People respond to simple. But this book is directed to those passionate about effective church ministry. Does this simple revolution have any significance to churches and church leaders?

Keep reading.

(Continues.)