After 14 years of full-time ministry in American mega-churches (1000+) I have often felt tired and disillusioned by the corporate structure of the church. Being a strategist, I naturally gravitate to finding new and better solutions to reach more people with the message of Jesus Christ. However, in the recent years I believe the over pursuit of ministry efficiently has at times ripped the heart and soul out of doing church. There have been too many times I have felt like a salesman rather than a shepherd, a manger rather than a minister.
Over the past month, I have been reading and discussing Deliberate Simplicity with our Leadership team at Crossroads Church. In my opinion, Dave has created a well thought out strategy to create a growing, entrepreneurial, church movement that feels more like a ministry than a marketplace.
Dave begins his book by creating new equation for church ministry. This is part one of a summary of his book that I would strongly recommend to any church leader.
Minimally (<) Intentionality (=) Reality (-) Multility (x) Velocity (x) Scalability (∞)
< = - x + ∞
< Minimally
· Simplify: Do more by doing less
o Worship (love God more), Small Groups (love people more), Outreach (love more people)
o Doctrinal Minimalists
§ Major on the Majors
· God and His Word are trustworthy
· Christ is the Savior and King
· There is hope for the future and forgiveness for the past
· The church holds the hope of the world in its hands.
o Practical Minimalists
§ Prioritize what’s important
· Do what works
· Small is Huge
o Not everyone likes huge.
o Culture is moving “micro”
· Good Enough
o Find the “comfort zone” of excellence
o There is a diminishing return on the high end of extreme quality.
o Ministry is not about getting the programs perfect! It is about changing lives.
= Intentionality
· Keep it missional
o The church is not “for us”
o The church “is us”
o We are here for the lost.
o “No enterprise can exist for itself alone. It minister to some great need, it preforms some great service, not for itself, but others; or failing therein ceases to be profitable and ceases to exist.” President Calvin Coolidge.
· Churches are Driven by:
o Tradition: a church driven by tradition looks to the past for guidance for the future. “We have always done it that way.”
o Personality: a church driven by personality finds itself directed by a key figure or figures. “We need to talk to ___ before we change that.”
o Finances: a church driven by finances finds itself looking to the budget for direction. “We don’t have the budget for that.”
o Programs: a church driven by programs defines itself by the programs it offers.
o Buildings: a church driven by buildings finds itself in the constant pursuit of bigger and better facilities.
o Events: a church driven by events finds itself regularly gearing up for its next concert or pageant.
o Seekers: a church driven by seekers finds itself trying to get into the mind of “the customer.”
o Purpose: a church driven by purpose finds itself by evaluating what it does in relation to its sense of purpose.
o Mission: a church driven by mission is caring out marching orders from it Commanding Officer. This is the purpose of the church.
§ “The greatest sin of the church today is not any sin of commission or sin of omission but the sin of no mission.” David Neeleman
§ “All Authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18
§ “To seek pleasure, comfort and happiness is to guarantee that you will miss them all. On the spiritual as on the natural level, these subjective states become heart-realities only as by-products that come from focusing on something else, something perceived as valuable, invigorating, and commanding. The seeds of happiness, it has been truly said, grow in the soil of service.” J.I. Packer
§ “This last statement is one of the reasons I am no longer in a traditional church ministry. In the modern-day church, there does seem to be a preoccupation with “us.” I got weary of being about us. It’s not about us.” Dave Browing
· Two Tensions
o Outreach (care for those “out there”)
o Nurture (care for those “in here”)
§ Without deliberate effort nurture always wins
· An Outreach Church
o Outreach instead of Evangelism
§ Outreach includes deeds as well as words.
§ Anyone can be apart of outreach
o Outreach instead of Seeker
§ Seeker starts in the mind of those far from God.
§ Outreach starts in the mind of God.
§ They both build a bridge between the two.
o Outreach is the work of each individual
§ “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3:15
o Outreach is the work of every small group.
o Outreach is the work of every church.
· Passion for People
o People matter to God.
o Søren Kierkegaard warned of the danger of the church losing its passion for the gospel and treating it like just another piece of information. The result for the church could be compared to reading a cookbook to a hungry person.
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