I have been reading a book I highly recommend:
Simple Church
The essence of this book conveys that a church ought to have a process- not just programs- for people within the body. What that means is that you have a developmental model for people to grow through in your midst. For example, a church might decide they want people to:
1. Love God
2. Grow Together
3. And Serve Others
So, they structure their efforts around these steps. They ask questions like, "How are we helping people to Love God (by following Jesus) for the first time? Where are we investing time, talent and dollars to facilitate this step?" They examine their programs, "What programs are we implementing to help people in this step, and are they effective- how do we know?" It's not enough to say that the Sunday morning service helps people to Love God for the first time. There has to be some evidence of that.
The next step is linear. Once people have been helped to Love God, how can we help them Grow Together? What ways can we spend time, talent and dollars to facilitate people's maturation process? Since Christian maturity cannot happen in a vacuum, what ways are we putting people together to sharpen one another and Grow Together?
Finally, people who have grown in their faith are ready to Serve Others. So, the church asks the question, "How are we living out our growth in Christ? How can we afford opportunities for as many people as possible to Love God in a practical way by Serving Others? If we have really Grown Together, then Jesus seems to think that will impact how we live in this world."
And here is the beauty. When we Serve Others, it can be a way to facilitate new people coming to Love God.
Now let's move from the hypothetical to the real.
This is how we will conduct The Development. Our Sunday morning services, neighborhood evangelism, backyard parties, service evangelism, and marriage outreaches will all be steps to help people Love God for the first time.
Then, once a family starts to catch on and show up 2-3 times on Sunday morning, we will invite them to come to weekly GT meals (Grow Together). These will not be traditional small groups, but will have an element where we sharpen one another.
After some time spent growing, we will help the new family find a way to purposefully Serve Others. Some people outside will be influenced by this and may take steps in their Love for God. So, the process repeats itself.
LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers->
Yeah, it’s like that.
This is sort of like saying there are three areas that are important to a football team:
1. Offense
2. Defense
3. Special Teams
If the team spends too much time cutting the grass on the field, picking out nice uniforms, or running concessions, they will do one thing consistently- lose! The duties of cutting the grass, picking uniforms and running concessions are all important, but they are not what a football team is supposed to do!
I think you get the analogy.
Simple Church
The essence of this book conveys that a church ought to have a process- not just programs- for people within the body. What that means is that you have a developmental model for people to grow through in your midst. For example, a church might decide they want people to:
1. Love God
2. Grow Together
3. And Serve Others
So, they structure their efforts around these steps. They ask questions like, "How are we helping people to Love God (by following Jesus) for the first time? Where are we investing time, talent and dollars to facilitate this step?" They examine their programs, "What programs are we implementing to help people in this step, and are they effective- how do we know?" It's not enough to say that the Sunday morning service helps people to Love God for the first time. There has to be some evidence of that.
The next step is linear. Once people have been helped to Love God, how can we help them Grow Together? What ways can we spend time, talent and dollars to facilitate people's maturation process? Since Christian maturity cannot happen in a vacuum, what ways are we putting people together to sharpen one another and Grow Together?
Finally, people who have grown in their faith are ready to Serve Others. So, the church asks the question, "How are we living out our growth in Christ? How can we afford opportunities for as many people as possible to Love God in a practical way by Serving Others? If we have really Grown Together, then Jesus seems to think that will impact how we live in this world."
And here is the beauty. When we Serve Others, it can be a way to facilitate new people coming to Love God.
Now let's move from the hypothetical to the real.
This is how we will conduct The Development. Our Sunday morning services, neighborhood evangelism, backyard parties, service evangelism, and marriage outreaches will all be steps to help people Love God for the first time.
Then, once a family starts to catch on and show up 2-3 times on Sunday morning, we will invite them to come to weekly GT meals (Grow Together). These will not be traditional small groups, but will have an element where we sharpen one another.
After some time spent growing, we will help the new family find a way to purposefully Serve Others. Some people outside will be influenced by this and may take steps in their Love for God. So, the process repeats itself.
LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers-> LoveGod->GrowTogether->ServeOthers->
Yeah, it’s like that.
This is sort of like saying there are three areas that are important to a football team:
1. Offense
2. Defense
3. Special Teams
If the team spends too much time cutting the grass on the field, picking out nice uniforms, or running concessions, they will do one thing consistently- lose! The duties of cutting the grass, picking uniforms and running concessions are all important, but they are not what a football team is supposed to do!
I think you get the analogy.
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