"Simple Church" by Thom Rainer & Eric Geiger...

"Simple Church" was recommended a few months back and I was told that it was a must read so I went over to the Holy Land of the SBC (Lifeway) and purchased a copy.

I was immediately drawn to the book because it had

the word "simple" in the title. I found out soon enough something that I had known for quit some time now, church has become anything but simple.




The author's begin by comforting me that this isn't another one of those "do it this way and I'll guarantee your church will become the next mega church in America" kind of book. They tell the story of a normal church pastor who truly cares and worries for his flock. The pastor wonders why he spends most of his time in counseling rather then working toward feeding the flock and all the while he wonders if his church is being transformed. I would say that a lot of pastors across this country know exactly how this guy feels. Our example pastor does figure it out though. He asks himself the following; "Is his church making real disciples, the kind of disciples Jesus made? Or is everyone just busy?"




Chapter one wastes no time in bringing forth simple yet mind blowing information. Rainer and Geiger speak of a couple of things that are very popular and very simple. Actually, they reveal that a major reason why these things are so popular is because they are so simple. They call two companies revolutionaries against complexity. The first company is Apple, which has created the greatness of the iphone and ipod. The ipod has one button that does just about everything you need in order to control it. The other being Google, which is one of the fastest growing companies in American history. Take a look at Google's website sometime; there is nothing on it. It's simple.



This book is a basic walk through of two types of churches and how they "do ministry." First Church has many activities and/or programs while Simple Church has very few. First Church has a different mission statement for every activity while Simple Church has every activity revolve around one mission statement. First Church hires staff that are considered the best in their field, while Simple Church hires staff that fits the mold of how they do ministry. The authors point out that while First Church has the most well known staff, they are also in competition with other staff to make their ministry the best in the church. Instead of working as a team to promote the gospel they are over working their people to be apart of as many programs as possible, thus leading them to burnout. One of my favorite points of the book is the comparison of how each church handled new ideas. Both churches had found that they where dealing with marriage issues. First Church decided to set aside an entire weekend for a marriage conference at the church. Simple Church on the other hand decided to implement ways to better its members marriages by putting the material in their Sunday school/small group studies. The reason why I found this so interesting is because First Church, which is already pulling at its members from all different directions decides to expect those members take even more time out of their busy schedule to attend another program. By Simple Church placing the material in their Sunday school/small groups they are accomplishing multiple tasks. Those accomplishments are as follows:

1. 
   
   Couples are being trained weekly.


2. 
   
   Couples become closer as a group because they learn about each other.


3. 
   
   Those that might not want to attend Bible Study just might because of the material.


4. 
   
   By accomplishing the above Simple Church is growing disciples which is their main goal.

Ultimately the book reveals that church leadership must never be afraid to say "no." People may come into your church with well intentions or ideas, but if those ideas don't fit your churches underlining mission then it's not needed. The book does say that it's not easy to become simple, but can actually be very difficult. The leadership must not falter in the goal and direction of the church. Keep sharing the vision of your church with your members even when it seems like people are tired of hearing it.

Rainer & Geiger do a great job with this book and I highly recommend it to anyone in church leadership. Our society has gotten so complex with the rise in technology that it's time to get back to the basics of offering scripture as being sufficient for our church members.

In Christ Alone,

Mr. V.