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Many of the church leaders we talk to are seeking an escape from the not-so-simple life. // "Relax. This book is not about another church model. If you are a church leader, you have been exposed to plenty of models, and 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. // But go ahead, let down your guard. No new program is going to be pushed here. 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."… (more)
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I know of several churches that have "bought" into the idea of the premise from this excellent book. I
I commend the writers for their work in arguing simplicity in the church. Take for example this excerpt from chapter three:
"Hezekiah was a revolutionary for simple. He was extremely focused. He was against cluttered spiritual lives. Evidently God liked this characteristic about him because in 2nd Kings 18:3 indicates that Hezekiah did what “was right in the LORD’s sight.”
He returned God’s people to the Lord. He brought them through an extreme makeover. He got rid of some things. First, he removed the high places and cut down the Asherah poles (2nd Kings 18:4). Basically, he threw out the altars that were set up to make-believe gods. He took out the godless clutter that had been competing for the attention and the affection of the people.
Most churches leaders are willing to do that. This move was surely understood and embraced by even the nominal God worshippers in Hezekiah’s day. They would expect the leader to insist that the people worship God.
Eliminating pagan idols is one thing, but what Hezekiah did next was controversial. Many church leaders would struggle to emulate his next move. Surely, people in his day struggled with this next change.
He broke the bronze snake that Moses made – on purpose.
He did not just drop it and claim it was an accident. He broke it into pieces. The mental picture of a baseball player breaking a bat over his knee comes close. Yes, it was the special and sacred snake. The snake that was crafted and held by Moses. The snake that God had instructed Moses to make. The snake that was the source of salvation for the people from their snakebites (Numbers 21:6-8).
He got ride of it because it was clutter. It was clutter because the people worshiped it. It took attention away from the real Savior. Bronze was worshipped. A fake snake was adored. What was once a good thing became an idol. It got in the way of their worship of God. The tool for worship became the object of worship.
In many churches the original tools for life change have created too much clutter. Instead of uniting, they divide focus. The programs have become ends in themselves.
Most churches need an extreme makeover and a modern day Hezekiah.
For Hezekiah, eliminating the bronze snake was most likely not a popular decision, especially with the religious crowd steeped deep in tradition. Most extreme makeovers involving God’s people are difficult. Hezekiah did something that was probably perceived being on the edge of sanity. It was a radical move. And that pleased God. In fact, there was no king like him before or after his time (2nd Kings 18:5).
The church needs some modern-day Hezekiahs."[1]
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[1] Thom Rainer & Eric Geiger, Simple Church, pp. 78-80.
I think this is an important book for ministerial and strong lay leadership to consider as they try to stream-line what works and what doesn't work in the current church setting.
In the first half of the book, the
I came to it after reading the incredible Essentialism by
Other reviews are correct when they ask for deeper theological and Scriptural reflection, however.