Organic Church

I have just finished reading Neil Cole's "Organic Church" which I gained much from. He has helped me think through, not just in this book but a workshop in New York, what it means to be the church. What does the church look like? Does the church have to look the way it has looked for the previous 50 years? Here is a thought from the book.

"My coworker and friend Brad Fieldhouse found an advertisement in a Christian publication that claimed having a new digital sign on the front lawn was the secret to 100 percent of a church's growth. Oh, how far we have wandered from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. do we really think that our great programs will impress the non-Christians in our community to such an extent that they will say, "Hey, that's a nice sign. And check out the parking lot. Wow, I want to be a Christian too!"

We cannot compete with Hollywood when it comes to entertainment. The best preachers cannot out-entertain Jay Leno and David Letterman, with teams of talented writers. The best worship band cannot put ona better show than the Rolling Stones, No Doubt, or Green Day. Our buildings are not so nice as the ones that corporate America is constructing; in fact, other religions and cults are outdoing us architecturally. Have you seen any Christian movies? Please! We are not able to come up against the world, play its game, and win. it is a foolish strategy - and a needless one.

Suppose for a moment that this strategy actually works. Imagine that hundreds of people come to us because they are impressed by our music, children's programs, clean toilets, and parking spaces. What if suddenly being a Christian is cool and the newest fad is to attend church. What have we done? are we better off? I don't think so. Now we have churches full of consumers looking for the one that offers the best "service" for them or their family. Wherever the next great show is, that is where the multitudes will flock. Does it sound familiar at all?

What we draw them with is what we draw them to. If they come expecting to be entertained, we had better entertain them if we want to keep them coming back every week. This mentality creates a vicious circle of endless program upgrades, staff improvements, and building campaigns to feed the consumer monster. The monster is always hungry. Pastors are burned out. members are marginalized and lost in programs. The lost community gets a corrupted caricature of the Kingdom of God."

I like the heart of Neil Cole and was blown away by his passion for the Church when I got to be a part of his workshop. I also like the idea of the organic, or simple model of church. Obviously he states a problem of the church very well here and I think he has a pretty legitimate solution in Organic Faith. I still have some questions and am not sure exactly how it works but I am very interested nonetheless. We'll see what happens.