1. It is simple and easy to do. You can start a church with just four people. It also avoids the circus that is sometimes called church and brings it down to what really makes a difference.
2. It is outreach focused. I love Milton’s focus on those who are not yet here.
3. It’s organized around making disciples. Since this is the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) it stands to reason any church organized around this focus will be more effective.
4. It is part of the organized church. The North American Division has approved this model and supports the Simple Church organization. This is more important than it may seem. Many times innovators will get frustrated with the time it takes to change church structure and leave. Milton, though innovative, has worked within the official church structure to do this.
5. And my personal favorite . . . It doesn’t take a paid pastor to run! This means salary resources can be used for evangelists and church planters so more and more work can be started.

Here’s the link:

SimpleChurchAtHome.com

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Each week (four times a month) the leader calls our toll-free number for the coaching session. During the thirty minute conversation the leader talks to Lonnie about how things went the past week, goals for the coming week, and anything else he or she may need help on. This weekly session helps the leader stay intensely focused on structural change while at the same time balancing the rest of his or her life. It’s a helpful way to stay sane during the turbulence of refocusing a church on mission.

Because this is our passion and we want to help as many leaders as possible, we’ve tried to keep the price low. The cost is $149 a month payable by check or Paypal.

We also offer a free first session so you can “try before you buy.” This allows leaders to know if coaching is right for them before they ask a church or conference to pay the bill.

To schedule your first free session call 1-877-8FOCUS7 (877-836-2877) and press one.

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I admit as a Christian I once dismissed disciple making as just another way to describe reaching the lost. A closer look reveals it is THE mission of the church. The ideas of “fishers of men”, “Seeking the lost”, etc do describe part of the mission. Disciple making describes the whole of the mission. Because it is not just connecting people with Jesus (baptizing) but it is also making them into followers (teaching to obey Matt 28:19,20).

So the big question comes, If I want to be faithful to the commission Jesus has given me, how do I make a disciple?

That is a question that puzzled me for several years. How do I make a disciple? It seems the New Testament is virtually silent on the subject, yet it is the core of why the church exists.

Then the obvious dawned on me. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. Jesus spent three and a half years giving us an example of how to make disciples. He chose twelve men to be with Him. They did what He did. They ministered together, worshipped together, and became a close-knit unit (most of the time). Sometimes Jesus worked in the group of thirteen (himself and twelve disciples). Sometimes in was in a group of four (himself, Peter, James, and John). This is how Jesus made disciples.

When we pause to think about this we realize Jesus is a church growing genius. I guess I should have expected it. He knows more than I do. He cares about people more than I do. And he cares about His church more than I do.

The small group for disciple making is a tool of genius. When we look at relationships in a group we can see why small is powerful.

If you and I are in a room there is one relationship, just between you and I. If a friend walks in he adds two more relationships: one with you and one with me. Another friend walks in the room and she adds three relationships. For each person who walks in a relationship is added with everyone who is already in the room. We can express this in a formula. The number of people in a room multiplied by one less than the number of people in the room divided by two. This will give us the relationships in a room.

If we get too many people in a room the intimacy weakens. When there is a large crowd there is more energy, more enthusiasm. Because of this it is easier to preach to a large crowd than a small one. But in largeness we really don’t talk about the real issues. I save the innermost burdens and joys of my heart for a few close friends.

Jesus knew disciple making takes place most effectively in groups or four or thirteen. I would suggest these are the minimum and maximum boundaries for effective small groups. I have found following this example of Jesus, people grow faster than any other method. If we take time to work out the math adding just five more than Jesus’ group we double the relationships in that group. It becomes a very different place.

Jesus is a church growth genius . . .

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As I work in my role as a pastor it’s no different. Preparing sermons, board meetings, conflict resolution takes it’s time and energy. At the end of the week I look back (if I take the time) and wonder if it was all worth it? Did I spend my time on what really matters? It seems like many weeks the pressing of the urgent takes the place of the important and I have to answer “no”.

So I am challenged by Jesus command just before lift off in Matthew 28:19-20. Because all power in heaven and earth has been given to Him, He tells the disciples, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Jesus talks about baptism as part of the disciple making process. He talks about teaching to obey as part of the process too. However, baptizing and teaching are not the commission. The command Jesus gave His first disciples, and gives each disciple until He comes back is “Go, and make disciples of all nations.” In it’s simplicity this is why the church exists.

This statement challenges me. Because as a pastor most of what I do is not to make disciples. Most of what I do is to keep the already made disciples happy and healthy. And most of what I do is not “going” as Jesus said. I’m a lot better at staying.

Could it be although I mean well, the choices of how I use my time have crippled the church and been unfaithful to the request Jesus has given me? God winks at our ignorance. He is a gracious God who will forgive our sins when we ask. But what if, now that He has brought this to my attention, I go on from here and spend my time with the ninety-nine in the fold (Luke 15) and don’t spend my time out on the hills looking for the lost sheep? Is that a faithful shepherd? Not so much . . .

There is a time for training those who are saved. In fact in Testimonies Volume seven, page 18 there seems to be a formula suggested of nine-tenths on the lost and one-tenth on the saved. This makes sense. If a pastor spends nine-tenths on the lost he or she will learn how to reach lost people. A person becomes good at whatever they do. If they come back to the churches with the one-tenth of their time left to teach, this can be very valuable time. The pastor out with the lost is a much more valuable teacher than the one who spends all his time with people in the church. The “in the church” pastor may know how to run the church (because that is where he or she spends time), but doesn’t know much about connecting with lost people.

It’s all about people. Taking people from the wandering, lost world and making them into disciples of Jesus. That’s what it’s all about. Now if I can just remember . . .

Next week we will look at how to make disciples. Since this is our mission, does the Bible give us insight on how that should be done?

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There are times when churches are tempted to spend their resources on those who are already a part of the church. I want church members to be comfortable too. However, when we do we make a choice. That dollar spend on my comfort means that dollar cannot go to reach someone who may not know about Jesus. The eternal life of some have been lost because I and others want to be comfortable in church.

So we have to make some tough choices. And those choices could mean people will leave because we are not providing the services they expect. Either we go after the lost person with our resources or we spend them trying to keep those who would leave if we don’t take care of them. Most churches default to the later because they don’t want to cause pain.

Let’s consider the risks here. Let suppose there is a church of one hundred people. The church decides to restructure to focus on mission and while doing so fifty people get upset and leave. A full half of the church leaves. Although this is a tragedy consider what this allows.

The Adventist Church has grown an average in North America the last ten years of 1.94%. The first thirty-seven years of church organization the church grew average 8.92% under a mission focused structure centered in many ways around the New Testament model.

Now consider the church above grows at the 8.92% we used to grow at. They are intentional about mission and hit the average every year. There is another church of a hundred members who does not change and grows at the average for North America. Below are the growth rates. You will notice in eleven years the membership of the fifty member church passes the hundred member church. In twenty years the one that started out smaller has 129 more members than the one who didn’t change.

I do not look forward to the job of changing the structure of the church. However, all indications suggest we have to make a choice — mission or me. My comfort and making people comfortable who know Jesus is not a good kingdom choice when there are still people dying outside of a relationship with Jesus.

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