Simple Church

Why does today’s church feel complicated when it should be simple?

I don’t mean complicated in the sense of the early believers who suffered persecution and in many cases martyrdom for their faith. But complicated in the sense of the many trends and issues that the modern American church is wrestling with. It feels like the church is pulled in so many different directions by so many different and sometimes opposing forces that it’s lost its way. Here’s a short list of what I’m talking about:

Organizational structures more devoted to preserving the status quo than reaching the lost.

A younger generation hungry for God.

The growth of mega-churches and the notoriety of celebrity pastors.

The struggles of smaller churches to survive.

Leadership scandals.

Secondary programs and ministries taking precedence over the church’s main mission.

Changing doctrine.

Standing for moral truth while loving people in the community and the world who reject it.

A disconnect from the culture.

Too much accommodation to the culture.

The disenchantment of many older members.

The failure of denominations.

Engaging the political world without compromising the gospel.

Like I said, church today is complicated.

It shouldn’t be that way. The Bible’s teaching about the church is clear. Jesus’ instructions to the church in the Gospels are straightforward. The book of Acts gives a roadmap for the church’s advancement. Paul in his thirteen letters says all that needs to be said about the mission, structure and theology of the church. The book of Revelation casts a vision for the church’s destiny that must be divine because it’s so far beyond human imagination.

But despite the simple biblical truth, modern churches often are anything but simple.

That’s where the book of Hebrews comes into the picture. One of the most challenging books in the Bible, it dives into the deepest mysteries of the faith. The revelation of the triune God in all his majesty. The explanation of Jesus’ atoning death on the cross. The work of salvation. The course of redemptive history through the ages. A vision for true worship. The nature of prayer. The communion of the saints. The Kingdom of God.

Tucked away in its last chapter, though, there’s an invitation to think of the church in simple terms. Those habits and practices that make the church real and accessible, shifting it away from scholars in the ivory tower, consultants and denominational leaders who think they know best and into the home life of ordinary people.

According the 13th chapter of the book, there are seven marks of a simple church that set the spiritual temperature and shape it into the redemptive community that God intends for it to be. I’ll list them in order.

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers (Hebrews 13:2)

The verse goes on to say that the reason for showing hospitality to strangers is that some of them may be angels in disguise. To think that the guest in front of you on Sunday morning may not be who they appear to be but instead an emissary from heaven puts all of us on notice.

Remember those who are in prison (Hebrews 13:3)

We live in a time of increased focus on law and order with good reason. Ordinary people have a right to live in safety, and when criminals are free to roam the streets and victimize others, society breaks down. At the same time, there’s a counter-intuitive principle in the gospel that calls on believers to take time and expend resources to minister to people in prison. To reach out to them in the name of the Jesus who loves all and whose grace extends to all. Churches will be measured to some degree in how we follow Jesus into the hard places of life where people fail and do bad things yet are never beyond the reach of his mercy.

Let marriage be held in honor among all (Hebrews 13:4)

Marriage is the fundamental human institution, and churches that help couples build strong marriages become strong and resilient themselves.

Keep your life free from love of money (Hebrews 13:5)

Of the three great idols of our age—money, sex and power—money is the one that followers of Jesus are most susceptible to. It’s the means of success. The measurement of achievement. The goal most sought after. That’s why the Bible has so much to say about the dangers it poses to faith.

Remember your leaders (Hebrews 13:7)

Churches have leaders. Call them what you will, apostle, pastor, elder, bishop, teacher. The thing is for leaders to lead with humility and grace and for congregations to follow their leadership. There are many examples of poor leadership in the church; still, there’s no getting around the fact that apart from leadership, the church is little more than a collection of individuals. With gifted leadership, congregations have a joyous vision for the future and a confidence that God is at work through the leaders he has sent to them.

Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings (Hebrews 13:9)

Doctrine isn’t the fussy words of academics or the technical phrases printed on faith statements. It’s the life-giving truth of Scripture. Where doctrine is biblical and full, congregations are alive and vibrant. Where it’s weak and flabby, congregations remain enmeshed in their sin and compromised by secular culture.

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have (Hebrews 13:16)

The last of the seven marks of a simple church—to do good and share—is the easiest to understand. It’s another way of saying we are to live generous lives, with our money, our time, our love. Our God is generous and if we are his children we are to be like him.

There’s no shortage of lists that try to capture the simple truths about the church.

Rick Warren in 1995 came up with the Purpose Driven Church—a book followed by a program that became a movement—that settled on five organizing principles for the church: Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry and Missions/Evangelism.

Mark Devers pushed out his own list a few years later, calling it “9 Marks of a Successful Church” that sparked its own movement. When you read his book, though, you see that it’s really about the nine marks of a reformed church. That’s fine if you’re reformed but for the rest of us it’s not helpful.

The Catholic Church has the seven sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Confession, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Marriage. Its list has been around longer than Warren’s or Dever’s lists and I’m pretty sure will still be in operation long after their ideas are forgotten.

But the list that Hebrews 13 gives us is something else, something at once less formal but more personal, less cumbersome and more profound. Simple church isn’t about reducing organizational clutter, programmatic confusion, or theological complexity. It’s about the willingness to do small things well.

The man or woman that you visit in prison.

A meal shared with a stranger.

A faithful marriage.

A life not measured by your bank balance but by your relationships.

A willingness to trust the Bible over whatever current thinking is popular in the culture.

Maybe the reason church feels complicated is that we’ve forgotten that little things matter and the small things we do add up to big things for the Kingdom. That’s Jesus’ point in one of his best known parables:

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-33)