I recently reconnected with my friend and pastor, Ron Simpkins. We have known each other since 1983 and have not seen each other since 2005. It was a good and providential reunion in Lehigh Acres, Florida at Pastor Larry Gregory's Victory church.
To be quite honest, I didn't know what to expect out of that time. In it all, the Lord was gracious and provided a great deal of one-on-one time for myself and my wife with Pastor Ron, where we were able to talk. Of course, I had my things to share with him, but he had his own to share with me as well. Upon reflection—it seems both were equally important of the Lord. What I did not know was how the Lord would highlight the matters Pastor Ron was sharing in such a dramatic way!
Organic Church for breakfast
As we sat at breakfast on a Monday morning (June 26th), Pastor Ron prompted me to get a book called "The Organic Church", by Neil Cole. I was so hopped-up in my own thing and mind that I nearly missed it. Thankfully, I had asked Ron to share his recommendation to me as a screenshot from his phone to mine of his playlist (he likes to listen to audiobook renditions of the books). What I did not know was how the Lord Jesus would bring this back in such dramatic fashion!
My wife and I drove on to Miami and then back home. Once there, I put my laptop world back together and went back to my routine. I had completely let Pastor Ron's recommendation go off my radar. Our all-knowing perfect Savior and Lord would not let it remain that way.
Three days later, on Thursday, June 29th, a recent friend and brother in the Lord Jesus, James Leicht shared the following with me:
As soon as I saw this, I wondered about it. I quickly flipped back over to Pastor Ron's messages to me and instantly knew that the Lord was speaking. I needed to buy and read this book. It was no longer men making a recommendation, but clearly—God was prompting, urging, and commanding: "Larry, READ THIS! Do not set it aside!"
Reading and being inspired
Pastor Ron's arrival at Victory church in Lehigh is forever etched on my mind. He climbs out of the car (sent to fetch him) as I am walking down the steps to greet him. The brother driving the car comes around to assist. Ron looks up, sees me, points at me, and tells the brother, "Hey! There's my friend!" After nearly twenty years, these are words and scene now deeply embedded in me. You cannot imagine how happy it made me to hear "my friend" from a man I love like my own father!
A little later inside the church building, Pastor Ron asks me, "Larry, are you going to a church? I sure hope so!" Yes, was my answer, which made him visibly happy to hear. I know and knew his heart because he literally raised me in a deep love and need for the body of Christ—not to be alone, but to always be among the Lord's people. I could almost feel his satisfaction at knowing I had not lost this instinctive need to be among our brothers and sisters in Christ!
So—what has this to do with the book, Organic Church?
"If you want to win this world to Christ, you are going to have to sit in the smoking section."
This quote is mentioned in the Forward by Dr. Leonard Sweet. It totally took me back to my roots in The Fellowship (look up Wayman Mitchell). We knew this well. It was drilled into us. It is obviously drilled into the brothers and sisters of Victory church in Lehigh Acres as well. So many of us immediately connect with such language. We don't need to be told or sold on the idea that serving God is not in seats and pews of a building, but out in the highways and hedges of humanity.
From there I forged on into the words of brother Neil Cole's book. For example: His use of the meeting of Neo and Morpheus in the first Matrix movie sparked me. I've used the analogy myself many times and even as the movie was fresh and new, I got the connections to the gospel and salvation instantly: Neo was emblematic of a person being led out of human blindness into the glorious light of truth and who Jesus is and what He is up to! His mission. So, the writing instantly connected with me.
The paragraph that mattered
Yesterday, Sunday morning—I did my usual thing. I always show up early with Pastor Don Davis at about 8:30-ish to start the day. No one else is there and after a little conversing with brother Don, I use the time to study and read. In this case, I broke out Organic Church and started pouring through it—or rather—it pouring through me. This is when I came upon the paragraph that would throw on the brakes, stop me, and make me know the Lord's purpose in reading.
We have seen such churches meeting in restaurants, offices, homes, university campuses, high school facilities, and beaches. We've had churches meeting in bars, coffeehouses, parks, and locker rooms. One of our church networks has as its purpose statement "To have a church within walking distance of every person living in Las Vegas." Another claims, "Every Christian is a church planter, every home is a church, and every church building is a training center.
Now—those of you who have read the book are going to perhaps be taken aback by my next statement. You might exclaim a "NO!" at what I will write, but bear in mind that I make this statement because within the quote above was released a huge amount of amazing insight and connecting-of-dots that I am still exploring. Here's the statement:
For the moment—I do not need to read further on!
Now—I did read further on and ran into an awesome quote that I posted on Facebook yesterday. However, as I read more, my heart kept coming back to the quote above. The remainder of the book (at the moment) seemed pointless to labor through. However—allow me to give you the further-on-quote now:
Lower the bar of how church is done and raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple
There is one more quote to provide in this mosaic puzzle:
The church is at its best in two's or three's-not in two or three hundreds or two or three thousands. "Where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst of them."
Putting the puzzle together
Church is not buildings or structures or spaces to occupy. It is literally organic—people. Whenever people meet in two's or three's, the church is present and Jesus is there. Nothing more is needed or required. A street corner, a field, a yard, a hut, a house, a park bench, a bus stop—all of these are places where two or three can gather in the Lord as His church. The beauty of the matter instantly struck me. Read no more, I told myself. There is an entire spiritual steak dinner here to eat and chew on for years to come (should the Lord tarry).
In the Fellowship, launching a new church was always a labor and a burden that included matters that were auxiliary to the people. One needed to find a building, get some chairs, pay the rent, set up the utilities, and a whole host of logistical matters that needed to be cared for, attended to, and paid for long before the doors opened for the first service. I never experienced this directly, but the matter isn't rocket-science either. The costs in time, money, and labor are obvious.
What those paragraphs outline above are puzzle pieces to assemble. Once assembled, they form a picture. Consider what is missing from the picture.
None of the precursory matters involved in having a "church building" are present. They shift and as they shift, the labor involved is released into its primary place of importance: PEOPLE!
Jesus! At last!
Can you imagine Jesus doing what we have been trained to do and brought up believing is the correct way to "do church"? What do we find instead that the Lord does? He literally goes to where people are and starts to minister to them directly where they are, where they live, where they hang out, and where they do business. He does not encumber Himself with all of the baggage of buildings. About the only thing He does is take advantage of existing buildings and infrastructure—synagogues. Even then—in at least two—He gets thrown out—back on the streets once more!
What does all of this tell you about how to do church and make disciples? I know what it tells me—frankly—starting a church is not about building, spaces, rents, utilities, and other matters that consume great swaths of money, resources, labor, and time. That money, resources, labor, and time can then be focused on what matters to Jesus most—PEOPLE!
Church in layers
By now, the intuition of the dynamic differences between this notion of an ad-hoc church versus a church-in-a-building ought to be welling up inside you. The impending question rises up in me: Does an ad-hoc church spell the doom of church-as-usual? My answer is straight forward: It might and it might not. Whatever the Lord wants to do.
The next question is: Can the two co-exist in the same space? The answer ought to be obvious—of course they can. And it get's better than that! This notion of a church-of-two-or-three gathering in a random or ad hoc space can also overlap. Pretend you meet in a coffee shop on Tuesday afternoon. Another "church" can meet in that precise same space on Tuesday evening. Moreover, if the two groups happen to stumble into each other, they can organically make choices of how to deal with the happy melding of the two. This is literally a space where making-it-up-as-you-go is not only allowed, but welcomed!
Room is also left for agree-to-disagree. Overlapping means so much more than time and space. It crosses into so many barriers that exist on each and every Sunday. Racial barriers come crashing down as do doctrine and dogma barriers. It might even force us to fellowship together on the core matters of being a disciple and follower of Jesus rather than being split apart by our stupid (μωρός, ά, όν, i.e. "moron" or "foolish" or "stupid") doctrinal issues!
NOTE: We are morons for Christ! 1 Corinthians 4:10 "We are fools (μωρός) for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, and we are dishonored." Are you a moron for Christ? If you do crazy things like have church in a locker room, then perhaps you are, which leads to the cliché modern saying, "You might be a Moron for Christ if ..."—but—just remember: It is we Morons for Christ who are going to live forever by His power! Go and make more morons!
What happens when the spirit-filled speaking-in-tongues Pentecostal meets with the selectively-supernatural Baptist believer? If they truly cannot get along and accept each other, then there is no problem: Just meet elsewhere and agree not to step on each other. However—if we follow Romans 14 closely, then perhaps we can calm ourselves down and fellowship in the love of the Lord and learn as disciples of Christ together. We are going to be in the Kingdom of God together with Jesus for a very long time!
Wrapping it up
There is so much more to write and say about this. So many questions on my heart about how to move forward in Christ and have the expression of Jesus as I see Him now without being destructive in the body where the Lord calls. The outpouring of this and the doing of this will now occupy me from here to where I pass or Jesus returns. This is the road. The Lord provided it. Now—WALK!