Say What?!

Everyone remembers playing the children's game where information is whispered into one's ear and then passed from person to person...finally being regurgitated and usually bearing little or no resemblance to the original statement. Funny thing is, I still can experience that same phenomenon in my marriage...and, no, that is not a punchline to a joke. Ileen and I can have a conversation and all too often the next time it is revisited, it concerns a misunderstanding. Part of the problem is that I'm a guy...I get that. Another issue is the pace of life in the world today does not lend itself to true listening. But maybe even more fundamental is that we don't always "hear" what is said correctly...as in the intent or meaning is often lost in translation.

One of our major concerns regarding simple church is the accuracy of our theology. If no one has been to seminary, how will we know that we are accurately dividing the Word? But the more I have thought about this, the less concerned I have become. If the preacher stands in the pulpit and expounds upon a topic for 45 minutes in front of 100 or 1000 listeners; you can be sure that at the end of day there will be more than one version of the message being discussed over fried chicken. In fact, Jesus made statements that were not clearly understood by those who heard. Obviously, there will always be a problem with having everyone assimilate information that they hear 100% as it was intended.  So let's take hearing out of the equation, ok? Surely, if we read the bible together, we'll all come to the same conclusion, won't we? What's that? Ohh...that's why there are different denominations...huh!

And yet, we as believers are commanded to make disciples. Not go to seminary and then make disciples...just make disciples. But how? Institutional church has adopted the classroom approach: One teacher to many students...One pastor to many congregants. This works, to a certain degree...subject to the vagaries of what we hear and understand as we have already established. The discipling process can also be slowed by attendance habits, non-applicable sermon or lesson topics, even personnel changes.

I've said it before...it is my opinion that discipleship happens best in the context of a relationship. Jesus would often need to provide further explanation to the disciples in order for them to understand what He was saying. To assume that modern listeners hear and understand better now than then is too much to ask. Yet, I know that most members of institutional churches do not have direct access to the one bringing the message to gain further clarification. If we are commanded to make disciples and disciple-making is optimally done through relationships (and that is the example that Jesus provided), it makes sense to give that a try.

What excites me about simple church is that we have the opportunity to ask questions, discuss concerns, search the bible together to grasp precepts. And in this day of information overload, we have the option of hearing from many seminary-trained experts as they weigh in on topics via books, recorded messages, podcasts, blogs, etc. Even better? All of this learning is in the context of friendly, loving relationships rather than hard line denominational partisanship. We can "dare" to question the party line without concern of receiving a stern look and a pat answer in return. The simple church structure lends itself quite naturally to the discipleship process, especially when the believers are humbly submitting to the headship of Christ and fervently inviting Father's presence into their midst.