Church leaders must craft opportunities where people will encounter the grace of God. Simple church leaders are designers, not programmers. They excel in designing a ministry process that leads to spiritual growth and vitality.
Spiritual growth is a process. It always has been. Thus, it would make sense for church leaders to design their churches around the process of spiritual growth.
In 1 Corinthians 3, believers are called God’s children (v. 1), God’s field (v. 9), and God’s building (v. 9).
- We are God’s children. We begin as spiritual babies because we are born again (John 3:3). Our movement into spiritual adulthood is a process. That process is critical. Just as babies need the right environments to grow physically, people need the right environment to grow spiritually.
- We are God’s field. Fields do not bear fruit or crops on command. They blossom in process, and to do so properly, they need the right environment and the right nutrients.
- We are God’s building, God’s spiritual house. He first built us (created us). He then bought us back (redeemed us) with His own blood. Next, He moved in. He took up residence in our lives. And He is not done. He continually works on us. He is constantly redecorating. Continual transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Our wives and the Holy Spirit have a lot in common. It is not enough for our wives to move into a home. That is only the beginning. Redecorating is a must. And this is not a one-time redecorating. It keeps going and going.
The same is true with the Holy Spirit. Continual work is inevitable. It is never done. It is a lifelong process.
Children, fields, and buildings grow in process. They do not mature overnight. They are not built in a day. They are constantly redecorated.
Children, fields, and buildings need the right environments to facilitate the process of growth. Children need nurturing, touch, food, and love. Fields need water, care, and farming. Buildings need workers, materials, and someone like Ty.
Simple church leaders get this.
Not only do simple church leaders understand that spiritual transformation is a process, but they also respond to this reality. They do so by implementing a ministry process to facilitate this spiritual growth in people. They design a simple process and abandon everything else. They rely on their simple process to create the environments conducive to spiritual growth.
Adapted from Simple Church (B&H Publishing Group, 2006)
