"Most churches are like most Christians, they try to do too much. And, in doing so, the most important thing gets lost in the shuffle."
"It isn’t persecution that generates growth, it’s the ministry model that political oppression actually forces us to embrace. When the church is forced out of a traditional leader-centered ministry model, where the focus is on the platform ministry of highly gifted leaders, into a more relational oikocentric model, where the focus is on the personal ministry of individual believers, the results are startling. Ask a typical Chinese believer where they go to church and they’ll probably tell you the same thing Jesus did—they don’t go to church, they are the church!"
"Being a Christ follower doesn’t mean you’re theologically right. It doesn’t mean you’re eternally safe. You may be both, but that’s still not what it means—Jesus was both right and safe before the Incarnation. He had something else in mind when He made Himself nothing and entered a world so different from the one He’d created. He was on a mission."
"Does it bother you that some of your friends may still be fighting a war they cannot win? ... If it doesn’t bother you, perhaps you should go get a book on how to blame the traditional church for your problems, or one on how some politician is probably the Antichrist, or one on how the views of a rival denomination are so incredibly inept. But after all the hype about the church finally emerging has run its course; and after all the arguments over virtually every doctrinal disagreement are done (like that will ever happen); and after all the conferences on reinventing everything that has ever been done in the name of Jesus are over, nothing will have really changed. Your friends will still be stuck in a no-win situation. Still, no hope. Still, no peace. Still, nothing to look forward to but more of the same, because, in spite of our deliberations in the name of Christ, we still will not have really done anything Christian yet."
“All great change in America begins at the dinner table.”
I’ve heard many churches and books speak vaguely about loving your neighbor. But this is the most helpful, practical, clear resource I've read on how to build a church around loving the circle of influence God has placed in your life.
Instead of focusing on getting people we know to come to church with us, Tom talks about Oikos - the God-ordained circle of influence we all have in our lives. Instead of prodding our people to invite people to come to us, we should be equipping our people to be missionaries, equipped and sent to their Oikos. The group of people they already have the most trust and influence with, and the mission field where they are most likely to bear fruit.
Tom is direct, bold, and serious about not just building a church brand, but equipping people to go out into their world and love the people God has supernaturally placed in each one of our lives.
This is one of the top few books that have made the most impact on my functional ecclesiology, or philosophy on how we should be doing church. Re-reading it has my mind moving, thinking about how to better implement this in my own life and ministry.
If you’re tired of just putting on a show inside the church walls every 7 days, but not seeing it make much of a difference out in your community the other 6 days of the week, check this out!
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