Robert Fitts, Sr. put this helpful list together and
has used it as an outline to present a trend back to simple Christianity to various
groups. Any typos are ours, not his! A great book by him is called Saturation Church
Planting. This is a must read!
- From meeting centered to life centered (Jesus example, spontaneous, daily,
unplanned)
- From Christianity to Christ (Not a philosophy, a movement, or a religion, but JESUS!)
- From church houses to house churches (Simplify to multiply)
- From upward growth to outward growth
- From pastor only to five-fold ministries (We need all the gifts God gave to the church)
- From special preisthood to priesthood of all believers (called to sacrifice &
intercede)
- From super organization to simple organism (but the opposite of hierarchy is anarchy)
- From worshipping our worship to worshipping Jesus (worship is more than singing songs)
- From bringing people to church to bringing church to people (the prayer that ignites)
- From symbolism to substance in the Lords Supper (take it often)
- From denominations to Spirit-led networks (Association of Home Churches)
- From social respectability to SALT & LIGHT (they turned the world upside down)
- From performance by professionals to "every one of you" (I Cor. 14:26)
- From program based church to home based church (Liturgical, Evangelical, Informal)
- From the seminary system to the apprentice system (Omega Bible College)
- From tenth to total in New Testament giving (generosity with a promise)
- From selective submission to spiritual recognition (submit to God-ordained authority)
- From titles to function ("Call no man... ")
- From independence to inter-dependence (get connected in the city-wide church)
- From paper membership to Body membership (we are members one of another)
- From the wheel to the vine (releasing teams to plant simple churches in homes)
- From organizational unity to spiritual unity (there is only one step to unity)
- From Safeway or Circle K to Safeway and Circle K (embrace all that God embraces)
- From "Us and them" to "Us" (refuse to allow a divisive spirit to
enter your fellowship)
- From planned church only to spontaneous church also (recognize ekklesia)
- From bondage to freedom for women (Acts 2:17-18, Gal. 3:26-28)
- From presbytery without the people to presbytery with the people (Acts 15:22)
- From arbitrary to biblical guidelines for appointing elders (I Tim. 3, Titus 1)
- From "my pastor" to "my pastors" (teachers, evangelists, apostles,
prophets)
- From raising up leaders to appointing servants (the ground is flat in the kingdom)
- From local vision to world vision (the three pronged thrust of the church)
- From building my kingdom to building THE kingdom ("come and let us help you")
- From wall-wide church to city-wide church
- From fear of stealing sheep to fear of possessing sheep (Acts 20:28-31)
- From building-centered pastors to people-centered pastors
- From the word "church" to the word "ekklesia" (Acts 19:32-41)
- From restricted to unhindered fellowship (a member of every church in town)
- From overwhelming oversight to restful trust (tomato plant, beach fire, starter motor)
- From lecture Bible study to interactive Bible study
- From pyramid to level ground