Organic Church Review

In his book Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens, Neil Cole proposes that the Church has become a religious show that has lost authentic worship, messages based on the gospel of Jesus, and is almost entirely focused on growing the Church numerically as fast as it possibly can through all types of market-type strategies. What Cole suggests is a more “organic” approach to Church, one that is truly authentic, spontaneous, focused on Jesus, and is lead by the Holy Spirit.

What I appreciate most in this book is Cole’s emphasis on Jesus, the authority of Scripture, and the Holy Spirit. Human strategies and gimmicks are no match for the power of the Spirit in planting a church or changing lives. In the first chapter of his book, Cole argues from scripture that the Church belongs to Jesus and he is the one who builds it upon us. Therefore, we are not building it upon him. This may be a major paradigm shift for many of those power hoarding pastors who believe that they are building the Church themselves upon Jesus who is the cornerstone. Not so you foolish humans. Jesus, as the cornerstone, builds the Church upon us. We are all merely bricks among the mortar of the Holy Spirit.

Cole is very courageous in asking the question, “What is church?” He concludes that many attempt to form an answer out of personal experience rather than Biblical analysis and what is more is that Jesus is usually missing from most definitions. In a very Jesus fashion Cole describes what church is by proposing more questions. Where do we see children reconciling with parents and/or friends? Where do we see people restored to a life of holiness and responsibility? Where do we see addicts cured? Where are those people who are making restitution for past crimes? Where these things are seen, there Christ is present and the church is formed.

Cole suggests that many churches and Christians themselves are weak because many pastors have traded preaching “pure Word” for “well-meaning messages about the Word of God” (66). In Sunday School the students are given Bible verses to memorize, but nothing more is usually taught concerning the context of that given passage and its overall meaning within the Bible. Even in Seminary we read books about the Bible, but very seldom do we look into the teachings and themes themselves. Many think that movies, poems, literature, and other people’s opinions can do this better than the Bible itself. As a result, people become more dependent on these well-meaning messages than the pure Word itself.

For church planters, Cole’s book excels above many others because of his reverence for Scripture, Jesus, and the work of the Holy Spirit. His strongest principles are drawn from obvious exegesis, which motivate the reader to look deeper into Scripture. I was challenged from some of his off-the-hand comments from scripture. One was his mentioning of the church being the bride of Christ. I have read this metaphor many times through scripture, but never gave it pause until now. I came to the conclusion that we should work to please the coming groom. Instead, it seems that many Christians are putting on more make-up in order to hide our embarrassed features when attractiveness really comes out through personality, personality then makes beauty come alive.