Of course there is
no single, authorized definition of "simple church." Some
use the adjectives "simple", "organic" and "house"
interchangeably, though many of these churches do not
actually meet in homes. (The last one I started first met
under the covered entryway of a defunct Wax Museum and now
meets in a backyard.)
The most important characteristic that distinguishes simple
churches from more traditional ones can be illustrated like
this (click on the link):
Two
Drawings
The essential difference between these two drawings is how
the Lord gives his people what they need in order to
meaningfully connect with him and help each grow. In the
first he is expected to give most (or all) of it to them
through a primary leader. In the second he is expected to
give it to them through each other. It's really as simple
as that. As the scriptures say:
"From
Jesus the whole body, joined and held together by every
supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as
each part does its work" (Ephesians 4:16).
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.
...To each one of us is given the manifestation of the
Spirit for the common good" (1 Corinthians 12:4, 7; cf. 1
Peter 4:10-11).
In other words, the invisible
Spirit of God who lives in every believer reveals
("manifests") himself by moving us to respond to each
other's needs and give gifts to each other, gifts of a
spiritual nature which both express his love and build us
up. Every time we're together is supposed to be like
Christmas!
Another good way to understand the simple church model is
to contrast it in more detail with the standard,
conventional church model. Please understand, the terms
“conventional” (“traditional/institutional”) and “simple”
(“organic/ house”), by themselves, are not meant to convey
a positive or negative impression. They are just ways of
referring to substantially different kinds of churches,
values and ways of doing things. Click on this link for a
chart contrasting:
Conventional and
Simple Churches