One of the leaders of the organic church movement is Neil Cole. You may or may not be interested in the organic church, but here are some quotes from his most recent book that could be beneficial to any tradition.
“It is time to abandon the domestic faith of suburban consumer Christianity to live a life of risk for the love of a Savior who left heaven to live among the poor and marginalized people of a backward and oppressed nation.”
“If what we have been doing for the past hundred years hasn’t produced a movement yet, why on earth would we keep on doing what we have been doing?”
“When a church starts to accumulate things and hold on to them as prizes worth defending or preserving, they will quickly find that their affection and provision is not found in Christ but in the maintenance and management of possessions and property.”
“Any church that is in competition for a market share of a finite constituency in a given target population is propagating a business rather than a body.”
“Much can be accomplished by creating new wineskins and allowing them to coexist with the old. Wine is meant to be spent, not kept forever. Once wine is gone the old skins are to be tossed aside. The value is in the wine, not the skins. Life never comes from the structure. If we never create new wineskins for the fresh wine we will eventually run out of the wine. Old wine is valuable, and Jesus never wants to spill a drop, but without creating new wine there will never be old wine in the future. It’s the wine that is valuable to God and has the power to change the world.”
“Your church is only as good as its disciples.”
“Death is more than an important idea for discipleship—it is absolutely essential. Without a death, there is no disciple. Without dying to self, we do not have life within us…without death, you cannot have resurrection.”
“A dead leader is a dangerous leader. Such a person has nothing left to lose. No personal glory is at stake. No rewards. Ambition is dead. There is no agenda but what is asked of the leader by Jesus. A dead person has no possessions to protect. You can’t even really tempt a dead person; corpses feel no pain and have no lust. Dead people do not get their feelings hurt or feel offended by what has been said or not said. Once we pass through death, what else is there to fear?”
“Think about it: if your sermon was going to catalyze a revival, wouldn’t it have happened by now? Pastors have been preaching every Sunday for hundreds of year; it is now time to obey all that Jesus commanded, not just talk about it.”
“We believe with all our hearts that a church that is overtly generous with all the resources it has been blessed with will always have enough to do whatever God has called it to. We also believe that greater resources come to the churches that are generous. A generous church is one that Jesus will want to increase and multiply. A greedy church is one that He will not want more of.”
“A leader who is no longer haunted by the far of insecurity leads from a place of incredible strength. When one’s ego is not wrapped up with performance, one will have the courage to make right decisions that may or may not be one’s best interests.”
“Usually, if it is organic, it will not cost money. We often say that it doesn’t cost a dime to make a disciple; it only costs your life. Pour your life where there is health, and let it multiply and spread so that the life pervade the church body…Water the green spot and let it spread.”