Google has undoubted proven to be an innovative, dynamic company. In a very short time (as companies go) they have gone from being a silly word to being a household name and business leader, even rivaling the lumbering giant Microsoft on many fronts. So, I wonder, what can the Church at large learn from Google’s success? What principles can we take away in order to move forward with our mission, a mission that is so much greater than merely  making money? Well, here are 5 things that I have come up with, 5 things that the Church must learn from Google:

1. It’s not about style, it’s about substance.

Ever noticed how plain www.google.com is? There is nothing flashy about it, just a simple search engine that does what it does better than anyone else. That is why Google is #1, because they do what is important better than anyone else, proving that substance has more value than style every day of the week (and twice on Sunday).

Over the last  several decades there have been several fundamental shifts in the way that American’s approach church. Probably the largest unnoticed shift (and the most disturbing one) is the shift from preferring substance to preferring style. Most Christians love Pastors because they are good teachers (style) not because they are Holy men (substance). Most Christians love church services because they like the “feel” of the meeting (style) not because they are deeply connected to that local body (substance). Most Christians get excited about Christian books that make them feel good (style), not books that challenge them to greater Holiness and relationship with God (substance).

I fear that too many believers have settled for a Christianity that is more about them than it is about Jesus and that a preference for style over substance is the primary outcome of that. Caring about style appeals to a person’s selfish nature, caring about substance makes us set aside our selfish nature and focus on Jesus alone, because He is the substance that we need.

2. Focus on what you do best, then find ways to do it better.
   Google is the best at almost everything that do (in my opinion). But, just because gmail is the best web mail client doesn’t mean that they have stopped developing it. All of google’s products are constantly improving, there is never a time that they are not working to make everything they do better.

   Every church, large or small, mega church or house church, has things that they do particularly well. Often the tendency with this is to say, ” We are doing ________ well, so now lets focus on _________ .” But instead we should be asking how we can take what we do well, and make it better. It is never healthy to set something aside because you think you have it down pat, that would be like a quarterback deciding that since he has made it to the pros he no longer needs to practice. That guy won’t be a pro for long. We need to constantly ask God how we can take the gifting that He has given our local body and grow in it.

3. Don’t do anything that takes away from your core value.
   Google has gone from a simple search engine to a vast number of services. But, each of those services compliments or extends their original purpose, which is a web search engine. This seems like an obvious idea, but unfortunately I see churches making this mistake all the time.

   Every church has core values. For example, when I was planting a church one of our core values was building deep community. However, even though that was a core value I found myself getting bogged down in “church work” and not having time to call and stay connected with people, thus taking away from our core value of community. I have seen this very thing happen in every church I have been on staff at, the goal gets pushed aside for the immediate need that is only slightly related to that goal. It is not healthy and does not help the Church produce fruit.

4. Don’t do too much too fast.
   Google was one of the leading search engines before they started expanding their services.  In church, it’s really easy to get excited about what God is doing and get ahead of ourselves. I have done it over and over again in my life and can tell you, it doesn’t get you anywhere.

   An old African proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” It seems to me that there are a lot of Christians and churches out there that are going fast and are headed for burn out. I think the better approach is to go slow, bring people with you, and go far. It’s time that we stopped looking at building the church through the lens of what we can accomplish is 20 years. It’s time we started building up a Church that will grow and last for 1,000 years.

5. Do something that no one has done before.
   Google didn’t set up a search engine like all the others; they created one that was different and more effective. When they created Gmail they didn’t do web mail like everyone else, they were innovative and creative, making it better than everyone else.

   Almost every church I have ever seen has approached church in this way: “What is ______ church doing that is effective, and how can we copy that here?” That is not healthy. A better approach is to look at your unique church body and your unique community, ask God what unique things He wants to do there, and then do that. Innovation for a community is as simple as asking God what to do, and then doing it.

I have great hope for the Church. I think that God is shifting many things among His people and helping us to rethink many of the assumptions that we have long held. I pray you will take this post and measure it against scripture, weighing what has been said, and that it might challenge the thinking of some. Be encouraged, google offers web searches and a few other fancy features, the Church offers the truth. I pray that we can learn from this secular example and push forward into our communities with the greatest gift that we can offer, Jesus Himself.