For years and years now I’ve said that simplicity is a step beyond the complex. I may have gotten the phrase from somewhere, but I no longer remember where.
When we initially dive into a new subject, we might think simplistically: “I know what I’d do if I were in charge of this company. The solution is obvious! Just do X and everything would be better.”
Then if we begin diving a little deeper, we likely find that things are not so simple. If I do X, it has these three unintended consequences that I then need to fix. Plus I’d need permissions from the board, and the money would need to be diverted from other areas…..” Suddenly the problem is complex, and we realize we don’t fully understand it yet.
Simplicity is a step beyond the complex. You have to fight through the complexity, understanding the deeper principles, and wrestling the problem down into its simplest form.
If you want to read a good book that breaks down the complexity of church to get at the basics, take a look at Dave Browning’s Deliberate Simplicity.