I wrapped up the "Big Idea" last night, and like a lot of the books I've read over the years, there were areas to make you think "yeah, that makes sense" and other areas where you thought you might have to pass.
The jump the shark moment for me, where the book started going downhill was when they were talking about putting on each week's "Big Idea" and had to get down to "nuts and bolts" of "can we do this."
When they asked "can we afford live camels", I checked out.
For me, that's like Nero flooding the coliseum to stage naval battles because he got bored the the same old same old. If that's what it takes to move a crowd in "big church" then count me out.
So what I took away from the book was - move farther out front in sermon planning so you can have time to work the creative into the mix more effectively. Focus on one theme that people will walk out both understanding what it is, but with a means of applying it to life. And something that might not even have been intended - pastoral and staff relationships matter. You don't just need to work together. You need to love and trust each other and be genuine friends.
So on to the next book.
