The Future is Now: How God is Moving in the 21st Century
by Kent R. Hunter
Published by Church Doctor Ministries at Smashwords
Copyright 2011 Church Doctor Ministries
Discover other titles by Kent R. Hunter at www.smashwords.com
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
Thank you for downloading this free e-book. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete, original form.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Spiritual Roller Coaster
Chapter 4 – A Relational Movement
Chapter 6 – Flat Changes Everything
Chapter 7 – Church As a Movement
Chapter 8 – Focus on Health: Who You Are...And Become
Chapter 9 – Everyone Multiplies!
Chapter 10 – Spiritual Development for Missional Effectiveness
Chapter 11 – Mission at the Margin
Chapter 12 – All About Story: All About Networking
Chapter 13 – Getting Your Missional Act Together
Chapter 14 – Christian Impact Beyond Human Explanation
Chapter 15 – Church Staff: A Dysfunctional Business Plan
Chapter 16 – Snapshots of Tomorrow Today
Dedicated to:
Those who care enough about the church to change;
Jesus followers who will recapture the culture of the New Testament Church;
Servants who dare to reach the world for Jesus Christ.
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Preface
This document is not meant to be exhaustive. It recognizes the dynamic of the church, which is constantly changing – as is our world – and changing at an accelerating pace. Therefore, it can be considered only a snapshot at this time in history and should be seen as a fluid document that will require updating.
This was originally requested by two leaders and friends who are developing a plan for their church. Thank you, Mark and Roger, you are symbolic of church leaders everywhere, who sense God is at work in a new way, in a new chapter of history. You represent a good model for many others who persist in the belief that tomorrow is coming. In reality, it was yesterday!
~Kent R. Hunter, July 2011
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Chapter 1 – Spiritual Roller Coaster
The church exists in the context of culture. Presently, North America can be described as a post-Christian area of the world. Christianity, at one time, flourished at some higher level than it does now, with greater impact on the culture. To the best of our ability, those of us at Church Doctor Ministries have tracked the decline of Christianity since 1960, which was a benchmark year. Rapid decline of church effectiveness, lack of innovation, and limited reengineering characterized much of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. This generalization is not without exceptions, like The Jesus Movement and, later, the Vineyard Movement – as well as others – that reflected flashpoints of Christianity. These can be seen as emerging seeds of a church reinventing itself, a trend that began visibly in the 1990s.
Even the casual observer will remember Christian themes appearing on television (Touched By An Angel), the explosion of contemporary Christian music penetrating churches, the emergence of Promise Keepers, Women of Faith, Focus on the Family, the publishing of popular Christian books (the Left Behind series), and the spiritual themes increasing in films. Another sign of the last decades of the 20th century was the proliferation of new translations and paraphrases of the Bible. These and many other signs represent a turning, or hinge, point for a movement seeking to reinvent itself. Christianity, and particularly the church, had become irrelevant to those on the outside and a habit of religion to a great number of those inside. This journey is an incarnational rebirth of the Christian Movement – a phenomenon that was long overdue.
North America continued spiritual decline – toward secularization – throughout the ’90s and the first decade of the 21st century. The years 2000 to 2010 mark a challenging, discouraging, and disruptive climate, particularly in the U.S. The decade began with a significant terrorist attack, which momentarily grabbed the spiritual attention of many. It ended with a significant recession, which has had a long-term impact on the spiritual openness of those who live in this materialistic culture. The end result of this decade has provided a platform in which even non-Christians have reached a level of intolerance about the direction of the culture. Even those who are not believers are “drawing a line in the sand” saying, “We can no longer continue this way, or this will not be a nice place for our grandchildren.” A July 11, 2011, article in Time magazine summarizes the impact of the present discouragement. The article, based on a Time/Aspen Ideas Festival poll, is called “The Pessimism Index.” It describes a level of worry and doubt among Americans. The article describes the contrast this represents in historic American optimism and says, “It is hard to overstate what a fundamental change this represents” (p. 36).
The Canadian spiritual journey is a bit ahead of the U.S. Early signs of an awakening began during the last half of the first decade of the new century. During a visit in November 2010, Christian leaders in midwest Canada told me that new people are showing up at churches, and Bible schools and seminaries are stretched for space due to new, high levels of enrollment. Meanwhile, Mexico is paralyzed by crime and corruption, and Central America is trying desperately to overcome old-school, evangelical, colonialistic mission work that attempted to franchise American churches in uniquely distinct and different cultures. My missionary friend Steve, an expert in Latin-American missions, says, “What the American church has developed in Central America is a pathetic disaster.” The pattern of the fall – and pending rise – of Christianity in North America is a predictable and cyclical reality that has historical precedence.
The passages of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles – Chronicles being a different approach to history-telling than Kings, yet basically telling the same story – reflect the history of Israel as a roller coaster of faith and unfaith. The pattern of a spiritual nation disconnecting with God and then reconnecting with God is a model for understanding history. This reflects the context in which churches today must ask hard questions about the future. North American culture has reached a point where “God, once again, has gotten our attention.” We are at the valley of the spiritual roller coaster. In other words, God has set the stage for a Christian movement. It will happen, but will be restricted only to those Christians who are aware of the present realities in the spiritual realm of our culture. Pastor, your church is at a historic crossroads. Are you preaching hope? Open to change? Seeking a spiritual renewal? Looking for where God is moving?
On the roller coaster, spiritual leaders are not just looking around. They are looking forward. Others are not aware of God moving. This seismic shift is not on their radar screens. For many, it will completely pass them by. Their churches will dwindle at an increasing rate. They are unaware of the roller coaster altogether. They are inattentive to the work of the Holy Spirit in this moment. While history is hard to see when you are in the middle of it, there are some definite measurable signs that change is occurring. However, much of this is still out of the visual grasp of most Christians, and has not achieved presence in the media. This will become visible in the next few years.
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Chapter 2 – A Movement of God
It has been my privilege to teach and train pastors and young leaders in Christian movements in various areas of the world over the last 30 years: 1) South Africa, during the unraveling of Apartheid; 2) South Korea, through the rapid migration of rural to urban; 3) the disintegration of the former Soviet Union and Communism; 4) an indigenous movement in the Amazon region of Brazil; and 5) movements in post-colonial Nigeria and Kenya, where the combination of freedom and new levels of economic opportunities allowed passionate Christians to reach others.
What are the evidences of a remarkable move of God? Have you ever seen such explosive growth of people coming to Christ that it is totally unexplainable, from a human or rational perspective? What about Christianity expanding like an epidemic, beyond growth by multiplication – more like exponential growth? It’s when you preach in a facility and people are sitting everywhere – on the floor, in the aisles, behind you, all around you – everywhere. People are outside, hanging in the windows, taking notes on paper they picked up in a dump. Pastors, without formal training, multiplying so fast they rip apart Bibles so each can have a portion – there aren’t enough Bibles to go around. Miracles, like healings, are taking place, not only led by big-name preachers, but also by everyday Christians used by God in extraordinary ways – Christians casting out demons, ethnic and racial enemies reconciled and worshipping, embracing one another in the love of Christ.
As a participant in these extraordinary spiritual activities (from the outside), I was able to become a student of movements of God. Unfortunately, most Christians in North America have not had the privilege of experiencing a move of God, with uncontrollable, humanly inexplicable, exponential growth among new Christians. The last move of God of major significance in North America was the Great Awakening in the 1700s. No one alive today experienced that. Only those who have touched one of the flashpoints – and there have been many – have had a small taste.
When there is a major movement of God, it is called a revival. Others might call it a renewal, or just a movement of God. In a post-Christian area of the world (where Christianity once flourished, but then weakened), revival is usually preceded by an awakening in the church. The Great Awakening of the 1700s was an awakening of Christians in churches, as there was a strong outreach to those who were not yet devoted followers of Christ.
Prior to an awakening in a church, there are signals, I believe, that reflect the beginning work of the Holy Spirit. It resembles the birth of a small plant, which takes place underground – before the plant becomes visible, breaking the surface of the dirt. This work of the Holy Spirit has been identified, through our analysis, as something that has occurred over the last 20 years. It has preceded a move of God in England and Europe that is now visible in parts of Canada, reflecting a major awakening taking place in the church.
Canada is about 15 years behind Europe in terms of reaching the bottom of the roller coaster (secularization) – and the growth is just breaking the surface of the ground: a turnaround, an awakening. About 20 years ago, Europe was probably at the bottom of the roller coaster in terms of spirituality, and the seeds of breakthrough began through the work of the Holy Spirit prior to an awakening in some churches. This has now led to outreach efforts to the unchurched, with early results. A revival? Canada, 15 years behind Europe, is now showing evident signs of an awakening. In the roller coaster of secularization, Canada is about five years ahead of the United States. If this pattern follows true, the United States of America will experience an awakening in churches sometime in the next five to seven years.
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Chapter 3 – Holy Discontent
What is the work of the Holy Spirit that occurs underground, before an awakening in a church? It is a move of God among certain individuals within churches. It represents a holy discontent, which can also be described as a spiritual restlessness. This is not the common discontent found in every church among fringe or immature Christian members who see church primarily from a consumer-driven mentality. Those discontent people are often “church hoppers” who, if they do not get their way, or if their needs are not met according to their own expectations, will quickly move to another church. They include those who say, “If you continue to preach that long, I’m going down the road to another church.” Or they might say, “If you don’t provide a nursery for our children, I’m out of here!”
Those individuals who feel holy discontent, however, are core members of the church. They are the tithers, generous givers, volunteers, love the pastor, and are loyal to the church. But they wrestle with holy discontent. Because they are mature Christians, they do not vocalize this discontent to others. But, to themselves, they often express their discontent by saying, “I just think our church could do better.” They feel their church under-achieves: “I really believe our church should have a greater impact on our community.” They would say, “In the big picture of things, I just feel Christianity should have a greater impact on our culture.” Because they are loyalists, they do not want to spread what seem to be negative feelings.
If this occurs underground, how do we know this? It is a good question that deserves an answer. As Church Doctors, we consult churches and make recommendations. The process begins with a diagnostic phase. It has two key elements: 1) an anonymous survey is taken by everyone in the church. The results are tabulated and serve as a guide for the second phase. 2) The Church Doctor visits the church and interviews, one-on-one, numerous members of the church. Confidentiality is guaranteed. This is an outstanding approach to obtain great amounts of information quickly. It is amazing what people will tell a stranger from out of town who promises not to tell who said what!
Here is what we have noticed: Over the last several years, the number of leaders who express holy discontent – in these private interviews – has been increasing, and at an occurrence rate that is growing. These leaders represent numerous denominations, independent churches, all sizes, and are located throughout the country. This can only be the work of the Holy Spirit.
In truth, these individuals have been spiritually marked, in my perception, as frontline leaders for an awakening. The key for churches is to identify these people and provide a platform for them to know there are others who have this same holy discontent: they are extraordinarily loyal to their church, but want it to become more effective. Their “restlessness” is not only holy, but positive. They are beginning seeds of what will grow into a spiritual movement in the church. But it will happen if, and only if, they are nurtured, provided a platform, and encouraged by the leadership! Therefore, it is my perception, as an analyst, that these people should be brought together into a Vision Team (which is a more positive approach than calling it a “Holy Discontent Committee” – anybody want to join?).
On the other hand, people with holy discontent, if not nurtured, will eventually leave the church – though not in an angry or even public fashion. They still love their pastor and feel loyalty to the church. They leave with extreme frustration, recognizing there is no platform, no outlet, and no one seems to want to listen. It appears, to them, that no one wants to make their church more effective for reaching the lost and impacting the culture. They seek another church for missional stewardship reasons: “I only have one life to live, and only so much money to give. I want to invest in a church that is making a difference. I’ve tried everything, and it just doesn’t seem like our church wants to move forward...or can’t. I have to go where I can contribute, making a Kingdom difference.”
Those churches that provide a platform – a Vision Team – develop a direction that will lead the church in the coming awakening and the subsequent revival. Those churches that miss this opportunity, and do not provide an environment for those with holy discontent, will actually lose some of the most valuable contributors. Their church will actually become weaker, increasing its demise. This is the “pruning of the vineyard.” Jesus taught about branches that are cut off, which do not produce fruit (John 15:2). Church leaders who recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in those with holy discontent will provide a platform, and harness what the Holy Spirit is doing – or they will lose them!
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Chapter 4 – A Relational Movement
What occurs next is a movement within the church, not a program. This results from an intentional approach to use a relational platform to help those who are on the Vision Team. They influence those with whom they have a relationship in the congregation. This is not a highly advertised (bulletin announcements, posters in the hallways) top-down program, but, instead, an organic movement within a church, a type of revival among Christians. This is actually an awakening. It precedes a revival in the land.
A key element of being available to God for what He will do through an awakening and revival is to recapture the culture of the biblical, New Testament Church. John Wesley was used by God during the 1700s to bring an awakening to the Church of England. He and his brother, Charles, were involved (along with George Whitfield and others) in various ways of helping Christians rethink what it means to be the church. This led to a revival in England, and, ultimately, a Great Awakening in young America. That Awakening in churches led to an expansion of Christianity among those in the culture. One of the key teachings of John Wesley was, in his words, to “get back to the primitive church.” By that, he meant the Apostolic Church. He was speaking of the New Testament culture of the church, which will be described below.
These reflections represent the basis for this perspective on the 21st century church. We are indeed in a changing time of history, and on the edge of a great move of God, in my perception. It has been occurring in England for about 20 years, has spread to Continental Europe, and is now beginning to show visible signs in Canada. The United States is next. This move of God is not represented by one particular movement or specific method. There are common denominators – cultural characteristics of the New Testament Church – but they take many different forms. The spontaneous combustion of many different movements in North America today represent a God who is much bigger than one movement or another, one method or another. That should caution us to not get stuck into a programmatic, one-size-fits-all mentality.
Some people are all hyped by the multi-site movement, others the organic church and church planting movement. Some are very intrigued by the ancient-future approach to worship and contemplative approach to Christianity. While there are some areas that show more response than others, it is a fact that God, in a variety of ways, is moving people on a spiritual continuum. It is important to recognize that the consistent factor in each of these movements is the set of common values that are, essentially, recapturing the New Testament culture. New Testament culture drove the behavior of the early Christians. This resulted in an extraordinary movement of Christianity, led by the Holy Spirit, during the first two centuries after the resurrection of Christ, in the Mediterranean world. That is not to say this is a relatively simplistic or easy accomplishment. It represents an environment that is far different from the way most people “do church” today. The more you look at that culture, the more you realize how far today’s church has drifted from what it means to be and do church in some very basic ways. These, also, will be discussed below.
While it is difficult to see history as it occurs, looking at recent generations from a “God-watching” perspective, we will see some key elements that provide a platform for world evangelization.
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Chapter 5 – Re: Generations
Generation X is now a generation that has become established. Many are married, have children, have established jobs, mortgages, etc. There are, of course, many exceptions. Gen X has reacted, in some ways, to the major abuses of the Baby Boomers – their parents. Some have floated, subconsciously, into some of the same abuses, including high debt, reckless spending, consumerism, entitlement mentality, and ecological neglect.
In the church, many Gen X’ers have gravitated toward the explosion of Christian contemporary music, media, and literature that has begun to proliferate, particularly in the 1990s. This makes them more relevant, or contemporary to the day, and less stuck in the “traditions” of the past. An anomaly of this group includes those who are part of the ancient-future movement. Two of the spokespersons for that movement are Dan Kimball, a practitioner, and Robert Webber, an academic. However, observations show this movement to be very small, almost negligible in the big picture of North America. This movement demonstrates little health, vitality, or growth of churches, either through the attractional model or missional model. While there are strong voices promoting this direction, the end results for Kingdom growth and expansion are quite negligible. Will this change in the future? It is hard to say.
Generation Y, for many reasons, is perhaps the most exciting generation for potential worldwide revival of the Christian Movement. While Boomers and some Gen X’ers have become electronically connected by adoption, Generation Y and their successors, the Millennials, carry this electronic connectedness as part of their DNA. In other words, those of previous generations have adapted to the worldwide web out of necessity, to whatever degree required to maintain “successful interchange” in the changing world. Even some from the Builder Generation have adapted well. The significant difference for Generation Y, and those who follow, is that they were born into the electronic world. They are natural networkers – it is in their DNA.
Rodney Stark, in his classic missional contribution The Rise of Christianity (HarperOne, 1997), studies the social fiber of the Mediterranean world that provides the platform for the most explosive era of Christianity. (The only other movement that parallels in all of Christian history is being increasingly identified as the underground house church movement in China, which is difficult to measure.) Stark identifies the Mediterranean world as one in which mobility was very limited. Several generations of families lived in close proximity, in the same village, city, or rural area, for generation after generation.
It is my perception that one of the great reasons Christianity proliferated so rapidly in the first century is that no one had yet invented the refrigerator. By that, I mean it was necessary each day for those from every household (which is to be understood as a multi-generational dwelling) to go to the marketplace to get fresh food. The marketplace was the platform for communication. Good news spread quickly, and The Good News was no exception.
By the second century, travel by Roman roads and ships at sea created a mobility factor for the human race. Many were separated from those in their extended families. This trend has continued until the late 20th century. While mobilization continues and isolation is part of the result, today there is a new platform similar to the marketplace of the Mediterranean world. It is called the Internet. It is not just a tool but a dimension of humanity that impacts the living patterns and behaviors of generations who have been infected and affected by electronic media DNA.
In the early years, Boomer parents of Gen X noticed an odd behavior pattern among their teenage youth: they would go to the mall, not to buy something, but to “hang out with their friends.” This was a departure from Boomer behavior. This led to a next step in which high school students returned home from school and, first thing, checked their e-mails. At the present time of this writing, this same trend is reflected by young adults texting in the classroom!
In his classic book of the late 20th century (Megatrends; Grand Central Publishing, 1988), John Naisbitt identified a dramatically changed future: the explosion of technology. He observed a trend in high-tech that would demand a parallel trend: high-touch. This prediction has become a reality. It is abundantly evident in the dynamics of texting, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Social networking signals a character change in human beings. It moves behavior toward a rapid and prolific tendency to socially connect. In other words, young adults, particularly Generation Y and those who follow them, will not need to be told to “evangelize” or tell their friends about their faith. If Jesus Christ is alive in their lives, unlike any previous generation – perhaps going back to the early Mediterranean world of the first century (with few exceptions, of course) – they will share their faith automatically. Why? They share everything!
Generation Y – particularly those who are 20-somethings right now – in my perception, will be the backbone of the largest revival recorded in history. WWW stands for “worldwide web,” but also could be understood as “worldwide witness.” This platform has no boundaries among people groups around the world. It continues to penetrate indigenous peoples even in less advanced cultures. It penetrates “closed” countries such as Cuba, North Korea and Iran which, in fact, are not closed anymore. The stage is now set for massive revival. What occurred in the Middle East in the first quarter of 2011 will go down in history as “the Arab spring.” It is a massive change fueled through social networking. The Christian Movement can – and must – learn from this powerful lesson about communication and change.
The strategic focus for revival should be on 20-somethings. However, it will require Christianity to be shaped and communicated in the mentality, and the worldview, of postmodern young adults. That does not mean Christianity has to abandon basic truth. This has been demonstrated by young adult, massive movements in Europe, now starting in Canada, and just beginning to surface in the U.S. It is also evident in China, portions of Africa, South America, and other hotspots around the world.
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Chapter 6 – Flat Changes Everything
Thomas Friedman, in his book The World is Flat (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2005), has not only identified a reality of our present world, but (without knowing anything about the church, from what I can tell) has identified the posture the Christian Church must take on this new playing field. When it does, young adults are attracted to the church. When it does not, they will not give the church’s message a hearing.
The flat world reflects the repulsion today’s young adults have for institutions that act institutionally. In a flat world, the power is at your fingertips. You don’t have to jump through hoops or join an organization to access anything. The key for understanding this is that if a church persists to be hierarchical, it will not attract young adults. This concept is reflected in the teaching of low-control/high-accountability. Most churches from the modern era have become extreme, with layers of bureaucracy, politics, bylaws, rules and regulations, titles, offices, and all the trappings of institutionalism. This does not fit the relational world that now exists. It is not an effective platform for sharing the Gospel. The flat world Thomas Friedman describes simply indicates that now people relate horizontally. Not so many decades ago, it was required to get the “secret information” held, for example, by seminary professors at a seminary institution. Now, students can find any of those books on Amazon.com while sitting in the comfort of their own bedrooms. And some of it is free!
The flat realities of our present world are a great blessing for the church that returns to the biblical realities of the priesthood of all believers. This reflects the inevitable explosion of short-term, in-community, hands-on training mechanisms such as the young adult training called Form, at St. Thomas’ Church in Sheffield, England, and SEND North America, in northeastern Indiana. There are dozens of other flat discipleship equipping efforts, particularly for young adults, in North America. New ministries like these are being launched at a rate of several each year.
The way churches operate and make decisions is often called church government. The institutional and corporate models that betray biblical truth – on more levels than one can imagine – will be replaced by a way of decision-making that models an apostolic theocracy. This is not “theocracy” in the way the late Osama bin Laden used the term as political camouflage.
The word “theocracy” means the rule of God or will of God. It reflects the primary driving force in which churches make decisions: seeking what God wants. The word “apostolic” simply reflects that the apostles did not have titles or offices, did not run for election, were not nominated, did not have political meetings, and did not use political force to influence the churches of the New Testament. Their influence was, to a great degree, through their relationships in community and God’s call on their lives.
This biblical approach to operating as Christian community, in the realities of present generations, is no longer an option. It is an absolute necessity. The church no longer has the luxury of operating from a secular approach to church government. Even more: flat, relational approaches to doing church provide an excellent opportunity to become an attractive community for next-generation Christians. This biblical approach works well for those who are networking, authentic, sold-out Christians who will not be caught “playing church,” or simply going through religious, institutional motions.
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Chapter 7 – Church As a Movement
Ironically, most modern churches operate from a position of high control and low accountability. With boards, committees, votes, nominations, and meetings, many churches represent a very high-control posture. Some denominations represent the epitome of high control. They are disasters waiting to happen, with an extreme level of organizational bureaucracy.
At the other end of the balance, most present modern-era churches reflect low accountability. People can gossip frequently and no one will hold them accountable. Many feel an independent isolationism from one another in the church. They have inherited an environment in which “your fellow Christian’s sinful behavior is none of your business.” This is the exact opposite of the New Testament approach to church culture, which is low control, but with high accountability. The New Testament teaches we should “speak the truth in a spirit of love” (Ephesians 4:15). Jesus taught that we should follow His teaching in Matthew: confront one another privately; if that does not work, take a witness; if it continues, take it to the church – or church leadership (Matthew 18:15-17).
The re-emphasis of proper balance in control and accountability explains why many of the new and cutting-edge movements of Christianity include accountability groups. This includes the work of Neil Cole, represented in his book Organic Church (Jossey-Bass, 2005), as well as Jaeson Ma’s book on Christian movements in North American universities, The Blueprint (Regal, 2007). While accountability groups seem strange and threatening to Boomers (at least at first), they are very natural, and reflect the authentic nature of an attractive movement for postmodern young adults. To them, it reflects a format of Christianity that is real.
From the biblical perspective, the church is not, primarily, an institution. There are many non-institutional realities the church must recapture. The church must reinvent itself to think of Christianity as a movement. In many areas around the world, Christianity has become over-packaged and programmed. This is reflected in terminology that restores the function of the church, namely, lightweight/low-maintenance. (I have learned the concepts of low-control/high-accountability from years of biblical study to improve church government. But I have learned the wording of low-control/high-accountability from the Sheffield Movement in England. I have also learned the terminology lightweight/low-maintenance from that movement in the UK.)
When Christianity is resurrected as a movement, two very important dimensions become obvious. One: Everything Christianity accomplishes, when it is at its best, is relational. That is what a movement is: a relational epidemic where people “catch” Christianity – not like you catch a ball, but like you catch a cold. Christian behavior, and Christian culture, is as much caught as taught. Two: As a movement, on a relational platform, the second element is the restoration of the biblical centerpiece of making disciples. Disciple-making has been relegated to the effort of an institution (and its staff), carried out by programs. Too much emphasis has been placed on teaching cognitive content alone. While that cognitive content (truth) is important, the relational, affective values, beliefs, attitudes, priorities, and worldviews are key elements of the rapid and healthy growth of Christianity. This is why churches can have numerous programs, with some results, but the essence, posture, and culture of the church never changes. Instead of a class, program, or strategy of an institution, at the very heart of Christianity is disciple-making that is relational: an interactive community, with hands-on learning. Discipleship follows the Leadership Square.
The contemporary form of the Leadership Square was first invented by Paul Hersey, Professor of Leadership Studies at Nova Southeastern University (Davie, Florida). It is featured in his book Management of Organizational Behavior (Prentice Hall, 2007, 9th edition). It was first made popular in Christian circles by Ken Blanchard. It has been further refined by Mike Breen and is described in his book Building a Discipling Culture (3 Dimension Ministries, 2009). Long before these modern uses of the Leadership Square, Jesus taught the key elements of the discipling/leadership approach: 1) I do/you watch; 2) I do/you help; 3) you do/I help; and 4) you do/I watch. This is the core behavior of each Christian and is part of their DNA, according to the New Testament and the Great Commission challenge to “go make disciples” (Matthew 28:19).
When the discipleship process is restricted to a class, program, or institutional setting, Christianity is no longer an explosive movement. This, for many, is a major paradigm shift. It is presently in the process of restoration in many contemporary Christian movements. It reflects the biblical dynamic of the priesthood of all believers, and is the basic equation for everything God does: multiplication. This biblical approach is very attractive to postmodern young adults. The church has drifted so far from this modus operandi. It will be essential for any effective church in the 21st century to restore this biblical reality.
Postmoderns are relativists. Among non-Christians, truth is relative: what is true for you is true for you, and what is true for me is true for me. Both are true, even though they are direct opposites. This has implications for outreach strategies. It changes the primary objective when equipping Christians for mission, and the approach of disciple-making changes from apologetics to practics. The key issue for postmoderns is not “Is it true?” but “Does it work?”
This has implications for how we share the faith. It implies that the evangelism committee is dead. (The priesthood of believers is restored!) Evangelism no longer works anyway. Witnessing, in the true sense – what Jesus says in Acts 1:8 – is the key. This means that one of the most revolutionary and powerful “evangelistic programs” any church in the 21st century can accomplish is to patiently, gently, and continually ask people to share what God has done in their lives lately. In time, that becomes a cultural lifestyle for everyone in the church. In the early stages of the spiritual journey, witnessing does not include Bible passages or preaching. What receptive and interested people want to hear is how God has worked in your life recently. Witnessing has become much easier and must become, once again, the lifestyle of all Christians – not a program, effort, or the preoccupation of a committee.
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Chapter 8 – Focus on Health: Who You Are...And Become
The healthy church in the 21st century will recapture the New Testament culture that drives biblical behavior. This implies that leaders, teachers, and preachers will focus equally on biblical content (doctrine) and cultural elements of what it means to be a Christian, and what it means to do Christianity. Younger generations are attracted to this authenticity and are repulsed when it is not present. There are five areas of culture cultivated by those in healthy churches. Like all cultural elements, there is overlap with one another. The DNA of biblical culture is a complex of these five areas. They are intertwined.
1. Values. Values identify, from God’s perspective, what is important. Values are not just what we say is important, but what we demonstrate.
2. Beliefs. These are what we really believe as truth. This is different than what we confess to be truth. For example, many believe God is a God of generosity, and sacrificial giving is the biblical reality. However, as Jesus pointed out, “Your heart is really where your treasure is” (Matthew 6:21). Many Christians who confess they “believe” in sacrificial giving do not behave at that level. Consequently, they do not really believe what they confess. Likewise, many Christians pray frequently (like in the Lord’s Prayer) that “God’s will be done.” However, many Christians behave in ways that are influenced by a consumer culture, loaded and focused on “what I want.” The distance between these beliefs – in theory and practice – is the origin of much church conflict.
3. Priorities. Given the realities of limited time, energy, money, and people (the biblical principle from Luke 10:2 is, “The harvest is large, the workers are few”), priorities reflect, “What will you most always do first, when given two different tasks?” The work of God, the work of the church, is never done. Priority choices reflect what we think is important – which may or may not also be urgent. (Jesus said, in John 4:35, “You have a saying, ‘Four more months and then the harvest,’ but I say to you, look at the harvest, it is ripe and ready to be harvested.”)
4. Attitudes. These represent our profile or posture toward God, which impacts so much of our behavior. Philippians 2 reflects Scriptural teaching that speaks totally against the “you deserve a break today” culture of our secular society. It challenges Christians who live in that society to be different: “Consider others more important than yourself.” Most large airplanes have two pilots. One is constantly adjusting the angle of the nose of the airplane to the variations in air pressure and wind direction. Why? Because the angle of the nose of the airplane affects its efficiency of speed and fuel usage. It affects all the other systems of the airplane. What is this called? The attitude of the airplane. Attitudes in the church impact all the other systems to either be more effective and efficient or, as in the case of negative attitudes, to undermine the productivity of God’s work through the church.
5. Worldviews. A worldview is how you understand the world and the way the world works. In the world of the church, a worldview includes the way you understand the world of the church and the way the world of the church works. A biblically informed worldview is God’s worldview of the church and the way the world of the church works. In my book Discover Your Windows (Abingdon Press, 2002), I have identified 10 worldviews that we have discovered disrupt the health and vitality of churches. These worldviews are held from a non-biblical perspective by large percentages of Christians in every church. In other words, people are infected to great degrees by secular worldviews, even though, when surfaced from a subconscious level, biblical worldviews sound uniquely familiar to them. That is the challenge of worldviews: they are subconscious. In order to grow in this area, these worldviews must be raised to a conscious level, and reviewed from the perspective of Scripture. Why? Worldviews drive your behavior!
This emphasis on biblical culture is an important dimension of church health and vitality in the 21st century. While many churches are focused on programs to do this and that, changing the culture is key. Again, church health is not all about what you do, what goals you achieve, or the successful completion of a program. It is all about who you are and what you become.
One of the secrets about changing the culture in your church is to understand how people change. This includes two very important realities.
First, most churches operate almost entirely from a position of Greek philosophy. Churches work hard to help people grow, but they often start with a limited premise about how people change behavior. The approach is: right thinking leads to right behavior. This is a Greek approach to understanding reality, and it comes from Plato who, of course, was not a Christian. On the other hand, Hebrew thought is more holistic than Greek thinking. The Hebrew mind sees the world from God’s perspective and adds: right behavior leads to right thinking. Obviously, Jesus was a Hebrew. In fact, that is why He did things that may at first seem strange to us. For example, in Matthew 4:19 He said to His new disciples, “Come follow Me” (behavior), and, then, “I will teach you to be fishers of men (and women)” (right thinking). This has a major impact on how 21st century healthy churches will shape and guide the lives of new and young Christians. (I did not use the word “instruct” on purpose.) Hands-on, involved, interactive learning – doing – will be as important as content. Both right thinking and right behavior complete the cycle. It’s called discipleship! The context is relationships. (See my e-book The J-Dog Journey.) It begins with the relationship to God. It moves to a relationship with others. Discipleship includes modeling, which leads to right thinking, which grows into right behavior, which reinforces right thinking. This is the cycle of spiritual growth.
For many years in the modern era, pastors preached the right content (right thinking) at people, thinking it would change their behavior. Research studies by George Barna and others show that the everyday behavior of Christians is not much different from people who are non-Christians, particularly in key areas of moral behavior. Right thinking alone does not lead to right behavior. Frustrated pastors preach and teach louder, longer, and with more gimmicks, thinking it will improve behavior. It is not the full, biblical approach. In Scripture, it is a relational cycle in balance.
An instructive teaching on this subject is the Learning Circle developed by Mike Breen (Building a Discipling Culture). Once one masters the Learning Circle, it is almost impossible to imagine a healthy church life for any Christian without it. This is a paradigm to approach every event in life, asking, first, “Is this a kairos moment?” (Kairos is a God-moment, a time of divine intervention. It ignites a healthy process. You ask, “I wonder what God is going to do in this situation?”)
A second significant issue churches must face is what is learned from the magnificent study by Chip and Dan Heath, reflected in their New York Times bestseller Switch (Crown Business, 2010). These authors convincingly demonstrate that the old paradigm about how people change is neither accurate nor useful. A new paradigm has emerged.
The old paradigm is that people see - analyze - change. However, research shows that many have seen diet plans, for example, buy those plans, analyze them, but never lose weight. Chip and Dan Heath have identified that real change takes place in a different pattern or sequence: see - feel - change. Until people feel the need for change, they usually do not. The implications for discipleship growth, as well as outreach to the unchurched, are obvious: involvement learning, on-the-job training for discipleship growth, and witnessing by story that reflects affective feelings are all essential for change in the 21st century church. Think of the implications for engaging worship: worship that is interactive, includes stories (think parables of Jesus), touches emotions, demonstrates transparency, and involves others. This not only reflects biblical, New Testament approaches, it also works best for 21st century postmoderns.
The healthy church in the 21st century will move the focus from “what we do” to “who we are.” Christians are sometimes anxious about “what does this program do, what are we supposed to do, what do we accomplish, what are the measurable goals?” What will help churches most is a spiritual pilgrimage that focuses not on “what we do,” but “who we are” and “who we become” as the primary objectives. David is a pastor of a church involved in a pilgrimage of change. He reflects, “For years we have tried one program after another, but the essence of our church never changed. The temperature or culture stayed the same. We did different things, but we were the same people. When we entered the sixth month of a process like this pilgrimage, we were involved in something unlike anything we had ever experienced. We were involved in a movement within our church. It was traveling by relationships, from one person to another, and we were becoming different people. If that is all that happens, we will be an extraordinarily different church when this spiritual pilgrimage is finished.”
In the process of change for the 21st century, the healthy and vital church will participate in a “rummage sale.” It will offload non-essential methods, delivery systems, programs, activities, and structures that no longer work in the world in which we live. This follows the pattern identified by Phyllis Tickle in her book The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why (Baker Books, 2008). Tickle identifies a major hinge point of history every 500 years since the first century. Christianity, every 500 years, has reinvented itself: not in doctrine, but in delivery. I agree, as she claims, that we are in one of those hinge points right now, 500 years following the Protestant Reformation
North American churches, for the most part, reflect a society that is blessed financially (even in recessions) and is highly materialistic. Healthy churches will help Christians reorient their values, particularly in the area of the consumer mentality. A key Scripture verse reflects this priority for a healthy church in the 21st century. 1 Peter 4:1-2, quoted here from The Message version of the Bible, is translated by Eugene Peterson: “Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.”
This Scripture verse relates to a key element in the development of leaders for every church. This approach to leadership will operate on the premise that Christian leaders lead from the center of God’s will. How do churches raise up leaders who approach their ministries in the postmodern 21st century in a way that is biblically oriented, in a healthy church? They begin by choosing leaders focused on God’s Word, with a hunger for God’s will. Then they personally and relationally disciple them. They use the teaching of Scripture as a lens for every activity, every decision, and every choice. Note that leaders are not nominated or elected, but discipled – by leaders. Who are you discipling right now?
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Chapter 9 – Everyone Multiplies!
Discipleship, defined by the behavior of most churches, is to have another Bible class to implant more biblical content in the minds of the people, expecting them to grow in their discipleship lifestyles. This approach simply will not work with postmoderns. It is not the biblical model Jesus provided. Discipleship, in the 21st century healthy church, will be multiplying through on-the-job training. This is, without question, an almost entirely lost art or practice in much of Christianity in the Western world. As you read this today, more than 100,000 pastors in North America will leave their church office, get in their cars, and drive to a hospital to make a “hospital call.” They will “minister” to someone in the hospital. Practically all of them will go entirely alone. They will not even think about taking someone with them to “disciple,” mentor, apprentice, train – to multiply themselves for hospital calls. This aberration of Ephesians 4 has somehow become the standard. Clergy-centered church represents the hierarchy of a modern era, but not the priesthood of all believers of the biblical world or flat world, or team approach, that is part of the 21st century.
A return to a multiplying biblical Christianity has many implications. The first is spiritual formation. During the Reformation, the Protestant Reformers developed a hierarchy of systematic theology. They paid little or no attention to spiritual formation. Therefore, the Protestant Movement left behind some of the excellent Roman Catholic spiritual formation focuses that were healthy, biblical Christianity. It is appropriate to argue that perhaps had the Protestant Reformers lived 200 years, they might have added this. A closer look at John Wesley reveals that he brought back spiritual formation into the life of Christianity. Scott Pattison has done a great job, in his dissertation on the Wesleyan Revival, showing that spiritual formation is one aspect that brought revitalization and an awakening to the Church of England and, in the 1700s, the Great Awakening – the only time in American history called “The Great Awakening.” (The Great Awakening in America was preceded by the Evangelical Revival in England and Europe.) The Methodist branch of the revival or awakening (or, as Wesley would say, "the peopled called Methodist"), unfortunately drifted and deleted much of this spiritual formation – to their peril – in the subsequent decades after Wesley’s death. The Wesleyan branch of the revival and awakening drifted less, but nevertheless drifted. How ironic!
Spiritual formation in the 21st century is not an option. Spiritual formation is a maturation process. Spiritually mature Christians multiply (disciple). Immature babies in the faith cannot disciple (multiply). Spiritual formation is directly tied to multiplication – disciple-making. Spiritual formation includes seven key elements:
1. Spiritual formation will be person-centered, not institution-centered. In the modern era, the church sought “volunteers,” implying they were to serve the machinery of the institution. This is not biblical. Jesus is not interested in institutions and never described the bride, body or family, citizens of the Kingdom, as an institution. Jesus focused on the person. Consequently, the primary task of leaders in the church is to help new and young Christians find their gifts, passions, and place in God’s Kingdom, with all the emphasis on the person, not a task to be accomplished. The task-oriented mentality is a Boomer aberration of the modern era. It will not work among postmodern young adults. Also, it is not biblical! The biblical approach is to be concerned about the person and grow that person as the primary objective. We have turned that into an institutional objective: get volunteers to give of their time and energy, telling them this is a spiritual thing to do in order for the institution to get some pre-assigned task accomplished. We recruit people to serve the institution. The Body of Christ – the church – becomes a machine. The biblical approach is to invest in people. It is what Jesus did.
2. A second element of spiritual formation takes place in community. It means people will grow with one another. This is reflected in accountability groups mentioned earlier, but also learning communities in which growth occurs as people journey together in exploration and experience dimensions of the faith as it is put into practice. It also happens in well-run small groups for Bible study, where the facilitator empowers discussion rather than dominates and lectures.
3. Spiritual formation will focus not just on doing but also on being. Humans are not human “doings” but human “beings.” Consequently, Jesus is interested in who we are and who we become, not just what we do. However, hands-on doing (behavior) leads to right thinking, which is a part of our being. The doing is not seen as a task to be accomplished for the institution to reach its objectives. The doing is to be seen as a key element of the growing-into-being process. Disciples are not just made to accomplish some mercenary goals, however spiritual. Disciples are made because they become more of what God intends and to experience more of who God is. Then it is natural for them to do what it is God does.
4. Motivated learning comes not because the institution requires it in order to be accepted as a “member.” Instead, learning motivation comes from being involved in ministry and recognizing what you do not know. This motivates you to want to know, in order to do what your discipler has modeled. You have seen how God has blessed the impact on other people. This is a strong motivation to learn more. Likewise, it is a biblical and appropriate motivation to become church workers. It is not an academic hoop through which one must jump in order to get the key to the office that provides the opportunity to serve. It is on-the-job training that drives the person to want to learn more, as one becomes a motivated learner. This is the platform for training young adults.
The implication is that every church of moderate to large size, as a basic no-brainer, ought to provide a small Bible school, with on-the-job training, to help young adults find their niche in ministry. This becomes, then, the recruiting “farm club” for that church. These students know the philosophy of ministry of that church intuitively. It becomes an economical and practical way for young adults to enter ministry on a step-by-step basis. Some may go on to higher learning in institutional settings. Those who are degree-level educated will always be needed. But a massive lay movement of ministry brought into the priesthood of believers as a flat organization is the strategy for a revival that resides in, and emanates from, the heart of Jesus.
5. Spiritual formation focuses on Christianity as a cultural virus. Christianity is caught, just like you catch the flu. Christianity is supposed to be caught, one person to another, not one program reaching one person or a family. Christianity, through healthy communities called churches, becomes a spiritual epidemic, a Jesus epidemic. Numbers of people so rapidly catch the heart of Jesus that it becomes impossible to control. This resembles, in a spiritual sense, a “chaordic” world – a chaordic world with spiritual implications not unlike the world described by the best-selling author Dee Hock in his book Birth of the Chaordic Age (Berrett-Koehler, 2000). Hock, founder and former CEO of Visa, identifies “chaordic” as the behavior of a self-governing organism, organization, or system that harmoniously blends characteristics of order and chaos. This describes viral Christianity.
This viral nature of Christianity is something to which the church in the modern age had trouble relating. However, we now live in an age where information goes “viral” all the time. The big lesson to learn from the unsettled nature of several countries in the Middle East is that, with technology, movements can become viral and topple governments, bring about real change, and make a difference. This dimension of spiritual formation plants a virus in Christians that empowers them to infect others with Jesus through their relationships. Christians become spiritually infectious. The church has inoculated most Christians by putting them into programmatic activities and classes with other Christians. This has insolated them from a key element of Christianity – multiplication.
6. Multiplication is a significant part of the character profile of God. Everything God does is by multiplication. When He put our first parents on this earth, He told them to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. When Jesus talked about filling heaven, He gave the same message, in different words: “Go make disciples.” Every seed has within it a multiplication DNA. Plant a kernel of corn and you get a stalk with one, two, or sometimes even three ears. Each ear has about 350 kernels. This is extraordinary multiplication. It is part of the creative nature of God on every level. This includes the spiritual multiplication of the church. However, it has not been developed into the character trait of every Christian. It is as if Christians have been spiritually sterilized by their churches. Many Christians have relied on programs, activities, worship services, and staff to do the “multiplication” heavy lifting of the Great Commission. But this takes the viral dimension from the equation. It has diminished the church to growth by addition rather than multiplication. Christianity was never intended to grow by addition – never!
Spiritual formation has within it the DNA of multiplication. Every Sunday school teacher, for example, should see, as part of his or her job, the multiplying of themselves: to pray for, look for, find, invite, and equip another Sunday school teacher. Every usher should do the same. Every greeter in every church should have some new or young Christian by their side who they are equipping. No one should ever do anything without multiplying.
The reality is very different. We put notices in bulletins, plead from pulpits, and beg from newsletter articles – for volunteers. We develop volunteer coordinators who basically are negative enablers to keep people from seeing the privilege of making disciples as something that belongs to each and every Christian. This must, and will, change in healthy churches of the 21st century.
7. Spiritual formation is all about being church. Church is understood no longer as an institutional program, but a spiritual movement. It means the church is dynamic. It lives and grows organically. It means the church will sometimes feel like it is out of control. It will require Christians to turn over the control to the Holy Spirit.
Restoring the spiritual formation elements lost at the time of the Reformation includes a much stronger emphasis on prayer. We have institutionalized prayer to the point where many dinner prayers at tables of Christian families are rote memorizations of what the generation before prayed. We have institutionalized prayer so that when the sick are prayed for in church, it is the pastor’s job. Prayer lists and prayer chains proliferate in churches, but few people are involved in contemplative and serious prayer on an ongoing basis. The irony is that the Lord’s Prayer is supposed to be an example of how to pray (according to the text), but becomes a rote prayer that is formalized and somewhat inoculated from becoming viral prayer. The human tendency is to turn the living faith into lifeless religion. This is not a recent phenomenon – it’s all over the Scripture. Can we learn this afresh?
Another element of the healthy church in the 21st century is the restoration of disciplines. The word “disciple” and the word “disciplines” are very similar for good reasons. The church in the 21st century will help individuals, in contemporary ways, in contemporary forms, to establish certain disciplines, as frameworks of behavior, to grow in their spirituality. Here is a formula for healthy Christian practice from my friend Mick Woodhead in the UK: “Focus + discipline = momentum.” Does that describe Jesus to you?
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