This was a presentation I made to the Capital (Oklahoma City, OK) Baptist Association pastors conference on July 13, 2015. I was asked to work it up as a blog for the Church Planting website of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. It was posted on their website in two sections on August 10th and 18th, 2015.
Zero
About 20 years ago I was introduced to the concepts taught by futurist Joel Barker. One story he told was about the watch industry and the shift from “mainsprings and gears” to “quartz”.
“In 1968, Switzerland had 65% of the world market share and according to expert estimations, more than 80% of the profits. Yet, just ten years later, their market share had fallen below 10% and in the ensuing three years, they had to release 50,000 of their
65,000 watch workers. Today, Japan dominates the world of watch making. In 1968, Japan had virtually no market share. The Swiss watch industry was put back to zero by a paradigm shift. The Quartz Movement watch: Totally electronic. A thousand times more accurate than the mechanical watches it replaced. Battery powered. All new rules.“The Swiss themselves invented this revolutionary design at their research laboratories in Neu-Chatel. Yet, when their own researchers presented this idea to the Swiss watch manufacturers in 1968, they rejected it. After all, it didn’t have any bearings. It didn’t require a lot of gears. It didn’t even have a mainspring. It had none of the marvelous mechanical complexity the Swiss were so good at. Therefore, it couldn’t possibly be the future of watches.
“So confident were the Swiss manufacturers in that conclusion, that they didn’t even protect the idea. Later that year, the researchers displayed that watch for all to see at the World Watch Congress. Seiko of Japan walked past, took one look, and the rest is history. Pages 13-14, Classic Consolidation 1.4, 8/2/01, Copyright 2001, Joel A. Barker.”
The point he was making is that when there is a paradigm shift “everything goes back to zero”. We are in a huge paradigm shift or as Reggie McNeal so poignantly states, a “hinge of history”. Everything is going back to zero, so maybe we need to go back to where it started and see what “zero” was like in the New Testament. I see at least four characteristics I would like to highlight.
- Go and Tell versus Come and Hear
In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus says “As you are going develop followers who will obey”. We have focused on drawing people into our worship experience to hear the pastor.
We have focused on creating “seeker services”. Whether they be seeker sensitive or seeker friendly the impetus is to make those outside the church want to come to our church.
Even when we move outside the walls of the traditional church into homes our focus is on drawing people to where we are. Last year the Billy Graham organization promoted a process where it “invited church members to become Matthews, inviting neighbors into their homes”.
The New Testament paradigm was to go. Jesus modeled this as He went to the Temple (Matthew 21:12), the well at Samaria (John 4:7), and the Gaderene demoniac (Matthew 8:28). I love the passage in Acts 8:1 which tells us that as a result of the death of Stephen the lay people scattered sharing the Gospel while the clergy (Apostles) stayed in Jerusalem.
Jesus didn’t ask his disciples to be “Matthews”. He asked Matthew, a new Christian, to open his home to a “party” for his friends. Jesus went to where the ugliest of that society lived. The religious elite had real problems with this.
Where is God scattering us?
- Dependence on the Spirit versus Dependence on apologetics or persuasive arguments
We have developed some great apologetics and tremendous literature which has served us well in the old paradigm. The great arguments of past days as to whether God was Dead only heightened our need for these apologetic tools.
As a Type A high D task driven extrovert I resonate with the Nike logo “Just Do It”. I have trouble sitting around and waiting. Let’s get after it. When people say that the reason that we are not succeeding is that we are not doing enough they are speaking my language.
And yet, I wonder if I am trapped in Einstein’s definition of insanity – continuing to do the same (only more and harder), expecting different results.
How much prayer really takes place at the Wednesday Prayer meeting?
Prayer and dependence on the Spirit’s leadership are going to be paramount in this new paradigm. In Luke 10:1 we see Jesus sending out the 72, telling them to listen to the Spirit and as the Spirit opens the door share. If the Spirit has not been at work in the home where they go, then they are to go to another home.
Abraham Lincoln is quoted as having said, “If I had five minutes to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first three sharpening my ax.” How much time do we spend in prayer seeking the Spirit before we go out and “do”?
The focus is on finding the Person of Peace who will open up their home and serve as an entry into their community. Jesus instructed His disciples (us) to seek these people and use them as conduits to the larger context where they have influence and we do not.
What doors is the Spirit opening?
- Starting where they are versus Starting where we would like for them to be
Many times our evangelistic strategy has been to “rescue the sinner”. The “turn or burn” mentality with which we have been labeled has too often been true. We presume those with whom we talk have a basic Christian understanding and world view. I am convinced that is no longer true in the American context.
We often presume others around us have our Christian background and that may be true for you, although I doubt it. When I was the Executive Director of Missions (DOM) in Tarrant (Fort Worth, TX) Baptist Association we discovered that 7 out of 10 people do not go to church anywhere and 56% indicated that they were not Christians. When people told me that everyone they knew was already a Christian, I would tell them that they “needed to get a life” and not live such a sheltered existence.
An article I recently read says that most of those around us have already decided not to go to our church. Jesus told his disciples to shake the dust from their sandals and move on. Maybe it’s time for us to broaden our horizons and look for where God is leading – not the easy road of the perceived “low hanging fruit” that surrounds our church building.
I think that the growing reality in this reflected in the conversation I had with a young woman when I asked her about her faith background. Her response was, “My grandmother was a Catholic”. Peter, in his famous sermon, started by saying, “what you see was predicted long ago” (Acts 2:16). Paul as he witnessed to King Agrippa said, “you are especially knowledgeable about all Jewish customs and issues” (Acts 26:3), Paul as he share on Mars Hill pointed out the unknown God they worshiped (Acts 17:23) and went from there. “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture (Isaiah) he preached Jesus to him. (Acts 8:35 NASB)”. In this new paradigm we are going to have to determine where the people are and start the “gospel”, the Good News, there in order for them to really hear and understand.
In spite of the fact that “Secular Humanism” is the religion of choice of most American’s (including many who claim to be Christians) evidence shows that this generation is highly spiritual – we don’t have to convince them of the existence of a spiritual world. We need to allow the Spirit to use us to start where they are, helping them find Him.
An interesting phenomenon is that Boomers are looking at church again. Many are seeking spiritual things again for the first time in fifty years. The cause of this renewed interest is that they are facing end of life issues. Their trend is to go back to the church of their youth, but if they find the church of their youth they are not staying.
My son, a businessman, said recently, “We need to be venture capitalist rather than money managers”. Are we willing to “risk it all” or are were holding on hard to what we have in the hopes that continuing to do what we have done (only harder and more aggressively) will produce better results.
What is the “beginning” in the context where you are?
- Focus on the Group versus Singling out the Individual
In our Western frontier mentality we value the heroic individual, but even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.
Often we focus on the individual. In fact, much of our evangelistic effort has been to help someone find Jesus and then bring them into out circle of influence. Our theology says that Jesus died for each of us and each of us has to repent of our sin. Our desire to “rescue the sinner” has caused us to pull them out of their “sinful world” into our…”sinful world”. Yes that is right, we are all sinners and we continue to be such. Since all sin is equal in God’s eye, our world is really not any better than theirs. I would suggest that God would rather them become transformational agents in their world rather than abandon their circle of influence and join ours.
This new paradigm is highly relational and values the group. We see this mirrored time and again in the New Testament: the jailer and his family (Acts 16:32), Paul went to the Synagogue (Acts 13:14), Lydia and the women by the river (Acts 16:13), etc. Jesus did not invite one of His disciples to be a “Matthew” and open up his home. Matthew as a new believer (and a “man of peace” as reflected in Luke 10:6) invited his friends to a party at his home and asked Jesus to come (Mark 2:15).
David Watson’s new book Contagious Disciple Making: Leading Others on a Journey of Discovery opened my eyes. A summary of this book is on my website at tomlaw.org. Watson show us how to get back to the basic relational aspects of our faith, where one person who has found Jesus helps someone else find Him guiding that person to then disciple someone else in their circle of influence. Millennials are tribal. The group (their group) is important to them. We need to use these relational avenues to open up whole new areas of culture and society that may be closed to us.
What home is the Spirit opening, where the person of peace is inviting their friends to come to their home so that we can have the opportunity to share the gospel through them to this new community?
As we evaluate our methods and plans maybe it would be good for us to use metrics like the ones mentioned to help us set the course for what we are doing. Where is the Spirit moving (have we prayed for His direction and discernment)? Are we ready to GO to the GROUP the SPIRIT has prepared, sharing with them FROM THE BEGINNING, so they can understand how to respond to the Spirit’s pull on their heart?
My prayer is, “Help us Lord to listen to your Spirit, go where He tells us, and share with those He has prepared so that Your Word will spread”.
Thomas L. Law, III
(Tom served as missionary church planter for 21+ years with the Foreign/International Mission Board before becoming the Executive Director of Tarrant Baptist Association – Fort Worth, Texas. After retiring, he served as the Interim Executive Director of the Baptist Convention of Iowa.)
http://www.oklahomachurchplanting.com/zero-part-1/ (First section posted August 10, 2015)
http://www.oklahomachurchplanting.com/zero-part-2/ (Second section posted August 17, 2015)
Hahaha! A couple of good points here, but David Watson???? He is a discredited clown. Booted from the IMB and a liar in terms of numbers and claims about church planting. Stupid.
Do some research.
Look up Claude King.
Look up Final Command.
Look up Discovery Bible Studies.
Look up Miraculous Movements.
Look up Disciple Making Movements – Long Hollow BC, Nashville/
Then get back to me.
Long Hollow BC Hendersonville
I heard Russell Moore and Mrs. R. Butterfield(?), the lady who had been a Lesbian teaching at an Ivy League school, on the NRLB Channel on Direct TV discussing how she was won to Christ. She is married now and her husband is the pastor of a Presbyterian and Reformed Church. It was an awesome and inspiring presentation, one that should be commended as something that Southern Baptists should have been doing long ago. I remember hearing R.G. Lee on a record fussin’ about how he had told Dr. Fuller about how they ought to be doing full length sermons instead of that little sermonette that Baptists were then doing on the Baptist Hour (?). I use to listen to Dr. Hershel H. Hobbs and his little talks, and think how much better he could preach in person (I heard him at a conference at William Jewell College after the SBC in ’63 and was still feeling animus toward him for the way he had treated my pastor for the latter’s complaint about the teaching in the seminary. Dr. Hobbs made a laughing stock out of him). Fortunately, for Dr. Hobbs, when it came to the inspiration of scripture, he stood firm and not even his friendships among the Moderates moved him to lessen his commitment to that truth. And my pastor came to a more mellow view of others even though he retained his commitment to scripture. There is a lot about the underground or background noise of the SBC that we really need to k now to understand what was really taking place.
In any case, going and telling, sharing and witnessing as God opens the door, without forcing it open by manipulation, or telling lies as one fellow did and another approved of it by saying, “he got ’em forward, didn’t he?” He never thought of the harm done to the cause of Christ by a lie and by manipulation, both contrary to persuasion and the freedom that must attend such in order for a true and lasting conversion to occur.
Also, the paradigm shift is a reality that Baptists have yet to face, and they must face it, if they are going to devise appropriate methods to meet and deal with such radical changes. This does not mean giving in and giving up; it does mean that it is going to require a good deal of thought and planning as well as understanding of the biblical evangelism methods, if we are to cope with new situations.
I applauded the direction you have presented in this article. We have much work to do as ambassadors for Christ.
Ephesians 6
To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
We no longer put on the Armor of God. We expect someone else to.
1 Peter 3
Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
We have lost the art of gentle persuasion in the church, because it is no longer being taught. Prayer is very good, but Christ also called us to action. Action with knowledge and the use of a Christ center mind. Use Christ as the model for action and you cannot go wrong. How did Christ talk to the Samaritan women at the well? How did he talk to Nicodemus? Two different methods same point.
As you point out we live in a “Secular Humanism” world. We must not forget that we also live where some folks are “Pluralistic” and some are “Moral Relativist” where “Postmodernism” flourishes and die hard “Atheist” rule . Not one size and style of persuasion is going to work on all these types. But we do have a common set of tools we can use. God, Knowledge, Wisdom, and Christian Persuasion.
We need to recover the “Art of Christian Persuasion” always being gentle and respectful, always being prepared to make a defense for the gospel that saves.
I know I fall short of this many times a day. That is still not an excuse not to argue and defend God well throughout the day everyday, everywhere. Being gentle and respectful. This is not an excuse for my poor presentations most of the time. I can learn from scripture from the best. I can read current authors as you suggest. And let me point out one I think you would more than just like, it is OS Guinness and his book Fool’s Talk. The one thing that is hard to find is other Christians that take the ambassadorship that we have been given by Christ seriously. Out of the 72 he sent out only maybe around 11 were left and the rest walked away when it got tough to hear.
I’ll pray like you have suggested. I’ll read some more so that I continue to be prepared. Most of all, I’ll go out as Christ has suggested and with Gods help and with the Spirit, I’ll stick around and proclaim the Word with gentleness, respect, and humbleness.
I would suggest that as “recover the ‘Art of Christian Persuasion'” that we also recover the “art of love”. By meeting someone where they are instead of where we would like for them to be, we meet them on their territory instead of ours.
In one of the church plants in which I participated a lady and her family visited us one Sunday. She introduced herself as a “lapsed Unitarian” and informed me that they would not be back the following Sunday because they were visiting around. The next Sunday when she walked through the door I told her that I was surprised to see her. She indicated that her children would not let them go anywhere else. They had to come to our church. We met her where she was and began to love on her (we put her in charge of cleaning up after our monthly church meals – what says love more than putting someone to work). A few months later she wanted to talk with me about spiritual things. A while after that she came forward accepting Jesus as her Savior and was baptized.
She was a highly intelligent graduate of an Ivy League school who had bought into all of those “isms” and “istics” you mentioned. What she had not found was Jesus. Now she did, when she found His love, not persuasion.
Thomas,
I fully agree with you that the “Christian Art of Love” must be part of any effort.
John, I appreciate you bringing up the 72. My take on this group is that they were instructed to do what Henry Blackabey in Experiencing God suggested – Find where God is at work and join Him. Jesus instructed them to go and see where God was at work. If they did not find Him in one place they were to go on to the next. Unfortunately, all too often we are not willing to wait for the Spirit to find out where God is at work, where He has already prepared the fields for harvest.
By the way, I am not sure that the 72 “walked away”. My reading of the Scriptures would indicate that when they went to select the replacement for Judas that there were several from whom to choose who “had been with us from the start”. Again it would seem that in addition to those who had been with us from the start there were others who had joined along the way.
The 72 is an interesting subject just as you pointed out, the context is not easy to discern fully. That is what I love about the bible it makes me use all the faculties God has given me to draw certain conclusions. Yet I cannot be dogmatic on some of my readings of certain text.
I have watched many wait for the Spirit as Henry Blackaby writes about. I have seen others “Just Do Something” as Kevin Deyoung suggest. Both are biblical. Both can and have been taken to a stage of an out of biblical context.
We should always be engaged while waiting on the Spirit. We should always be listening to the Spirit while doing something.
Thanks for the exchange Thomas.
Constantly sharing our life in Christ with others as we open ourselves up to the Spirits direction through prayer seeing which doors He has opened for us to begin the process of developing disciples.
I think we are on the same page. First, pray. Second, make new acquaintances. Third, talk with them about our own faith journey. Fourth, see where the Spirit is already at work as they respond. Fifth, if they are not interested, move on, holding out hope that someday the Spirit will move in their lives as well. Sixth, when we find that person who is receptive begin developing them as disciples, encouraging them to begin this same process with others in their circle of influence. Seventh, mentor these new disciples as they, too, seek those doors the Spirit has opened and deal with those that are closed. Eight, repeat.
I don’t have an 8 stage program, although we are on the same page. We need to engage. We are both working for God through God. I look forward to meeting you someday, here on earth, or there in His kingdom.
May the workers increase.
My experience is that most people have a two step process if they have a process at all – invite someone to church and hope for the best.
John K. where do you live, I live in Oklahoma. Maybe be can get together some day on this side of the great divide.
Blessings, Tom
Thomas,
I live in North Dakota in the beautiful city of Minot, where silos are all around but don’t store grain. Where people are friendly, except when they drive around in their up armored vehicles.
I have been using Stand to Reason material and have just started using methods similar, from OS Guinness in reading his book Fools Talk for my basis in learning and implementing the use of apologetics. Yesterday it was announced at church that they will start a study using C.S. Lewis for apologetic class. Myself I am not familiar with his methods so I look forward to see what I can glean from this. It is great to see that churches are starting to see a resurgence for apologetic’s as a tool that can be used for His kingdom. It seems to me to be a lost art in today’s society of easy self and selfies.
I am one that has been trained in a business environment of listening to others and addressing their concerns in a logical way. So the type of apologetics I have been most comfortable with follows my background. My goal is to try to place a stone in a non believers shoe and give others the opportunity to close the deal with God’s timing.
I never know were I’ll be in a couple months, so God willing who knows I may be in Oklahoma or passing through. I would be honored to meet with you if I do.
Back to you! Yeah, like I said, he is a discredited guy who does not hold to sound theology. There is a reason he is not with IMB anymore and it is not good. Did you like the part of the book where he quotes verbatim his conversation with our mighty God about whether God liked the Navy Seal movie he just watched and why? Yes, that is in the book. Quite interesting and also a lie. Did you read that part? Move on to the works of faithful men who day in and day out plant real churches(not small group Bible studies brimming with heresy). He thinks alot of himself and his methods. There you go junior!
Hey, Alasdair,
I’ve not been around today, but you have a lot to learn about respect.
I don’t know the person of whom you speak, and I may fully agree with you about his theology. But if his theology is as bad as you say, your attitude and communication is no more Christian than his theology.
The kind of insulting and demeaning communication you have exhibited here is an embarrassment to the cause of Christ – as much as bad theology is.
You’ve been pretty consistent with that in your comments here. You are going on moderation. I would suggest you read the Bible whose theology you claim to defend and learn to communicate with others in a way that does not embarrass the Savior.
Alasdair is what we used to call an anonymouse. He hides behind anonymity and in his arrogance he lashes out without even a hint of Christian character. Not interested in that kind of thing here, sir.
One of the things that I have been most impressed with the Discover Bible Study material which David Watson and Claude King (through Final Call) use is how it holds to the Bible. In fact, while other methods ask you to memorize particular Bible stories, this method asked you to read the Word. My favorite question which David has put in the Bible study group time is, “Now where is that in the passage we are looking at?”. He suggest using that question whenever someone comes into the group and begins talking about something they have read or believe.