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MentorNet
# 20 Copyright © 2004 by
George Patterson and Galen Currah Our mentoring and training expose us to
many ideas and practices that have proved helpful to someone, somewhere at
some point in history. Some of these have become widely accepted with time. However, they
may not be universally applicable, and must be tested with Scripture and
compared with observations from diverse fields. Myth #1: “To start a new church or cell the church planters must leave
an existing church body.” Fact: In most church planting projects around
the world, few workers permanently leave their ‘home’ church or cell. · In the case of
Peter and his church planting team in Acts 10, and Paul and Barnabas in Acts
chapters 13 and 14, the workers did not change their membership to the new
churches; they never broke their relationship with the mother churches. · George
Patterson affirms, “I cannot recall any church plant in Myth #2: “To start a new church or cell you have to ‘hive off’ a
substantial number of members (‘critical mass’) from a mother church to form
the core of the new body.” Fact: In the church or cell reproduction that
we have observed, except in urban · In urban · It works only
if a mother church is large enough to send a large number of its members to
the new church. It does not work for most of the smaller, poorer and newer
churches. · It works only if
the leadership is willing, which in most churches is not the case. · It works only
if transportation is convenient for a large number of people to travel to the
location of the new church without changing their residence. · It can take
place with little or no evangelism. The new churches sometimes fail to do it. · It seldom
sustains the reproduction for a wide-spread movement for Christ, and, so, is
seldom seen in pioneer church planting movements. Myth #3: “The job of an evangelist is not done until the new
believer is established in an existing church or cell group.” Fact: The problem is with the word
‘existing.’ In rapid, healthy church or cell reproduction, workers bring new
families into an existing group only as a last resort. Their first goal is normally
to build a new cell (or church in a pioneer field) around the newly-believing
family. · Each new
believer, especially if head of a household, opens a potential, new vein of
gold. · This vein is
the existing social network of the new believer or family. · Most Western
church planters’ first impulse is to extract a new believer from his social
network and help him make new friends in an existing church body. · In the church
planting movements that we observe the evangelists do their best to keep
converts in a loving relationship with the people in their current networks,
and let the gospel flow along the lines of their natural relationships. · The gospel
normally flows readily along the same route as gossip, from friend to friend
and relative to relative. Myth #4: Where churches and cells multiply rapidly, it is always
necessary for new believers to find and make new friends soon within
the congregation. Fact: The problem is with the word ‘new.’ In
the church and cell reproduction that we have observed, new believers have
old friends who come into the new church or cell with them. · People
certainly need to have close friends in a congregation or most will leave
after attending a few times. These friends, however, do not need to be new. · If the other facts
listed above are acted upon, we can build new congregations around new
believers from the same vein of gold. Most of their friends in a new church
or cell will be old friends. Myth #5: “It takes lots of money to start Christian churches. Fact: Although it may take money to send and
support non-tent-making missionaries, churches that require no building or
paid clergy will be self-supporting from the start. · What costs a lot of money are
non-biblical, Western traditions and practices. Where workers and churches
can avoid or shake themselves loose from those traditions, they normally need
no more resources than what are locally available. · Western churches and missions too
quickly adopt methods and requirements on mission fields that create
financial dependency. This often attracts unscrupulous, power-hungry schemers
who ascend to the head of new churches and organizations. Myth #6: “You need a free, democratic society with freedom of religion,
to start Christian churches. Fact: Throughout history and round the world
today, except in traditionally-Christian areas, most churches start under
hostile conditions. · Jesus and his apostles set the example
by their radical faith and willingness to suffer persecution to advance the
gospel and start churches in new culture groups. · People around the globe suffer all kinds
of abuse at the hands of their governments and of local rebel movements. To
suffer for righteousness brings more of the same abuse, but also an eternal
reward. Myth #7: “You need highly educated and trained church planters to start
quality churches that will be doctrinally sound and long-lasting. Fact: Experience and scientific studies alike
have shown that, for church planters who are educated far beyond the people
they work with, the higher educational level more often than not hinders
church growth and reproduction! · Even more important is that church
planters be culturally similar to new believers and enjoy freedom to start
churches, unfettered by church traditions that allow only the clergy to
perform the activities that Jesus commanded all his followers to do. · What is consistently helpful is that
existing church planters and leaders empower and coach novice church planters
and shepherds who start and lead new churches, and who start training other
even newer leaders, in turn. Myth #8: “The impulse weakens as it passes from a mother church to
daughters, granddaughters, etc.… Fact: Every strong, healthy church alive
today is a far descendent of the first church at · The presence of Christ and the gifts of
the Holy Spirit are communicated by God into every new church, giving it the
vitality and life it needs to remain vibrant. · Some of the main things that weaken the
impulse include liberal theology, legalism, dependence on outside resources,
and growing too big before reproducing. · We see reproduction in 2 Timothy 2:2.
Paul from Myth #9: “You need a strong doctrinal base before a church can be
strong enough to reproduce. Fact: You need a church that lovingly obeys Jesus
by making new disciples, to reproduce. · Reproduction that happens around
newly-evangelized families can see churches planted almost as rapidly as
evangelism moves from one family, clan, or friendship circle to another.
Detailed doctrinal instruction normally comes later. · Westerners often mean by a “strong doctrinal base”
a mental assent to their organization’s dogmas that neither inspire faith nor
require loving action. Such ‘doctrinally-strong’ churches seldom reproduce! · New churches need to grow in their
understanding of biblical truth, especially the basic truths taught by
Jesus. Let them focus on His claims, promises and commandments, supplemented
by Bible teaching that emphasizes the main idea of a text along with its immediate
application to daily life. Myth #10: You need a strong ‘home base’ first, that is, strong churches,
before you can start new churches, extend into new social groups or penetrate
new geographical regions. Fact: The longer a congregation waits, the
harder it will be to reproduce. · When
reproduction is part of a new churches’ DNA, then its daughter and
grand-daughter churches will also set reproduction without delay as a
priority. Myth #11: You need a permanent church planting team with good relationships
among its members, in order to reproduce churches. Fact: There are no permanent apostolic teams
in the Bible, and most new churches are started without formal teams. · The best church planting ‘teams’ are
workers from a nearby church of the same culture. · . Christ’s apostolic band lasted three
years. Peter’s team that started the Cesarean church included believers from
Joppa who did not continue to accompany him. Paul’s team continually changed. · Good church planting teams focus on
every church planting project as the primary purpose, not on building up the
teams. Myth #12: There are already too many churches. Fact: About a third of the world’s population
has no church for people of their language and culture, and there is no
major society that does not need more churches, or churches that are more
relevant to today’s generation. · To discern
if more churches are needed, don’t count the existing churches. Count the
souls who still need to have Jesus presented to them in a meaningful way. · Although there
are churches within most cities where this third of the world’s people live,
most of these churches cater only to the expatriate community, often in a
foreign language, and cannot reproduce indigenously among the common people. · This huge segment
of mankind has little hope of knowing Christ until churches reproduce not
only within their country but also within their language and culture group. Myth #13: Church multiplication is a fad and a fetish of
missionary agencies. Fact: Continually starting new churches is
the most effective way to evangelize a society and to make disciples of its
population. · Wherever the apostles of Jesus went,
churches multiplied. The same has happened throughout history when workers
have made disciples the way Jesus says. · Most missionary agencies serve already
“reached” populations and have use church planting practices that fail to
allow churches to reproduce rapidly, in the truly apostolic way. Myth #14: If we start too many churches, then many of them will only die
prematurely. Fact: Wherever we start many new churches
rapidly, the rate of survival is far higher than where missionaries have, out
of caution, kept the pace moving slowly. · Most churches, even non-reproductive ones,
will probably die when they become sterile, failing to reproduce and to
practice the ministries that the New Testament requires. · What a sad tragedy when a church dies
before it has reproduced! · In rapid church planting movements, most
churches thrive and start new, healthy churches, in turn. It is part of their
God-given, spiritual ‘DNA.’ To find mentoring tools and sites, visit <http://www.MentorAndMultiply.com>. |