Better Than One

Cally Parkinson who is the brand manager for REVEAL at Willow Creek Association, utilizes research tools and discoveries to help churches better understand spiritual growth.  She wrote about 4 principles to help deepen spiritual growth in REV magazine.  She gives the secret for getting the people in your church to evangelize 60% more often than they do today, tithe 60% more, and to serve the under-resourced 20% more of the time.

 PRINCIPLE #1:  Get People Moving

“We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.” - Colossians 1:28

“We’re not here to make you a Baptist.  We’re here to make you a disciple of Christ.” – David Uth, senior pastor, First Baptist of Orlando, Florida

Growing churches make it clear to first-time visitors that they intend to grow everyone in their congregation into fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ.  These churches offer and heavily promote either membership or newcomer classes, many modeled after the Purpose Driven Life four-step process.  They position these classes as “not optional”  and the senior pastor is typically directly involved in teaching at least one of  the classes.  Some churches offer 8 or 4 week new member orientation.  Some churches teach during Sunday School to get members and guests coming before worship.  Other churches use 3 hour orientation on Saturday AM or Sunday afternoon.  I know of one church that used only one hour of Sunday School to help new members and guests to understand his church and even invited them to join the church during this class.  One Sunday during this class 28 people came and 17 joined the church.  Every church and congregation has to find what works for them.  Remember these classes are for new members and interested guests. What time works for them, not you?  The average retention rate of new members in American churches is 35%.  If a new member class is offered, it jumps to 72%.

PRICIPLE #2:  Embed the Scriptures in Everything

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. ” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

“Church leaders have got to bleed the Bible when they’re cut.” – Todd Wagner, senior pastor, Watermark church , Dallas, Texas.

The REVEAL research found that the most influential catalyst of spiritual growth is personal time spent in reflection on Scripture.  I heard David Waggoner last week when he taught his book “The Shape of Faith to Come” say the same high priority about reading the Bible.  Churches report Bible engagement levels that are 50% higher than database average, inspirited by church cultures that embed the Bible in everything – from weekend preaching to personal interactions around the church water cooler.  Whether their strategy is as simple as verse-by-verse Bible teaching or as complex as a customized Web-based devotional program, churches have to be single-minded in their determination to embed the Bible as the central influence in their church culture.  For Baptists, Sunday School/small groups are at the heart of helping people make the Bible the blueprint of their life.  Many tools can be used for creating a church culture that walks the talk of being centered on the word of God.

PRINCIPLE #3:  Create Ownership

“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelist, and some to be pastors and teachers…so that the body of Christ may be built up.” – Ephesians 4:11-12.

“Church isn’t something you go to…it’s who you are.” – David Bish, senior pastor, Tri-County Church, DuBois, Pennsylvania.

To own the vision of a church is to posses it on a personal level, to embrace it as a part of your identity.  This goes well beyond a sense of belonging, of “fitting in,” to a church community.  The ministry vision tends to be shouldered by a team of dedicated lay leaders who help the pastor unite the church body in a common purpose.  The congregation must believe the vision, understand it, and live it.  Evidence of ownership is the extraordinary about of time the congregation dedicates to the church, as well as the low number of stalled and dissatisfied people in the church.  Through these strategies of preaching, testimonies, training and corporate challenges, churches intentionally create the expectation that ownership of the church vision – and the mantle of church leadership – is shared across the church body.

PRINCIPLE #4:  Pastor the Local Community

“You are the light of the world…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14-16.

“Christianity is not a spectator sport.” – John Sullivan, senior pastor, Spirit of God Fellowship, South Holland, Illinois.

“Take the city for Jesus” is the cry of many churches.  Their people are in the thick of their communities – sitting on local boards, canvassing blighted neighborhoods to identify and serve needs, going into corners where you wouldn’t normally find the church.  Creativity abounds in their outreach efforts.  From busing hundreds of disadvantaged kids to Sunday services, to cooking hot dogs on city streets to break up drug deals, to refurbishing a bankrupt hospital in a needy neughborhood  – churches are the hands and feet of Christ in their communities.  Partner with other churches to do community ministries.  This is kingdom work not just my church looking good – It is Jesus looking good!  Build bridges to the people in your community.  They will not just walk into your church.  Find the book “The Church of Irresistible Influence” by Robert Lewis to ignite your community outreach.

The good news is that the key to all of these objectives is found in Luke 10:27, in which Jesus tells us: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart…and love your neighbor as yourself.”  If you challenge your people to grow spiritually – in other words, to grow in their love for God and for others-then behaviors like evangelizing, tithing and serving develop naturally as a result. 

In Divine Design – part 1, we looked at how God has designed us with different spiritual gifts, passions, abilities, personalities, and experiences.  When we understand our  S.H.A.P. E. (look at Erik Rees’s book “S.H.A.P.E.”) or we find our P.L.A.C.E. (www.placeministries.org) of service, we better fit into the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:14-27 is a great discourse and explanation of the body and its parts or members.

• All parts of the body are needed whether great or small.  One part cannot say to another, “You are not needed.”
• God has given greater honor to the parts that lacked, so that there should not be  division  in the body.
• Each part or member needs to have concern for each other.  Read the Mouse Story:

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to  see the farmer and his wife opening a package.  “What food might this contain?”  He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.  Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warming, “There is a mousetrap in the house!  There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clicked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave cncern to you, but it is of no consequence to me.  I cannot be bothered by it.”  The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “there is a mousetrap in the house!”  The pig sympathized but said, “I am so very sorry Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray.  Be assured that you are in my prayers.”  The mouse turned to the cow.  She said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse I’m sorry for you.  But it’s no skin off my nose.”

So the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.  That very night a sound was heard throughout the house like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.  The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught.  In the darkness she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.  The snake bit the farmer’s wife.  The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.  But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock.  To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.  the farmer’s wife did not get well.  She died, and so many people came for her funeral the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

So the next time you hear that someone is facing a a problem and think that it doesn’t concern you, remember that when one of is threatened, we all are at risk.  We are all involved in this journey called life.  We must keep an eye out for one another and be willing to make that extra effort to encourage one another. -copied - 1 Cor. 12:25-26

God has the last word about spiritual gifts and our shape or place in the love chapter of   1 Cor. 13:1-14.  Love covers all concepts of our divine design.  It blankets all members of the body.  Without love, our design, serving, and giving, is worthless.

Divine design is given to us for meaningful service and the common good.

The church is the bride of Christ and we are members who have been divinely designed to Glorify God and Build Up the Body.

“Divine Design” is a HGTV show that features Candice Olson taking a room in a home and transforming it into a divine design.

In reality, God takes us in our sinful mess and transforms us into a “Divine Design”.  As we become a follower of Jesus Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit who blesses us with spiritual gifts.  Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, said, “Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.” (1 Cor. 12:1).  Paul recognized that Christians should know and use their spiritual gifts.  This whole chapter (1 Cor. 12) deals with gifts of the Spirit.  It is exciting to understand that as a Christian, you are designed by God through the Holy Spirit.

We have this divine design for two main reasons:  1) Glorify God and 2) Edify Others.  Our divine design does not make us look good, better, or great.  Spiritual Gifts enables each one of us to give glory to God in what we do and say.  It also helps grow the body into fullness, unity, and diversity.

God has carefully selected each believer’s spiritual gift and place of service within the body.  Our servant profiles are not of our choosing, they are by God’s design.  There are several ways to look at a complete profile design of God’s work.  People in our congregations want to find their SHAPE so they can serve in the right PLACE in our church or body.  Erik Rees wrote a book called S.H.A.P.E. that helps people understand their design and purpose.

S piritual Gifts

H eart/passion

A bilities

P ersonality

E xperiences

We want people to volunteer and serve in our Sunday school, discipleship, missions, music, deacons, preschool, children, youth, adults and other areas.  But do we help our congregation to understand their divine design and S.H.A.P.E. so they can be excited about their P.L.A.C.E. of service?

We will continue to look at how people can be encouraged to serve in our churches in Divine Design – part 2