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Engel’s Strategy Classic: A Lifestyle of Obedience
By chris | February 14, 2008
From the 1975 classic “WHAT’S GONE WRONG WITH THE HARVEST” by James Engel
A Lifestyle of Obedience
The biblical Church has no benches on the sidelines of its playing field. The believer does not really have the option of moving to the sidelines in disobedience. John says, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3). Although everyone fails, God demands a heart attitude of willingness to please Him through thoughts and actions. Anything less than this is churchianity, not Christianity.
Reproduction
Finally, the Church will be characterized by reproduction. Individual members, of course, will reproduce their lives in others along the lines discussed in previous chapters. But there is another significant dimension of reproduction — the establishment of new congregations through proclamation and persuasion. As Snyder points out, normal growth comes by the division of cells, not by the unlimited expansion of existing cells. 5 Body life becomes impossible in a congregation with thousands of members, so the objective should be to create new smaller cells as part of the overall larger organism. It is a demonstrated principle of church growth that Christianity gains in a society only to the extent that the number of existing churches is multiplied.6 Multiplication of new congregations of believers, then, is the normal and expected Output of a healthy body. God’s plan for a cell in His body does not call for establishment of a S.M.O.T.S. group (a Secret Meeting of the Saints).
The Dead End of Renewal
A church that fulfilled these biblical characteristics would not fit into the woodwork of society. There would be, as Tozer puts it, “that heavenly quality which marks the Church as a divine thing.”7 The Church, more than anything else, should be a model to the world of what heaven, the real kingdom of God, is all about. It should stand far above the world and show the awe-inspiring mystery that only the presence of God can give. Many of our churches today are only smoking hulks of what they once were. Trying to renew an organization with largely man-made tools is no more possible than sewing a cloth back together without blemish after it has been torn.
The answer cannot be found in renewal as such, because as Larson asserts, “Renewal implies going back to an earlier and a better day.” 8 Instead, we should look forward to what is yet to be discovered — the renaissance. The key is to strip down to the biblical essentials and center on the task yet to be done. We’ve only just begun!
THE RENAISSANCE
Now let’s speculate a bit about what could happen at First Church. The congregational analysis was the initial step for First Church on its way to renaissance. Change should never even be contemplated without a thorough assessment of the current situation and determination of the reasons for the problems that exist.
The church is now at a critical juncture. Either it takes these data seriously and seeks the mind of the Lord in discovering the changes He wants, or it perpetuates the effectiveness crisis by taking no action whatever. It is said that the seven last words of the church are “But we’ve always done it this way!” Acceptance of this latter path, of course, is much easier, but, by that choice the church loses its right to use the name “church.” It becomes just an organization, an empty shell.
Tom Bartlett and his deacons are, first and foremost, men of God. They are shaken, of course, by what they found out, but their desire is to restore the church to its rightful function. Therefore, they have covenanted together to follow the Head, Jesus Christ, as He leads His Body into renaissance.
Development of an Adaptive Strategy
The great temptation now will be to borrow someone else’s program. “Pastor, we need to have a Lay Institute of Evangelism.” Or, “Let’s start the Kennedy Plan now.” “I’ve read about Body Life, and that’s the answer.” And on we go! Each of these programs has served its purpose well, but there is no guarantee that any will represent God’s plan for First Church. First Church must develop its own strategy, borrowing from others only if their ideas will meet clearly demonstrated needs.
As a case in point, the Church of the Savior in Washington D.C. began one of the first coffeehouse ministries many years ago.9 Experience has shown that it was a clear success and that the members of this church had embarked on a Spirit-led strategy. Soon, as is well known, coffeehouses sprang up everywhere as churches and Christian groups of all types hurried to jump on the bandwagon. What has been the result? All too often we have observed downright disillusionment. And this is to be expected, because it is quite likely that man borrowed and implemented a strategy that was not God’s strategy for his unique situation. We shudder to think how many of our programs fall into this category.
First Church wisely resisted the tendency to borrow. Furthermore, a temporary holding pattern was declared for all programs of the church. The leadership declared that everything must be reviewed from the perspective of restoring the missing cutting blades.
Goals. The next step was to assemble a group of concerned laymen, including most members of the Board of Deacons, to serve as a task force to review the congregational analysis and mount a new strategy. Much of the deliberation was done over a weekend.
The demonstrated needs, in order of priority, were found to be: (1) lack of witnessing, (2) lack of oneness within the Body, (3) absence of Bible reading and spiritual growth, (4) absence of devotional life within the family, and (5) lack of outreach to meet the social needs of the community. After hours of deliberation and earnest prayer, the following goals were set for the next year:
1. Witnessing
To have 80 percent respond “yes” to the statement “I feel able to talk confidently with a non-Christian about faith in Jesus Christ.”To begin at least one form of outreach (Bible study or whatever) in every neighborhood (defined as an area of two square blocks) within the boundaries of the area served by the church.
To reach 150 decisions for Jesus Christ through the witness of the members and to have 100 of these new Christians unite in membership with the church.
2. Oneness within the Body
To have 80 percent respond “yes” to the statement “There is a positive spirit of oneness in our congregation.”To stimulate understanding of spiritual gifts so that 60 percent could respond “yes” to the statement “I am meaningfully involved in the life of our church through use of my spiritual gifts.”
To have 75 percent respond “yes” to the statement “I have close friends in this church with whom I share personal feelings and concerns.”
3. Devotional life in the family
To motivate 75 percent to respond “yes” to the statement “Praying together as a family is part of our home life.”4. Bible reading
To motivate 90 percent to respond “yes” to the statement “I take time for personal Bible reading at least three times a week.”5. Meeting social needs
To motivate 60 percent to respond “yes” to the statement “I am actively involved in meeting the social-concern needs of my neighborhood and community (lack of food or clothing, drug addiction, etc.).
Obviously some of these goals may be overly ambitious and not attainable within the time period of one year. Yet, it is probably best to err in this direction, because the church certainly has not been characterized by great vision in recent years. If our best efforts have been put forth, it is no calamity if the goal is not reached. At least we are aiming at something. The value of this goal statement is that it provides concrete guidance for strategy.
The Program. During their weekend meeting the analysis group set up a series of smaller task forces to determine the program in each of the five areas of priority. Once again, care was taken to involve laymen from all corners of the church. Their mandate was to meet, brainstorm, pray, and report back to the analysis group in one month with a recommended program. The larger body would then deliberate on the recommendations and forward them, with modification if necessary, to the Board of Deacons for their assessment and implementation.
Let’s take a look at what happened in the meetings of the “witnessing task force.” It was composed of eight members, ranging in age from fifteen to sixty-four, and it had equal numbers of men and women. All members functioned as equals, each contributing in accordance with his or her insight and gift. The first two meetings were largely freewheeling discussion. Sometimes the give and take became hilarious. After all, shouldn’t church business also be fun? But there were also some good times in prayer, because everyone realized that the task of the group was to find the mind of the Lord and to arrive at His program. A number of plans used by others were evaluated, and this was the final recommendation:
1. Hold another evangelistic training institute for all who now say that they do not feel able to talk confidently with a non-Christian about faith in Jesus Christ.
2. Start a series of weekly visitations, mostly with visitors to church or others who have demonstrated interest
(These should not be cold calls, given the skepticism in the community about Christianity). Callers will go two-by-two, with one member of each pair being experienced in personal evangelism.3. Evaluate the spiritual situation in each neighborhood and identify and train two couples in each to start a series of neighborhood friendship coffees and meetings. The goal is not to begin with a Bible study but to initiate such studies if there is interest shown. The purpose is to get to know people first and assess their spiritual status.
4. A Christian cell group will be started at the high school with members from First Church and elsewhere. Its purpose will be to build a concerned body who will then mount various forms of evangelistic outreach to their friends. In this year the only intent is to form the group and begin training them.
This plan was well received by the larger group when it was presented one month later. The Board of Deacons also responded positively and asked openly in the church who would like to be a part of the “witness module.” In other words, they asked God to raise up a group of persons who would implement the plan under their direction. Interest was shown by fourteen people who began meeting weekly to get things moving. And a surprising thing happened in this group: it soon became a functioning cell in the body of Christ. As members came to know each other, there was growing interest in bearing one another’s burden, and the spiritual vitality of all who were involved jumped remarkably.
Space limitations preclude detailed evaluation of the remainder of the program, but one of the most exciting outputs was formation of cell groups in the various geographical areas served by the church. Each had an “undershepherd” who assumed responsibility for the spiritual welfare of the others. Gradually many of these groups began to meet regularly, and body life, in the sense discussed earlier, slowly became a reality.
Restoration of the Laity. Do you notice what is happening here? The laity, the people of God, are beginning to function as a unit. Little has been said about Tom Bartlett and his staff. This is because Tom, in particular, assumed his rightful place among the laity. There is nothing in the Word of God that would elevate him to unusual status. This is not to say that his gift of being pastor-teacher was downgraded. Far from it!
Tom truly started to become the playing coach. He was involved with others in setting the goals and in their implementation. Often he played the key role in providing training, and his effectiveness as a Bible teacher grew.
Something also began to happen on Sunday morning. Tom is no longer so concerned about his sermon. Oftentimes worship services have an element of spontaneity as opportunity is given for praise and sharing of needs. On numerous occasions other laymen have been given opportunity to speak. Much to his surprise, Tom has discovered that he has not lost leadership in any way. Rather, he is now exercising the true intent of leadership — to develop other people.
God’s Organization. Three members of the Board of Deacons began to become very uncomfortable with their new role. Finally it became obvious that none of the three possessed the gifts required to give leadership in shepherding the flock. After much prayer, three others were nominated and elected in their place. No longer does this Board meet only once a month. Each deacon now is serving as an under-shepherd in the neighborhoods.
The old committee structure also has been replaced with a series of modules. The witnessing module is just one example. The members were helped to find their gifts and encouraged to unite with others with the same gift to spearhead appropriate ministry.
The Training Program. Christian education now has taken on a new dimension. Sunday school classes continue, but there now is a wide series of electives to appeal to varied interests and needs. Probably of greatest significance is the development of a plan for family education in which parents are trained in methods of the Christian nurture of their children. Also, new believers are immediately enrolled in a discipleship program that builds the doctrinal foundation, discovers gifts, and equips them to function effectively in the total life of the church.
Cooperation With the Mobilized Body. Finally, First Church has recognized that God’s ministry of reconciliation in Rolling-wood cannot be carried out by one church alone. Tom has sought interaction with his pastoral colleagues, and there is now a move afoot to mount a community outreach along the lines discussed in chapter 6.
First Church has not fallen victim to a form of separation that has no biblical foundation. Christians are admonished to be separate from the world in the sense that they are not to adopt its standards as theirs. But it is quite another thing for us to use this command in such a way that we separate ourselves from those who do not dot their theological “i’s” or cross their theological “t’s” in the same way we do. Some in the evangelical camp have become militantly separatistic, even to the point of continually attacking their brothers of different persuasions. Assuring that we all share the historic creeds of the Church, this type of separatism is not an expression of Christian love. As John points out, “Every one who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:15). It’s time we recognize militant separatism for what it is — sin!
The Results
First Church must now execute its new program for a year or so and then begin once again with another congregational and community analysis, asking the very same questions about community needs and the needs within the congregation. The effects will be quite obvious, and the basis thus is established for the plan of the following year.
The renaissance will not occur overnight. Rather, it is gradual and is manifested as individuals themselves become renewed. The steps taken by this church, however, are those that are needed to reverse the effectiveness crisis. The adaptive strategy following the leadership of the Holy Spirit is by no means easy. There are inevitable ups and downs, but there is that quality of joy that cannot come unless the Body of Christ functions as intended.
A Word for the Parachurch Organization
Much that has been said here applies equally to the strategy of a mission society, a broadcaster, a publisher, or any other kind of agency that works alongside the church. They too must follow a Spirit-led adaptive strategy based on more than experience and intuition. Furthermore, the burden is on them to demonstrate that functions are contributing to the total ministry of the church. We would echo Snyder’s warning that there is no divine permanence attached to the parachurch organization. 10 Undoubtedly, some of these agencies have outlived their usefulness. To each parachurch organization we would ask, “What evidence can you provide that those cutting blades are in place and working?”
Topics: Engel's Strategy Classic |