Church Growth Strategies Plus . . .

by James F. Engel

Research in communications strategy has been a valuable asset to missionaries. This article is the fruit not only of theory but of application to the basics of missionary work. The author also grapples with the relationship of church growth theory to the principles of the spiritual decision-making process.

Research in communications strategy has been a valuable asset to missionaries. This article is the fruit not only of theory but of application to the basics of missionary work. The author also grapples with the relationship of church growth theory to the principles of the spiritual decision-making process.

In this post-Lausanne era missionaries are focusing anew on the requirements of reaching the 2.7 billion who have not yet "Heard His Voice." One basic question now centers on the types of strategy that should be pursued. Two words frequently mentioned in this context are church growth. It cannot be denied that the principles of church growth theory have yielded tangible benefits.

But in spite of its contributions, the tasks of world evangelization demand more than utilization of the church growth model. In fact, its application in circumstances prevailing in many fields of the world can be counterproductive and even serve to sidetrack the church from other more essential aspects of its mission.

The purpose of this article is to take a fresh look at the requirements for world evangelization from the perspective of the spiritual decision-making process followed by individuals in conversion and spiritual growth. 1 It will become evident that the strategies advocated by church growth theory are applicable only to one, albeit highly crucial, stage of this total decision process and that more is required both to bring about an initial salvation decision and subsequent spiritual growth. The intent is not to detract from this theory but to place it in proper perspective.

UNDERSTANDING THE SPIRITUAL DECISION PROCESS
The Great Commission of the church gives centrality to the objective of "making disciples in all nations" through going, teaching, and baptizing. In this context, the word "disciple" is properly translated as "one who follows the precepts and instructions of another."

It appears, then, that the Great Commission contains three related but distinctly different communication mandates: (1) to proclaim the message; (2) to persuade the unbeliever; and (3) to cultivate the believer. Part of the problem faced in strategy comes from fuzzy thinking at precisely this point, because of a tendency to blur the essential distinctions between these communication functions.

The model reproduced here is significant, because it represents an attempt to place these communication ministries in the perspective of the spiritual decision process followed as one becomes a believer in Jesus Christ and grows in the faith. The model is similar in some ways to decision models used in other areas of human endeavor. But it represents an important step beyond mere secular models in that it depicts the interactive role of both God and the human communicator in this process.

Everyone falls somewhere on this continuum in terms of his or her relationship to Christ. Some may be at position-8 in that they have only a primitive grasp of the reality of God gathered through the witness of nature and conscience. Others understand more fully the fundamental truths of the gospel message (especially those concerning monotheism, the nature of man as a sinner, and the claims of Jesus) and fall somewhere in the interval between -7 and -3. Those at these earlier stages have not yet reached the point, however, where there is a strong felt need for change accompanied by the motivation necessary for serious consideration of a life commitment to Jesus Christ. This will occur only when there is a grasp of the implications of the gospel accompanied by personal problem recognition (stage -3). Problem recognition occurs when there is sufficient recognition of the gap between life as it now is and what it might be to motivate a serious consideration of a commitment to Christ.

Once -3 is reached the only real options are either to reject the gospel message or to repent and commit one’s life to Christ by faith, becoming a new creature. If the decision is rejection, the individual, in effect, regresses to stage -5, at which time the implications of the message once again must be stressed. If a valid commitment is made, on the other hand, the individual is born again, and the Christian growth process begins.

The first stage of growth (+1) is often one of post-decision evaluation accompanied by doubt and anxiety. Doubts can be reduced through follow-up which stresses the gospel truths again and secures an understanding of the meaning of faith. Simultaneously, the new believer must be assimilated into the fellowship of the Body of Christ, often through the formal act of baptism (+2). If this step is neglected, spiritual growth will be impaired.

After incorporation into the Body, growth and maturity then commence and continue throughout a lifetime. The model is open ended, because all Christians are in the process of being conformed to the image of Christ as growth occurs in at least three dimensions: (1) communion with God through prayer and worship; (2) stewardship of resources; and (3) reproduction-internally within the Body through use of gifts and externally to the world through evangelism, social action, etc. Some believers are at stage 4-3 just commencing their growth, whereas others are at more advanced stages. Obviously, the discipleship needs will differ depending upon relative spiritual maturity.

THE ROLES OF GOD AND THE COMMUNICATOR
The objective of any kind of Christian communication, evangelistic or otherwise, is to move people in their decision processes-toward Christ initially and then to greater maturity following the new birth. Both God and the communicator interact in this process.

When an individual is at -8, God uses the means of general or natural revelation to initiate awareness of the Supreme Being and his attributes. Following that initial awareness, it is the role of the Holy Spirit to bring about conviction, followed by regeneration and sanctification. This is all depicted on the left side of the model. Man, on the other hand, provides the essential communication through the ministries of proclamation, persuasion, follow up, and cultivation which is then used by the Holy Spirit. Because God has chosen to limit himself in this fashion, one truly cannot function without the other.

PROCLAMATION
When audience members fall between the stages of -7 and -3, the role for the communicator is to proclaim-to build awareness of the basic truths of the gospel (monotheism, the sin nature of man, and the uniqueness of Jesus). Without this basis of understanding, a valid and lasting spiritual decision cannot be made. Also, in this process, attitudes toward the gospel and its most visible manifestation, the church, will change positively, thus laying the cognitive foundation for the later decision.

PERSUASION
The call for decision, our usual definition of evangelism, is appropriate only when an individual or a group of individuals has reached stages -3 or -2. There now is an openness to the gospel because of felt need for change (designated as problem recognition) accompanied by sufficient understanding to permit an informed decision. Now it is appropriate to shift to a strategy of persuasion-a clear presentation of how a person commits his life to Christ accompanied by encouragement to take that step. Persuasion cannot legitimately be undertaken before the ministry of proclamation has performed its function.

FOLLOW-UP AND CULTIVATION
As was mentioned earlier, follow-up reviews the basics of the gospel message with the objective of removing doubt and, in effect, validating the decision. Cultivation begins once follow-up is completed, and the objective is to apply biblical truth to the problems that inevitably are encountered in the Christian life. Doctrinal awareness alone is insufficient unless this practical guidance also is present.

A BIBLICAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
It is frequently assumed that every communication to the non-Christian must emphasize the plan of salvation, but this can be a real error. What will these truths mean to the person who is at stage -7? At that point there is little biblical awareness or felt need for change. Thus, the message will have only minimal effect at best, and it is more likely that it will be actively ignored. The fault lies in a strategy undertaken without proper understanding of the spiritual status of the recipient.

A fundamental truth from both communication theory and decades of evangelistic experience is that people ignore messages that do not speak to their felt needs and levels of understanding. Therefore, the strategy followed by the Christian communicator must be based, at the very minimum, on solid information about the level of biblical awareness, life styles and felt needs, and attitudes of audience members. Without such information the message is not likely to stimulate movement from one stage in the decision process to the next-the goal of any type of Christian communication whether undertaken for the purposes of proclamation, persuasion, follow-up, or cultivation.

CHURCH GROWTH THEORY FROM PERSPECTIVE OF THE SPIRITUAL DECISION PROCESS
Given this background, under what circumstances are the principles of church growth theory applicable in the total spectrum of Christian communication strategy? Advocates of this theory concentrate on discovering "ripe fields" in which an aggressive strategy can be mounted to achieve measurable growth in numbers on church rolls. Thus, the emphasis of church growth theory is persuasion and follow-up. Ripe fields, in this context, refer to those geographic areas in which there are large numbers at stages -3 or -2. The goal is to persuade these people to become new believers, undertake follow-up when necessary, and bring them to that point at which they are formally united with the church (+2).

The discerning reader will quickly grasp that the church growth model is not applicable to every situation and that the total task of world evangelization is much broader. For example, the majority of the people throughout Asia fall somewhere around -8 or -7. Aggressive persuasion is clearly out of the question until sufficient proclamation has been undertaken, especially through the mass media, to build necessary awareness and interest. On the other hand, much of Catholic South America is presently characterized by sufficient numbers at stages -4 or -3 to warrant application of church growth principles, and this can be said of other parts of the world. Indeed, a failure to produce church growth in such ripe fields is nothing more than a sign of an inactive or even moribund church.

The church growth model cannot be applied indiscriminately, therefore, as some of the more recent published writings on this subject have made quite clear. But it is all too easy to get carried away in the enthusiasm for the new and dramatic and forget the potential pitfalls. Among the more serious dangers are: (1) Persuasion without church growth; (2) undue preoccupation with persuasion; (3) avoidance of geographic areas where persuasion does not appear to generate response; and (4) the offering of simplistic solutions to complex problems.

PERSUASION WITHOUT CHURCH GROWTH
The writer has personal familiarity with the pitfall of undertaking persuasion in an unripe field. This, of course, is a violation of a fundamental tenet of church growth theory, but its incidence is all too common both in North America and throughout the world.

An evangelistic training institute was held in a leading Asian country. There were hundreds of alleged decisions as pastors and laymen shared their faith door-to-door, and this fact was duly communicated to the faithful in America. But many of these same leaders were queried by the author a short time later, and the sobering report was that few of these "converts" ever found their place on church rolls. Yes, they "prayed" and made an apparent decision, but there was no lasting effect because the vast majority were at -8 or -7 in their decision processes. This, by the way, was the conclusion of the leaders of the national church in question. According to their analysis the prayer probably reflected the norms of politeness more than anything else, although it also could have denoted spiritual interest which was mistaken for a salvation decision. Whatever the reason, church growth did not result.

UNDUE PREOCCUPATION WITH PERSUASION
The reason that persuasion is so often undertaken without church growth as discussed above goes back to a fundamental misunderstanding of the true meaning of biblical evangelism. Many published texts and popular training institutes could easily lead to the conclusion that evangelism is nothing more than a strategy of persuasion, complete with packaged presentation of the plan of salvation. Proclamation is often ignored and even tagged with the label "pre-evangelism" which suggests a kind of secondary effort.

The net result of such simplistic thinking is a distinct focus on "getting the decision." The theory is that a person becomes born again once he or she prays a prayer, often based on quotation of Revelation 3:20. Small wonder then that the number who "prayed" is taken as the proof of evangelistic success. Church growth theory, of course, goes far beyond this and stresses that the proof of a valid decision is incorporation into the Body of Christ. Nevertheless, this is often completely overlooked in evangelistic strategy.

Before proceeding further, it should be recognized once again that the apostle Paul has made clear in Romans 10 the requirements for salvation-true repentance and faith. Does this say anything about inviting Jesus into the heart? The prayer of invitation is something which seems to help the North American make a valid decision, and we have made that cultural pattern normative for the world. The danger of such an ethnocentric notion should be clear from the Asian example mentioned above.

In reality, proclamation is the greatest need in many parts of the world today. The mass media are especially applicable for this purpose. Radio, tapes, film, television, and print all are being used today with new precision to build levels of biblical awareness, change attitudes, and speak in a direct manner to the felt needs of audiences. The exciting thing is that these uniquely communication results are measurable using modern survey technology. Once proclamation is united with persuasion through face-to-face witness, the impact on whole segments of society will be greatly multiplied.

One final comment must be made on this subject. This writer has increasingly encountered a widespread feeling on the mission field that those engaged in proclamation or cultivation are somehow working on "God’s second team." Church growth and agressive persuasion have, been so emphasized that these other ministries are, in effect, downgraded. A careful reading of some of the early church growth literature will disclose some statements that have led to this very effect. Let’s get it straight-the Great Commission is more than winning souls: it encompasses the seed-sowing through proclamation, persuasion, follow-up, and cultivation of the new believer. One does not automatically become a disciple upon the new birth, because discipleship also is a process that demands the best of teaching and training. Again, church growth theory as it is now advocated would be in full agreement with most of these points, but this is not always as evident at the field level.

AVOIDANCE OF GEOGRAPHIC AREAS
What might happen if the principles of church growth theory are applied without result? It would be easy to abandon a field by concluding that it was not ripe at that point in time. In reality, the fault quite likely lies in misapplied strategies. Does God close the door in some fields relative to others? Such a theology would be difficult to justify with the plethora of passages stressing God’s call to all people to come unto him. No, the real answer lies in a review of our strategy and in right thinking based on proper analysis of the circumstances to be faced.

SIMPLISTIC SOLUTIONS TO COMPLEX PROBLEMS
One could conclude today from some advocates of church growth theory that there will be a kind of panacea if church leaders can be gathered together, taught how to graph their growth rates, and encouraged to set optimistic growth goals. There always will be some positive outcome from this type of effort due to the mobilization of broad segments of the church behind a single task. But it seems naive to expect a great upsurge in church growth in those circumstances calling for proclamation rather than persuasive. As helpful as such training can be, it also can be counter-productive if applied in the wrong circumstances.

CONCLUSION
The discerning reader will, it is hoped, detect that this writer is a strong advocate of the tenets of church growth theory. But there is an important caveat on this endorsement. The starting point is empirical analysis of the "soil"; What are the levels of biblical awareness, attitude, current life styles, and felt need for change? If enough people have neared stage -3 in their decision process to warrant emphasis on persuasion, the contributions of church growth theory to strategy are noteworthy indeed. But church growth theory does not contain all of the answers required in the strategy to bring people from no awareness or interest to salvation and then to maturity in Christ. It is this broader set of questions that must be answered if world evangelization is to become a reality rather than a mere slogan.

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