EMQ » April–June 2020 » Volume 56 Issue 2
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Excellent article, Dave! We’re going to have to change your name to Baranabas (cf. Acts 11:19-24).
Excellent discussion. Thanks for sharing this. I was relieved when Dave Coles sates that “rapid” growth should not be the goal. though the oft heard saying “start slow to go fast” seems to imply tat it might be an expectation for many. My opinion is that there should be a more balanced emphasis on numerical growth and maturational growth. Orlando Costas has offered the classic reply to the emphasis on rapid numerical growth in Costas 1979. The integrity of mission. The inner life and outreach of the church. New York, NY: Harper and Row.
Eugene Nida, McGavran and even David Watson have spoken of the societal structures (collectivistic) that lead to people movements. Have those external factors been considered in the expectations of rapid growth (100 churches, 4 generations in 20 years)? In individualistic societies, although we use CPM approaches, I believe we should adjust our expectations focus on generational multiplication rather than numbers, scope and speed. We love to give Ephesus and Thessalonica as examples, but look at Athens. It was slow growth at first, but history record an influential church in the 2nd Century.