Protecting christendom

As a missionary to China, Roland Allen asked the question, "Why do we choose to use methods that produce mediocre results rather than following the biblical example of the missionary methods of Paul which produced abundant fruit.  I believe he asked this question in both amazement and without comprehending the rationale behind using methods which were ineffective or marginal.  Why should we not just follow Paul's plain example.

At that time, church and missionary leaders strongly opposed Roland Allen to protect their works which did not produce spontaneous nor rapid growth.  Allen was criticized and isolated for believing that nothing more complicated than the organism of the local church was needed to evangelize the world.  Allen was not stressing methods rather he was encouraging following the ways of the Holy Spirit - found in the Scriptures.  It was Allen's profound trust in the purposeful work of the Holy Spirit which was the foundation of his writings.  (Spontaneous Expansion of the Church and Missionary Methods:  St. Paul's or Ours).

To my own amazement, I find the same scenario alive and flourishing today.  In spite of significant church decline or at best in much of the Western world plateaued stagnation, leaders are still fighting to protect their methods in spite of very thin biblical support and questionable results.  The hallmarks of Christendom are justified and protected at the cost of no growth or decline.  Large expensive buildings (to house us) are considered absolutely essential.  An elevated professional clergy class (pastors to serve us) trained in academic settings are a must if we expect to avoid heresy.  Control of baptism and the Lord's Supper (to protect us) is also essential.  It really is all about us as we participate in attractional style ministry (come to us) or as Eugene Peterson has said the congregations have been turned into "consumer enterprises".  (The fact that we spend 96% on our own buildings, staff and needs adequately supports this claim.)  At the same time we barely notice the oppressed, the martyred, the marginalized, and those treated with injustice - unlike Jesus Christ.

Key biblical teachings and practices such as the actual headship of Christ, the actual priesthood of all believers, non-hierarchical leadership, incarnational ministry, participatory meetings, itinerant apostolic church planters, and non-dependence on dedicated buildings or outside finances are given mere lip service or just simply ignored as right for the New Testament or China, but simply unrealistic for us.  We would rather follow our inherited methods than radically change to follow the spirit inspired New Testament examples.

As one reads the New Testament, it is hard to find the elimination of apostolic leaders and itinerant apostolic church planters, it is hard to find Christians meeting in large dedicated buildings, it is hard to find pastoral domination (solo pastor) of church leadership, it's hard to find the creation of financial dependence from outside sources, it is hard to find spectator/performance type gatherings void of mutual (face-to-face) edification, it's hard to find positional, hierarchical leadership who control those churches, and it's hard to find academic institutions separated from local churches.  Yet in spite of scant biblical support, this is exactly how we operate our churches and missions in a manner dissimilar to the New Testament.

Yet this New Testament church vibrantly grew to 10% of the Roman Empire until Constantine began the strangulation of the church with the debilitating elements of Christendom.

Honestly, I am amazed at the sheer hypocrisy of our behaviors and our blindness to examples of the New Testament and many other places in the world where Christianity has or is flourishing.  Lesslie Newbigin called this "domestication of the church".

I am an encourager of simple reproducing churches as the best expression of the reproducing church.  Recently, I was encouraged to discover that globally there are 450 million Christians (nearly 50%) who are part of simple, organic structures.  In addition, there is an underlying current of understanding which knows there is something wrong or misguided about the way we do or are church.  This is especially true in cultures which are seeing the church lose impact on the culture.

As part of this encouragement, I am focusing on five elements:

• Authentic disciple making which results in transformation, reproduction and action in ministry and mission. (See Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman.)
• Simple reproducible gatherings, which fulfill the scriptural purpose of mutual edification via mutual participation and the free use of spiritual gifts. (See Organic Church by Neil Cole.)
• The practice of living and meeting under the headship of Christ. This requires us to be listeners and in tune with the movement of the Holy Spirit. (See Rethinking the Wineskin by Frank Viola.)
• The practice of the priesthood of all believers - not as a pleasant doctrine, but as a measureable reality of church/body life. (IBID)
• Functional, non-hierarchical leadership serving organic structures. (See Who Is Your Covering? By Frank Viola.)

The term Christendom defines the form and expression of the church and mission since the 4^th century.  Christendom is hallmarked by churches which are attractional (come to us) in engagement, focused on buildings and professional clergy, and institutional in their organization, operation, and growth.  The sacraments are also institutionalized in their administration.

Rich Correll

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