Three Things that Hinder a Movement
I’ve been listening to a phenomenal set of interviews by Steve Addison that are part of his “Movements That Change the World” podcast. Steve is interviewing “Barney,” a missionary and church planter that has helped spark a movement in an undisclosed third world nation.
In his fourth interview, “Barney” is describing the wider context in which movements happen. Near the end of the interview, Barney talks about three different things that work their way in and distort the DNA of a church multiplication movement. Most of us would expect these things to be things like heresy or sin. What’s shocking about the things that he lists is they are things that well-intentioned people want to do for successful ministries. What does Barney say hinders movements?
- Buildings- According to Barney, church planting movements happen in all sorts of unconventional places: houses, restaurants, wherever people gather. When someone comes in and builds a building for the movement, the focus shifts from starting multiple churches in many people’s homes to getting as many people to come to the building as possible.
- External Funding- When money comes in from outside of the movement, it can cause the movement to embrace activities that in can’t sustain on its own financially. This can cause the church receiving funding to not be responsible for the resourcing of it’s own activities. Financial independence is crucial in the life of movements.
- Non-Practical Training- Probably the most seductive of the three, this typically happens when someone comes in and offers to build a bible college to train workers. The reality, though, is that this training takes people away from a more hands-on, obedience based training already happening within a movement.
Pretty interesting. Now, here’s the real question: these realities cause movements to slow in the third world. Is it possible that they hinder us as well? If so, why haven’t we noticed it before? Share your thoughts in the comment section!
Photo Credit: Social Media Patterns (Energy Minimized / No Overlap) by KentBye
Food For Thought: Summer’s Ending Edition
Every week here at Pursuing Glory I try to bring together the best posts I’ve found that will equip the end-times church to operate in her God-ordained destiny. These are the best blogs, articles, books and other resources related to our purpose here at this site. Feel free to visit, comment, and make use of the resources found at each site.
It’s painfully obvious that summer is almost over. Now we await the cold of Fall and Winter. The plus side is my office will become more usable and that may mean more time for blogging. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and let you know if that ever materializes.
Time for America to Turn Back to God
I was encouraged by this call to repentance from Bob Roberts Jr. It lacked the typical “time to take back America from the Godless” rhetoric, but still called America back to God in practical, essential ways.
God calls us to set up monuments to His work in our lives. In this post, Josh recounts the moments God has directed him in supernatural ways to work and live among the poor of the Earth.
One of the things that I’ve been hearing from the Lord is that our inability to work as a team is a hindrance to creating disciple making movements. Guy’s post is an excellent primer on what makes teams work.
It’s Not About Church Planting
I’m encouraged by the fact that more and more people are gaining this perspective. Church planting is fruitless unless it is the result of new converts coming to Jesus.
BONUS MEDIA LINK:
The Salvation Army – Lessons for Us
Lex Loizides, uber Christian historian from the New Frontiers tribe, made his conference session on the history of the Salvation Army available for download. The Salvation Army has an amazing history that should provoke us all to live a missional lifestyle and Lex’s retelling of their story is a great way to “touch the bones” of this movement.
Photo Credit: Design Probes – Food for Thought by centralasian.
Why Our Giving Doesn’t Result in Movements
[This is part of an ongoing discussion on Financing a Kingdom Revolution.]
Discouraged. That’s one of the words that consistently describes my attitude toward Kingdom finances. The reason? I frequently see much of the money given in the name of Jesus used in ways that Jesus didn’t use money. And at the same time I see a number of legitimate people attempting to follow Jesus but lacking crucial funding that could amplify their substantial work. Somewhere there’s a disconnect when there are starving children in Africa America down the street* and we’re concerned because the carpet on the floor of a church building is wearing out.
It’s a startling fact, but some statistics say 97% of money given in churches is spent on people who gave the money. This means that no matter how much we say we desire the lost to be saved, the hungry to be fed, and the nations to be reached with the Gospel, our money is not where our mouth is. Now I could spend a lot of time debating on the legitimacy of pastors’ salaries and church building budgets, but the truth is that buildings and salaries only consume about 60% percent of most churches’ budgets. My question is where does the other 37% go?
My point in bringing all of this up is this: our giving tends to go right back to ourselves. We give and feel good about being sacrificial, but in reality we are consuming so much of what we give that no radical change takes place. Those who are strategically placed to significantly impact the world and extend the Kingdom of God often struggle with financing very real needs in spite of our overwhelming “generosity.” This is why no matter how much money we give, we fail to see significant Jesus movements take shape.
This is nothing new. Whenever the church has found herself disconnected from her apostolic purpose, she has used her resources poorly, most often for herself. But God has a financial system that is designed to meet legitimate needs and fuel the Kingdom of God. Our part in the process is to stop using our resources poorly, get connected with the purposes of God, and begin to channel money towards people and ministries who are actively pursuing those things that are on God’s agenda.
What if we put our money into the hands of people where God is powerfully manifesting His Kingdom right now? What would happen if we actually supported men and women who were raising up multiplying disciple-making movements in the earth? What would happen if we actually fully funded apostolic teams planting churches and reaching unreached people groups? What if those who were frequently engaged in caring for the poor or healing the sick through the workings of miracles never had to spend time writing another support letter? Would that be better than the new carpet?
Photo Credit: Empty Pockets by Danielmoyle
*Editor’s Note: Africa (especially) and America in general both have significant needs. By striking them from the record my goal is to show that need is nearby, not that one form of need is greater than another.
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 