How Did They Do That??
I am on my second read through of Alan Hirsch's fantastic book on movements. Alan does a excellent job of capturing the essence of 'movement.' He gathers insights by looking at the expansion of the NT church and the church in China and asking "How did they do that?".
So - how did they do it? (go 25k to 20 million in 200 years). Before you venture your guess, here is the reality of both situations.
- Christianity was an illegal religion (at best tolerated, at worst persecuted)
- No buildings
- No Bibles (or very few)
- No professional pastors, teachers or paid staff
- No bands, seekers services, or youth groups (or flannel boards)
- No seminaries, commentaries, bookstores or publishing houses
- They made it hard to join!
- Few people could read (they could not have a 'quiet time' in the way we often teach)
- No one had a college education
- No mass communication (no email, phone, etc)
- No strategic planning processes, no PrEFACE model, no Growth Model or Leadership Model.
What gives? What is true of these situations that we are missing now? How did this initial movement move so fast, so furiously and so effectively?
2 comments:
I think you are right in pointing out that the New Testament church grew in ways that were amazing, but yet without many of the things that we consider essential. It makes us wonder, what is truly essential?
I think that it forces us to go back to the things that are essential: bold sharing, a committment to an unchanged gospel, and training others to do the same. The New Testament Church loved God with all their hearts and loved people around them. They did the basics well. I just finished reading Amazing Faith about Bill Bright. This is something that struck me about the Crusade movement, an unashamed committment to the "basics", the bedrock essential practices and beliefs of the faith.
I do have one question for you: why do you (or Alan) say that "they made it hard to join?" Where do you see that in Acts? It seems to me that one of Paul's major desires was that the Gospel not be made more "difficult" for someone to accept. He didn't want Judaism attached to it. He adapted the Gospel to be relevant in the places he was speaking. He became "all things to all people so that by all means I might win some."
Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that Paul went through difficulties to make it easy for others to join?
Good observation. This struck me as well when I first read it. It is easier to see this in China now - because of the security risks, believers want to be pretty sure about who gets 'inside' therefore they make sure people are truly committed. I will look this up and get back to you.
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