Marks of a Missionary Movement #3 - Contagious Relationships

While strategies and plans are helpful, nothing reaches movement status until it spreads through "preexisting networks of relationships." That is the third mark identified by Steve Addison in the book Movements that Change the World.

In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell pointed out that one of the three characteristics of epidemic change is "contagiousness". Gladwell discovered "the critical role that groups play in social epidemics…small, close-knit groups have the power to magnify the epidemic potential of a message or idea."

That was certainly the case in the early church. By 40 AD, disciples of Jesus likely numbered 1,000 to 3,000 followers. By 300 AD, historians estimate there were 6 million believers, nearly 10% of the Roman Empire. The spread of faith in Jesus was fast, spontaneous and with no central organizing organization! It spread through contagious relationships. We know that it is happening that way in China, India and other parts of Asia. I believe it is beginning to happen in North America again as well.

Several times in the last month as I stopped at various coffee shops in North Texas, I noticed small groups of mostly young people (most everyone is younger than me these days) huddling over their Bibles with cups of coffee, deep in conversation over what they were reading. I don't think this is an uncommon occurrence. In fact, even though denominations and local churches are declining in number, I am hopeful that there are signs that the Spirit is blowing a fresh wind of faith in our culture as young disciples of Jesus are sharing Good News, often in very public spaces.

A few final thoughts from Steve Addison. He states that one of the most important factors in one coming to faith is "a close and positive relationship with a committed participant." That happens in the context of relationships. Malcolm Gladwell talks about the rule of 150...the number of people most of us are able to maintain a relationship with. Each of those 150 have 150 more people. Imagine what would happen if you began praying for God to use you to influence "your 150". What would happen if you urgently asked the Holy Spirit to give you the opportunity to share Jesus with them? Would that work? Think about how it worked here:

John 1:41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah."

Marks of a Missionary Movement #2 - Committment to a Cause

I love this following quote from Steve Addison: "Effective movements know who they are. They know their founding charism and safeguard it over time. Their methods may change, but the cause never does."

The second mark of a missionary movement that Steve Addison identifies in his book Movements that Change the World is Commitment to a Cause. As we move toward Reformation Day, it is a good time to reflect on how this has impacted those of us who wear the name Lutheran.

As a Lutheran, I recognize our founding charism. Martin Luther became convinced that the church of his day had lost the central truths of Christianity, the most important of which, for Luther, was the doctrine of justification — God's act of declaring a sinner righteous — by faith alone through God's grace. Teaching that salvation is a gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus as Savior, Luther also rejected the teaching of his day that the righteous acts of believers are performed in cooperation with God. He wrote that Christians receive such righteousness entirely from outside themselves; that righteousness not only comes from Christ but actually is the righteousness of Christ, imputed to believers through faith.

Unwavering commitment to that cause led Luther and those who soon bore his name to take actions which led to their excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church and put their very lives at risk.

Unwavering commitment to that cause spread reform throughout Europe, connecting people to Jesus who before had only a vague hope that the church would save them.

Unwavering commitment carried on as Lutheran disciples brought that distinctive Gospel to the shores of North America as well.

Unwavering commitment today is resulting in a rapidly growing Lutheran missional movement in Africa, leading to its prominence as the continent which will shortly have the most Lutherans. The number of African Lutherans rose from just under 13 million in 2003 to 14 million 2004 and 15 million in 2006. Almost all of that growth is happening through indigenous pastors and lay evangelists.

Steve Addison says something else in his book Movements that Change the World that struck me as profound if a missional Lutheran movement is to occur in North America. He states: "Over time every movement wanders from its founding charism and can only be renewed by returning to it in a fresh way. That return must be both true to the movements unique calling and innovative in how that calling is lived out."

That is a challenge worth exploring!

Marks of a Missionary Movement - #1 White Hot Faith

How does a genuine movement of God's Mission begin?

"God takes the initiative and chooses unlikely people, far from the center of ecclesiastical power. He works to remake them from the inside out...a growing band of ordinary people emerges who have a heartfelt faith and missionary zeal that knows no bounds. Despite opposition from powerful forces with society and (sometimes) the existing church, the gospel spreads into unreached fields."

That's a quote from a very short but powerful book I have just finished reading and will read again titled Movements That Change the World by an Australian church planter, Steve Addison. You can find out more about Steve @ http://www.movements.net/ The New Testament is a missionary document. Acts 1:1 tells us "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach." The book of Acts is the continuing story of what Jesus began to do and to teach, not the ending, and that movement yet goes on.

There are no easy steps to create a missionary movement. Addison reminds us "We are utterly dependent on God for our salvation and for the results of our ministries. Nothing can explain the spread of the Christian movement throughout history other than the power of God that is present in the communication of the Gospel of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ."

Addison does point out however that there are 5 observable characteristics that mark a missional movement. The first of these is White Hot Faith. In the southern hemisphere, where the church is growing at an exponential rate, it can be said that "passionate faith is at the heart of the movement...it is the greatest resource...and often the only resource." There, "people are more likely to believe that what they read in the Gospels is happening in their midst. they believe that the world of the apostles is a present reality."

For me that last statement popped off the page, and it is how I want to approach "mission", believing that what I read in the Gospels is happening in our midst right now and that the apostle's world is a present reality for me and for us! That kind of "white hot faith" can be seen particularly in those who have immigrated and have been raised up to share Jesus with their own growing people group right here in Texas. For them, as Steve Addison says "White hot faith is the fuel that missionary movements run on. Nothing happens without a deep dependence on God. Nothing leads us into healthy dependence on the power of God more than to come to face with our desperate need of Him."

I'll be sharing the other 4 marks in the weeks ahead.

Sharing the Gospel with Fear and Trembling

If you come to the door of our house you are likely to be greeted by our beautiful 10 year old English Springer Spaniel, Dixie. She is a happy dog who not only wags her tail when she welcomes us home, she wags the entire back half of her body with delight.

If I take her to the door of our veterinarian, however, Dixie begins to quake with fear and trembling. Her pulse rate increases and her whole body vibrates as I lift her up onto the examination table.

"Fear and trembling" are the words St. Paul used to describe his experience of sharing the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 2. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:3-5 "I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. {4} My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, {5} so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."

I think Paul probably did use wise and persuasive words and was a skillful communicator. He knew, however, that if the Gospel's effectiveness were dependent on his charisma or skill as a speaker, he would have failed. Paul understood that the effectiveness of a shared Gospel message was dependent on "the Spirit's power." By comparison to that power, Paul is saying that when he came to share Jesus with the Christians at Corinth, he really did experience fear and trembling! He knew that he was totally inadequate to the task.

Paul goes on to say in verses 6-7 "We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. {7} No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began." Paul believed that he was sharing wisdom that would lead to salvation and glory for those who believed.

Paul's words are a comfort to me because when it comes to sharing the Gospel, I am surely no St. Paul, and for that matter, neither are you! Like Paul, I too experience fear and trembling each time I share the Gospel. The good news for you and I is that the effectiveness of our witness is not dependent on us having "wise and persuasive words" but rather in our own dependence on a "demonstration of the Spirit's power" as we faithfully seek out opportunities to share Jesus with friends, family, colleagues and neighbors.

Despite Paul's trembling, he continued to faithfully go from city to city, sharing the Gospel, planting churches and raising up missional leaders. He did not let his fears stop him from giving testimony of salvation in Jesus to whoever would listen. He could do that precisely because he knew that it wasn't dependent on his skill or cleverness.

So – have you felt yourself shaking and trembling lately? Maybe that's a good thing. The next time you feel yourself quaking in your boots when given an opportunity to share Jesus, just remind yourself – I'm just like St. Paul!

How Does Your Yoke Fit?

My nephew got married to a really neat Christian girl last Saturday in Waco, TX. One of my small tasks before the wedding was to pick up his sister's bridesmaid dress from a tailor shop where it was getting altered. My niece was unable to try it on until the day of the rehearsal and when I went to pick it up, the tailor was surprised that I didn't bring my niece back for final adjustments. Thankfully it fit!

That prompted me to think about the only thing Jesus has asked me to wear. In Matthew 11:29-30 Jesus said "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. {30} For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." That made me think about what it means to be yoked with Jesus in His mission.

Now a yoke doesn't look like an easy thing to me, but that is how the Greek word chrestos is translated. Exploring a bit further I discovered that chrestos can mean "well fitting" or "tailor made" In the Holy Land of Jesus' day, the ox was brought into a carpenter's shop and measurements were made. The carpenter roughed out the yoke and the ox was brought back to have the yoke tried on. The carpenter made careful adjustments to the yoke so the ox could pull without irritating the neck of that ox.

As one who passionately desires to be about the mission of Jesus, it is great to know that the yoke I have been asked to wear was "tailor made" just for me. While living a life of Gospel witness is not easy, I am yoked to Jesus. Because of that, the burden feels light!

That's a great reminder for me because so often I delude myself into thinking that I have to live a life of witness out of my own strength. But that is just not true. I find two vital pieces of good news in these verses.

1. Knowing that I have a "tailor made" yoke from the one who knows all my strengths, weaknesses, sins and idiosyncrasies is great Gospel news to me! God fits that yoke to my uniqueness in a way which makes the yoke one of a kind. It is designed for me to have maximum pulling power with minimum irritation wherever God sends me.
   
2. The One I am yoked to is Jesus...I don't do this Christian walk of witness and mission by myself. Because the one I am yoked to is the Lord of the universe and the Savior of all means that my witness and engagement in His mission will accomplish exactly what He desires.

You also have a well fitting, "tailor made yoke." Try it on for size. Jesus made it just for you to be about His mission of connecting people to Him forever.