7
Organizing Around Your Purposes
New wine must be poured into new wineskins.
Luke 5:38
The two most influential preachers of the eighteenth century were George Whitefield and John Wesley. Although they were contemporaries of each other, and both were greatly used by God, they differed widely in theology, personality, and how they organized their ministries.
Whitefield was best known for his preaching. In his lifetime, he preached over 18,000 sermons, averaging ten a week! He once spoke to nearly 100,000 people near Glasgow, Scotland, and his preaching tours in America stimulated the revival known as the Great Awakening. However, biographers have pointed out that Whitefield often left his converts without any organization so the results of his work were of short duration. Today, very few Christians would recognize George Whitefield’s name.
In contrast, John Wesley’s name is still recognized by millions of Christians. Why is this? Wesley was an itinerant preacher just like Whitefield, engaging in large, outdoor evangelistic meetings. But Wesley was also an organizer. He created an organizational structure to fulfill his purpose that far outlasted his lifetime. That organization is called the Methodist Church!
For any renewal to last in a church, there must be a structure to nurture and support it. It is not enough to merely define a purpose statement and communicate it, you must also organize around your church, around your purposes. In this chapter I’ll discuss how to set up a structure that insures equal emphasis is given to all five purposes. Remember, balance is the key to a healthy church.
Most evangelical churches already do the five purposes of the church—sort of. But they don’t do them all equally well. One church may be strong in fellowship, yet weak in evangelism. Another church may be strong in worship, yet weak in discipleship. Still another may be strong in evangelism, yet weak in ministry. Why is this?
It is the natural tendency of leaders to emphasize what they feel strongly about and neglect whatever they feel less passionate about. Around the world you can find churches that have become an extension of their pastor’s giftedness. Unless you set up a system and a structure to intentionally balance the five purposes, your church will tend to overemphasize the purpose that best expresses the gifts and
passion of its pastor.
Historically, churches have taken on five basic shapes, depending on which purpose they emphasize the most.
Five Kinds of Churches The Soul Winning Church. If the pastor sees his primary role as an evangelist, then the church becomes a “soul winning” church. Because this church’s main goal is to save souls, it is always reaching out to the lost. The
terms you’re likely to hear most often in this church are witnessing, evangelism, salvation, decisions for Christ, baptisms, visitation, altar calls, and crusades. In the soul winning church, anything other than evangelismis relegated to a secondary role.
The Experiencing God Church. If the pastor’s passion and gifts lie in the area of worship, he will instinctively lead the church to become an “experiencing God” church. The focus of this church is on experiencing the presence and power of God in worship. Key terms for this church are praise, prayer, worship, music, spiritual gifts, spirit, power, and revival. In this type of church, the worship service receives more attention than anything else. I’ve found both charismatic and non-charismatic varieties of the experiencing God church.
The Family Reunion Church. A church that focuses primarily on fellowship is what I call the “family reunion” church*.* This church is shaped by the pastor who is highly relational, loves people, and spends most of his time caring for members. He serves more as a chaplain than anything else. Key
terms for this church are love, belonging, fellowship, caring, relationships, potlucks, small groups, and fun. In the family reunion church, the gathering is more important than the goals.
Most churches of this type have less than 200 members, since that’s about all one pastor can personally care for. I estimate that about 80 percent of American churches fall into this category.A family reunion church may not get much done, but it is almost indestructible. It can survive poor preaching, limited finances, lack of growth, and even church splits. Relationships are the glue that keep the faithful coming.
The Classroom Church. A “classroom” church occurs when the pastor sees his primary role as being a teacher. If teaching is his primary gift, he will emphasize preaching and teaching and de-emphasize the other tasks of the church. The pastor serves as the expert instructor, and members come to church with notebooks, take notes, and go home. Key words for the classroom church are expository preaching, Bible study, Greek and Hebrew, doctrine, knowledge, truth, and discipleship. It is not unheard of for a classroom church to have the word Bible in its name.
The Social Conscience Church. The pastor of the “social conscience” church sees his role as prophet and reformer. This kind of church is out to change society. It is full of activists who are “doers of the Word,” and comes in both a liberal and a conservative version. The liberal version tends to focus on the injustice in our society, while the conservative version tends to focus on the moral decline in our society. Both liberal and
conservative versions feel the church should be a major player in the political process, and its members are always involved in some current crusade or cause. Important terms in this church a r e needs, serve, share, minister, take a stand, and do something.
I realize that I have painted these pictures with broad strokes. Generalizations never tell the whole story. Some churches are a blend of two or three of these categories. The point is that unless there is an intentional plan to balance all five purposes, most churches will embrace one purpose to the neglect of the others.
There are some interesting things we can observe about these five categories of churches. The members of each of these churches will usually consider their church as the most spiritual. That’s because people are attracted to join the type of church that corresponds to their own passion and giftedness. We all want to be a part of a church that affirms what we feel is most important. The truth is, all five of these emphases are important purposes of the church and must be balanced if a church is to be healthy.
Much of the conflict occurring in congregations is caused when a church calls a pastor whose gifts and passion do not match what the church has been in the past. For example, if a family reunion church thinks they are calling a pastor to be their chaplain and they get an evangelist or a reformer, you can expect sparks to fly. That is a recipe for disaster!
Most Churches Tendto Focus On Only One Purpose
Paradigm: Soul Winning Church
Primary Focus: Evangelism Pastor’s Role: Evangelist
People’s Role: Witnesses
Primary Target: The Community
Key Term: Save
Central Value: Decisions for Christ Tools Used: Visitation Altar Call
Source of Legitimacy: Number Baptized
Paradigm: Experiencing God Church
Primary Focus: Worship
Pastor’s Role: Worship Leader People’s Role: Worshipers Primary Target: The Crowd
Key Term: Feel
Central Value: Personal Experience
Tools Used: Music & Prayer
Source of Legitimacy: “The Spirit”
Paradigm: Family Reunion Church
Primary Focus: Fellowship Pastor’s Role: Chaplain
People’s Role: Family Members
Primary Target: The Congregation
Key Term: Belong
Central Value: Loyalty & Tradition Tools Used: Fellowship Hall & Potluck Source of Legitimacy: Our Heritage
Paradigm: Bible ClassroomChurch
Primary Focus: Edification Pastor’s Role: Instructor People’s Role: Students
Primary Target: The Committed
Key Term: Know
Central Value: Bible Knowledge Tools Used: Notebooks & Overheads
Source of Legitimacy: Verse by Verse Teaching
Paradigm: Social Conscience Church
Primary Focus: Ministry Pastor’s Role: Reformer People’s Role: Activists Primary Target: The Core
Key Term: Care
Central Value:Justice & Mercy Tools Used: Petitions & Placards
Source of Legitimacy: Number of Needs Met
Paradigm: Purpose Driven Church
Primary Focus: Balance All Five
Pastor’s Role: Equipper People’s Role: Ministers Primary Target: All Five
Key Term: Be & Do
Central Value: ChristLike Character Tools Used: Life Development Process Source of Legitimacy: Changed Lives
Five Major Parachurch Movements
I’ve found it interesting to observe that most of the parachurch movements begun in the past forty years tend to specialize in one of the purposes of the church. From time to time God has raised up a parachurch movement to reemphasize a neglected purpose of the church. I believe it is valid, and even helpful to the church, for parachurch organizations to focus on a single purpose. It allows their emphasis to have greater impact on the church.
The Lay Renewal Movement. This movement has refocused the church on the ministry of all Christians. Organizations such as Faith at Work, Laity Lodge, and The Church of the Savior, and authors such as Elton Trueblood, Findley Edge, and David Haney have been used by God to reemphasize that he has called and gifted every believer for service.
The Discipleship/Spiritual Formations Movement. A reemphasis on developing believers to full maturity has been the focus of this movement. Organizations such as the Navigators, Worldwide Discipleship, and Campus Crusade for Christ, and authors such as Waylon Moore, Gary Kuhne, Gene Getz, Richard Foster, and Dallas Willard have underscored the importance of building up Christians and establishing personal spiritual disciplines.
The Worship/Renewal Movement. This movement has taken on the task of refocusing the church on the importance of worship. It began with the Jesus Movement in the early 1970s
and was followed by the charismatic and liturgical renewals. Most recently, the contemporary worship emphasis has brought us new music, new worship forms, and a greater emphasis on corporate worship. Organizations like Maranatha! Music and Hosanna/Integrity have played a major role in shaping how worship styles have changed and multiplied.
The Church Growth Movement. This movement has refocused the church on evangelism, missions, and corporate growth. Beginning with the books of Donald McGavran, Peter Wagner, Elmer Towns, Win Arn, and numerous seminary professors, the movement grew larger in the 1980s through growth consultants, seminars, and well-known pastors.
The Small Group/Pastoral Care Movement. It has been the task of the small group/pastoral care movement to refocus the church on fellowship and caring relationships within the body. The Korean cell-church model and organizations such as Touch Ministries, Serendipity, Care Givers, and Stephen’s Ministry have shown us the value of using small groups and the importance of caring for individuals.
We should be thankful to God for each of these movements, organizations, and authors. Each movement has had a valid message for the church. Each has given the body of Christ a wake-up call. Each has emphasized a different purpose of the church.
Keeping Your Church Balanced
Movements, by nature, specialize in order to have an impact. There is nothing wrong with specializing. When I need surgery, I want a doctor who specializes in the surgery I’m having. But no one specialist can adequately explain everything that goes on in my body.
Likewise, no single parachurch movement can offer everything the body of Christ needs to be healthy. Each one emphasizes just a part of the big picture. It is important to have a larger perspective of the whole church which recognizes the importance of balancing all five purposes.
For instance, a friend of mine who is a pastor went to a seminar where he was taught that small groups were the key to church growth. So he went home and instituted a plan to completely overhaul the structure of his church and rebuild around a network of small cell groups. But about six months later he went to another popular seminar where he was told that seeker services were the key to growth. So he went home and rearranged the order and style of his worship service. Then he got really confused when he got three seminar brochures in the same week. One boldly proclaimed, “Sunday school is the growth agent of the church.” Another said, “One-on-one disciple making: the secret of growth.” The third brochure was about a conference on “Expository preaching for church growth.” Eventually, he got so frustrated about what the key to growth was, he quit going to seminars. I don’t blame him! I’ve often felt the same way. Each time he went to a conference he’d
be given a true, but partial picture of what the church should be doing. It is simplistic and inaccurate to suggest that only one factor is the secret of church growth.
There is no single key to church health and church growth; there are many keys. The church is not called to do one thing; it is called to do many things. That’s why balance is so important. I tell my staff that the ninth Beatitude is “Blessed are the balanced; for they shall outlast everyone else.”
As Paul points out so vividly in 1 Corinthians 12, the body of Christ has many parts to it. It’s not just a hand or a mouth or an eye; it is a system of interworking parts and organs. Actually, your body is made up of different systems: respiratory, circulatory, nervous, digestive, skeletal, and so forth. When all of these systems are in balance with each other, that is called “health.” Imbalance is illness. Likewise, balancing the five New Testament purposes brings health to the body of Christ, the church.
Saddleback Church is organized around two simple concepts to insure balance. We call them the “Circles of Commitment” and the “Life Development Process.” These two concepts symbolize how we apply the five purposes of the church at Saddleback. The Life Development Process (a baseball diamond) illustrates what we do at Saddleback. The Circles of Commitment (five concentric circles) illustrate who we do it with.
I developed these concepts in 1974, as a youth pastor,
before beginning Saddleback. Today, with nearly 10,000 attending, we still build everything we do around these two diagrams. They have served us well.
The concentric circles represent a way of understanding the different levels of commitment and maturity in your church. The baseball diamond represents a process for moving people from little or no commitment to deeper levels of commitment and maturity. In this chapter we’ll look at the concentric circles. I’ll explain the baseball diamond in chapter 8.
Look at your church from a new perspective. Is everyone in your church equally committed to Christ? Are all your members at the same level of spiritual maturity? Of course not. Some of your members are highly committed and very mature. Others are uncommitted and spiritually immature. Between these two groups are other people at various stages of spiritual growth. In a purpose-driven church we identify five different levels of commitment. These five levels correlate to the five purposes of the church.
In the graphic of the five concentric circles below, each circle represents a different level of commitment, ranging from very little commitment (such as agreeing to attend services occasionally) to a very mature commitment (such as the commitment to use your spiritual gifts in ministering to others). As I describe these five different groups of people at Saddleback, you’ll recognize that they exist in your church too.
The Life Development Process
You may have seen a version of either of these diagrams in many places, I first published them in Discipler magazine in 1977. Since that time, they have been adopted by thousands of churches and reprinted in many books.
The Circles of Commitment
The goal of your church is to move people from the outer circle (low commitment/maturity) to the inner circle (high commitment/maturity). At Saddleback we call this “moving people fromthe community into the core.”
The Community
The community is your starting point. It is the pool of lost people that live within driving distance of your church that have made no commitment at all to either Jesus Christ or your church. They are the unchurched that you want to reach. Your community is where the purpose of evangelism takes place. It is the largest circle because it contains the most people.
As Saddleback Church has grown, we have narrowed our definition of the community to refer to people we call “unchurched, occasional attenders.” If you visit a Saddleback service at least four times in a year (and indicate it with a registration card or offering envelope), your name gets put on the “Community” database in our computer. These are our hottest evangelistic prospects. As I write this, we have over 31,000 names of occasional attenders of Saddleback. This represents about 10 percent of our area. Our ultimate goal, of course, is total penetration of our community, giving everyone a chance to hear about Christ.
The Crowd
The next circle inward represents the group of people we call the “Crowd.” The crowd includes everyone who shows up on Sundays for services. They are your regular attenders. The crowd is made up of both believers and nonbelievers—all they may have in common is that they are committed to attending a worship service every week. That isn’t much of a commitment, but at least it’s something you can build on. When someone moves from your community into your crowd you’ve made major progress in his or her life. Currently we have about 10,000 “crowd” people attending our services at Saddleback each weekend.
While an unbeliever cannot truly worship, he can watch others worship. I’m convinced that genuine worship is a powerful witness to unbelievers if it is done in a style that makes sense to them. I will discuss this in detail in chapter 13. If an unbeliever makes a commitment to regular attendance at Saddleback, I believe it will be just a matter of time until he accepts Christ. Once a person has received Christ, our goal is to move him into the next level of commitment: the “Congregation.”
The Congregation
The congregation is the group of official members of your church. They have been baptized and have made a commitment to be a part of your church family. They are now more than attenders, they are committed to the purpose of fellowship. This is a critical commitment. The Christian life is not just a
matter of believing; it includes belonging. Once people have made a commitment to Christ they need to be encouraged to take the next step and commit themselves to Christ’s body, the church. At Saddleback, only those who have received Christ, been baptized, taken our membership class (Class 101: “Discovering Saddleback Membership”), and signed the membership covenant are considered a part of the congregation (membership).
At Saddleback we see no use in having nonresident or inactive members on a roll. As a result, we remove hundreds of names fromour membership each year. We are not interested in a large membership, just a legitimate membership of genuinely active and involved people. Currently, our congregation is formed by about five thousand active members*.*
I once spoke in a church that had over a thousand members on its roll but had less than two hundred people attending services! What is the value of having that kind of membership? If you have more members on your church roll than you have in attendance you should seriously consider redefining the meaning of membership in your congregation.
Having more attenders than members means the church is being effective in attracting the unchurched and building a pool for evangelism. A good indicator of a church’s evangelistic effectiveness is when you have at least 25 percent more people attending as part of the crowd than you have members in the congregation. For example, if you have 200 members, you ought to have at least 250 in average attendance.
If you don’t, it means almost no one in your church is inviting unbelievers to come with them. Currently at Saddleback, the crowd is 100 percent larger than the congregation. Our 5,000 members are bringing their unsaved friends, so we’re averaging 10,000 in attendance.
The Committed
Do you have people in your church who are godly and growing—people who are serious about their faith—who for one reason or another are not actively serving in a ministry of your church? We call these people the “Committed.” They pray, give, and are dedicated to growing in discipleship. They are good people, but they have not yet gotten involved in ministry.
At Saddleback, we consider those who have taken Class 201: “Discovering Spiritual Maturity” and have signed a maturity covenant card to be in this group. The maturity covenant card indicates a commitment to three spiritual habits: (1) having a daily quiet time, (2) tithing ten percent of their income, and (3) being active in a small group. We consider these three habits essential for spiritual growth. At the time of this writing, about 3,500 people at Saddleback have signed maturity covenant cards and are considered a part of our “committed” group.
The Core
The “Core” is the smallest group, because it represents the deepest level of commitment. They are the dedicated minority
of workers and leaders, those who are committed to ministering to others. They are people that lead and serve in the various ministries of your church as Sunday school teachers, deacons, musicians, youth sponsors, and so forth. Without these people your church would come to a standstill. Your core workers formthe heart of your church.
At Saddleback we have a very intentional process for helping people find their best ministry niche. This includes taking Class 301: “Discovering My Ministry,” filling out a SHAPE profile, having a personal ministry interview, being commissioned as a lay minister in the church, and attending a core-only monthly training meeting. Currently we have about 1,500 people in the core at Saddleback*.* I would do anything for these people. They are the secret of our strength. If I were to drop dead, Saddleback would continue to grow because of this base of 1,500 lay ministers.
What happens when people finally get to the core? We move themback out into the community for ministry!
Jesus RecognizedDifferent Levels of Commitment
Jesus realized that every person is at a different level of spiritual commitment. I’ve always been fascinated by a conversation Jesus had with a spiritual seeker*.* Jesus made the comment, “You are not far from the kingdom of God”(Mark 12:34, italics added). Not far? I take that to mean that Jesus recognized degrees of spiritual understanding and commitment, even among unbelievers.
Jesus’ ministry included ministering to the Community, feeding the Crowd, gathering a Congregation, challenging the Committed, and discipling the Core. All five tasks are evident in the gospels. We need to follow his example! Jesus began at the level of commitment of each person he met. Often he would simply capture their interest and create a desire to know more. Then, as people would continue to follow him, Jesus would slowly, gently define more clearly the kingdom of God and ask for a deeper commitment to it. But, he did this only when the followers had reached the previous stage.
At the first encounter Jesus had with John and Andrew, he simply said, “Come and … see!” (John 1:39). He didn’t lay any heavy requirement on those early followers; he just invited them to check him out. He allowed them to watch his ministry without asking for a lot of commitment. This wasn’t watering down the Gospel. He was just creating an interest.
As that group of early followers grew into a crowd*,* Jesus began to slowly turn up the heat. Eventually, after three years of public ministry among them, just six days before the Transfiguration, Jesus gave his ultimate challenge to the crowd: “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’ “(Mark 8:34).
Jesus was able to ask for that kind of commitment from the crowd only after demonstrating his love for them and earning their trust. To a stranger or first-time visitor at a church I believe Jesus would be more likely to say, “Come to me, all you
who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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” (Matt. 11:28–29).
Jesus took into account that people have different cultural backgrounds, understanding, and levels of spiritual commitment. He knew that it doesn’t work to use the same approach with all people. The same idea is behind the Circles of Commitment. It is a simple strategy that acknowledges we minister to people at different levels of commitment. People are not all alike: They have different needs, interests, and spiritual problems, depending on where they are in their spiritual journey. We must not confuse what we do with the community and the crowd with what we do with the core. Each group requires a different approach. A crowd is not a church—but a crowd can be turned into a church.
By organizing your church around the five purposes and identifying people in your church in terms of their commitment to each of those purposes, you will be well on the way to balancing your ministry and producing a healthy church. You are now ready for the final step in becoming a purpose-driven church—applying your purposes to every area of your church. That is the focus of the next chapter.