Interestingly, this month’s Christian Chronicle also contains an interview with Scott Thumma, the church growth researcher who is a co-author of Megachurch Myths. The article does not appear online, but is on page 25 of the January 2008 print edition.
Thumma says that nearly all church growth is “the result of a circulation of the saints.” In other words, nearly all “conversions” are simply moving believers among churches. On the whole, we just aren’t converting the lost. And this isn’t just Churches of Christ. It’s true of American Christianity generally. We’re just swapping members.
To be effective at converting those actually lost, Thumma says we need to understand them.
The “unchurched” in our society are mostly secular, suburban and contemporary people. They shy away from overt religious trappings, the “religion of their parents,” and seem to prefer contemporary, user-friendly worship forms that are technologically conveyed. They are consumers of faith, but on their own terms. They want a practical message that touches them at a deep level, makes a difference n spiritual life and is meaningful to them as individuals. They want a faith that accomplishes something, but they also want it customized to their own tastes and needs.
They sound a little selfish, don’t they? Well, that’s to be expected. They aren’t yet Christians and so haven’t yet matured in the faith. Of course, they’re selfish!
Therefore, it’s absurd to stand on some imagined principle and refuse to cater to them. Rather, to be successful, we have to start with where they are in their spiritual walk and work from there. The mature become uncomfortable for the sake of the immature.
It’s like having a baby in the house. You may lose some sleep — a lot of sleep — because the baby really doesn’t care about your preferences. But babies are worth it.
At the end of the interview, the Chronicle asked Thumma what challenges the Churches of Christ face? He responded,
Clearly from what I’ve said, the majority of the Churches of Christ are out of resonance with the predominant, contemporary, suburban, mainstream culture. Nearly every American lives with instrumental music every hour of their waking lives. In that, the Church of Christ has a serious challenge. But this characteristic and its other unique features could also be seen as a distinctive “brand,” a niche, our unique message. …
What is God calling the Church of Christ to keep as core biblical beliefs, and what is God asking you to change?
These are not “church growth” questions, not crass pandering to consumers, but they are spiritual questions of vision and mission of the Churches of Christ, and only you seeking God’s will can answer them.
Well said.
Long before we get to what works, we must ask what God wants.
On its editorial page, the editors of the Chronicle offer their conclusions. I think they’re pretty good ones, because I think they reflect Biblical teaching.
• We must become more diverse if we are to reach our culture. Our congregations remain mostly white and have become more affluent. … We must remember that Jesus loves all the children – red and yellow, black and white.
• We must make the eternal faith relevant to the young people who grow up in our congregations. Doctrine is important, but the young won’t stick around churches mired in internal squabbles and their own way of doing things. …
• We must plant new congregations outside the Bible Belt, in places where most folks have never heard of us. And we must be willing to try new approaches to reach a new generation, not sacrificing biblical teaching but perhaps adapting the Acts 2 model of church to include settings such as house churches or groups of believers meeting in coffee shops or parks. We must remember that church buildings are a creation of the modern church, not an ancient pattern.
Most importantly, we must pledge our allegiance anew to our first love. We must remember that God so loved the world that he gave his only son to die on a cross so that we might have forgiveness from our sins. We must never stop telling that incredible, true story of love and sacrifice. Only then will more people know Jesus and the church grow and prosper.
I would add: we’ve just got to escape our legalism. Until we get closer to the truth taught in the Bible, we’re not going to succeed.
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