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Spirit-Led or Purpose-Driven? Part 3
Small by Berit Kjos – March 2004
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To see how the dialectic process is |
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“The importance of helping members develop
friendships within your church cannot be overemphasized. Relationships are
the glue that holds a church together.” Rick Warren
[2, page 324]“This book is about a process, not programs. It
offers a system for developing the people in your church and
balancing the purposes of your church…. I’m confident the
purpose-driven process can work in other churches where the pace
of growth is more reasonable….“Saddleback… grew
large by using the purpose-driven process…. Healthy churches
are built on a process, not on personalities.” Rick Warren
[2, page 69, 70]
* To understand the
meaning of “healthy” in this context, see
The UN
Plan for Your Mental Health
“Encourage every member to join a small
group,” says Rick Warren. “… Not only do they help people connect with one
another, they also allow your church to maintain a ‘small church’ feeling of
fellowship as it grows. Small groups can provide the personal care and
attention every member deserves no matter how big the church becomes…. In
addition to being biblical, there are four benefits of using homes:
- They are infinitely expandable (homes
are everywhere);
- They are unlimited geographically (you
can minister to a wider area);
- Its good stewardship (you use buildings
that other people pay for!) releasing more money for ministry; and
- It facilitates closer relationships
(people are more relaxed in a home setting).”[4] Emphasis
addedWhile we don’t deserve any of God’s gracious
blessings, small groups do bring
people together. So the issue here is not
whether or not they are effective, but rather the nature of their
effectiveness. Do they deepen our faith in God or our dependence on each other? Do they teach us to
know and follow God’s Word or do they promote subtle forms of compromise for the sake of
unity in diversity? Do they encourage Biblical discernment or
open-mindedness and tolerance for unbiblical beliefs and values? Finally, are they
led by the Holy Spirit or driven by well-trained
facilitators and the “felt needs” of the groups?Today’s facilitated small groups or teams are
not like the old Bible studies many of us attended years ago. Back then, we
discussed the Bible and its wonderful truths; now people dialogue until they
reach an emotional form of unity based on “empathy” for diverse views
and values. Dr. Robert Klench gave an excellent description of this process
in his article, “Whats
Wrong with the 21st Century Church?“
“Total Quality Management [TQM] is based upon the Hegelian
dialectic, invented by Georg Wilhelm Freidrich Hegel, a transformational
Marxist social psychologist. Briefly, the Hegelian dialectic process works like this:
a diverse group of people (in the church, this is a mixture of believers (thesis) and unbelievers (antithesis),
gather in a facilitated meeting (with a trained facilitator/teacher/group leader/change
agent), using group dynamics (peer
pressure), to discuss a social issue (or dialogue the Word of God), and reach a
pre-determined outcome (consensus, compromise, or synthesis).
“When the Word of God is dialogued (as opposed to being
taught didactically) between believers and unbelievers…
and consensus is reached agreement that all are comfortable with then the
message of God’s Word has been watered down ever so slightly, and the participants
have been conditioned to accept (and even celebrate) their compromise
(synthesis).
The new synthesis becomes the starting point (thesis) for the next meeting, and
the process of continual change (innovation) continues.
“The fear of alienation from the group is the pressure that prevents an
individual from standing firm for the truth of the Word of God, and such a one usually
remains silent (self-editing). The fear of man (rejection) overrides the fear of God.
The end result is a paradigm shift in how one processes factual
information.”
In the past,
God’s unchanging Word was the ultimate test of right and wrong and our goal
was knowing God’s will and aligning our thoughts to His truth. Now the goal is to bond
diverse people into a “family” that must “respect” all kinds of Biblical
interpretations and contrary opinionseven when conclusions clash with
the Bible. The old guidelines for discussion
were based on God’s call for agapeo love, kindness, patience and
scriptural integrity. Today’s ground rules are based on humanistic psychology and manipulative guidelines for social
transformation,
“relational vitality,” emotional unity and collective synergy.Sounds complex and implausible, doesn’t it? That’s
why Christians are being drawn into the dialectic process with little
understanding of the real transformation that takes place both in churches and
in individuals who participate in the new “systems thinking”
and “outcome-based” or “purpose-driven” learning process.
Perhaps the best way to explain this transformation is to
show some of the ways Pastor Rick Warren’s small group process matches
the change process outlined in a book titled Leading
Congregational Change (LCC). This book, largely inspired by
Saddleback’s success, gives us a detailed look at the change process
itself. “This is a book you ought to read before you change
anything,” said Rick Warren in his hearty endorsement.
This book — we will refer to it as LCC —
presents the dialectic process as part of a system. Its main model
is Saddleback Church, where dialectic groups are led by
facilitator-leaders trained in the psycho-social strategies of
collective change.
The LLC shows us that the dialectic group
doesn’t operate in a vacuum. It’s part of a system that controls the
planned transformation with top-down standards for group values,
relational skills and “service learning.” It provides surveys,
assessments and data tracking systems that continually measures
“change” and monitors conformity to the set pattern. And it follows
the same Total Quality Management model embraced by governments,
corporations, education systems, the United Nations and other
organizations around the world.
Leading Congregational Change (LCC)
was written by James H. Furr,
Mike Bonem, and Jim Herrington in 2000. Its publisher,
Jossey-Bass, has been
working closely both with the Peter Drucker
Foundation (now called Leader to Leader)
and the “Christian” Leadership Network
founded by Bob Buford. The latter serves as an international tool for guiding large churches through the process
of “congregational transformation.” Its references to
Rick Warren include these comments:
“We thank Rick Warren… for the opportunity to reach and refine our
understanding of congregational transformation as part of Saddleback
Valley Church’s Purpose-Driven Church Conference. We are also grateful
to Bob Buford…. and others at Leadership Network for the many ways in
which they have stimulated and facilitated our work.
“We were deeply influenced by Bill Hybles and
Rick Warren and the successes of their congregations. We also saw many
applications in Peter Senge‘s The Fifth Discipline (1990) and in
John Kotter’s Leading Change (1996).”
“Pastor Russ
Osterman… had an
opportunity to attend a seminar at Saddleback Community
Church in California. Seeing and experiencing the model of a dynamic
congregation that was truly reaching uncharted people had a deep
impact on Russ, and he returned to Glenwood a changed person. He had
no experience in change leadership and no road map for how to lead
congregational transformation…. [he] began to lead his church to
embrace a new model based on what he had learned.”
[3, page 28]
That
new model, demonstrated by Saddleback Community Church, is outlined in LCC. While the “change” process involves
numerous complex “skills” and strategies such as vision casting,
system thinking, creative tension, self-assessment… we will only look
at those that specifically relate to small groups here.
Let’s
start with the new meaning of “small group” (or “team”). LCC defines it
as “a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to
a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold
themselves mutually accountable.'”
[3, page 128]
To
validate this definition, the authors point to 1 Corinthians 12: “Paul
declares that though we are many parts, we are one body.”[3, page 128]
But this
Scripture only applies to the Body of Christ. It doesn’t refer to the
diverse members of small groups or teams made of believers and unbelievers
who learn to empathize and identify with each other’s values and lifestyles.
During the last century, this dialectic process based on Georg
Hegel’s occult philosophy was embraced by Marx, Lenin and other socialist leaders.
Today it’s the centerpiece of all the world’s management systems. It’s
purpose which is not to nurture God’s peopleis to conform all minds to a global pattern for
uniform “human resource development” in schools, business, governments and churches
around the world.
[See Reinventing the World and
Solidarity]
In LCC, we read: “In a team… a common
goal is set. These goals can only be achieved through the
mutual, cooperative efforts of the members. … A second
distinction… is accountability. … In a team, each
individual is responsible to the rest of the team.”[3,
page 131]
In
Saddleback terminology, the “common goal” would be the common “purpose(s).” And
in the 40 Days of Purpose study guide, each group member agrees to be held
accountable by signing a “Group Agreement.” It begins with this statement
and three points:
“We agree to the following values:”
Clear Purpose: Grow healthy spiritual lives by
building a healthy
small group communityGroup Attendance: Give priority to the group meeting
Safe Environment: Help create a safe place where
people can be heard and feel loved (no quick answer, snap judgments,
or simple fixes).
This
contract matches LCC’s demand for group values or team guidelines.
Rick Warren knows how to trade unpleasant words like “rules” for softer
words such as “values.” But in this context both words refer to same
requirement: guidelines that all must follow:
Establish Values to Guide Team Interactions. “Before a team
is launched, ground rules need to be established. Team members
bring many unexpressed assumptions about what is and is not
acceptable in group interaction. … Openness, consensus,
mutual respect, creativity, and diversity are some of the typical values
of effective teams.”
“… the importance of declaring a value and enforcing it repeatedly.
Mastering team learning will be difficult if values are not made
explicit.
“Another value to establish is the team’s boundary conditions.
These define the outer limits of acceptability for new ideas….
In some congregations, an underlying value is that only denominational
programs and priorities can be considered. This and other similar
boundaries should be exposed and discussed by the group. Doing so will
help establish the team’s values…”[3,
page 135] Emphasis added
VISION or PURPOSE:
The continual focus of the
group must be its common vision. Pastor Warren uses the word “purpose”
instead of vision, andwhile it may line up more closely with a
mission statementit serves the same unifying purpose as the
organizational vision, written to inspire and motivate all members
to flow with the planned transformation process.
In its chapter on “Discerning and
Communicating the Vision,” LCC states,
“Our definition of communicating the
vision is a comprehensive, intentional, and ongoing set of
activities that are undertaken throughout the transformation process
to make the vision clear to the congregation. …“Rick Warren
reinforces this
theme when he says, ‘Vision and purpose must be restated every
twenty-six days to keep the church moving in the right
direction [2, page 111]).”
[3, page 62]
Pastor Warren is
more than faithful to that rule. The first lesson in Small Group Study Guide
for the 40 Days of Purpose deals primarily with the word, purpose.
Its focus is not on God but on
“the consequences of not knowing your
purpose.” It warns the group that “without knowing your purpose, life
will seem TIRESOME… UNFULFILLING… UNCONTROLLABLE.” Instead of
studying the Bible, the group receives a lesson on the importance of
“purpose.” According to the group study guide, “knowing the purpose of your life will –
- “give your life FOCUS.”
- “SIMPLIFY your life.”
- “increase MOTIVATION in your life.”
- “PREPARE YOU FOR ETERNITY.”
In short, Warren is putting “first
things first,” just as LCC recommends:
“Vision is a description
of God’s preferred future of the congregation in three to five
years. One of the Seven Habits of Highly Successful People,
according to Steven Covey, is ‘putting first things first.’
This is the practice of allowing our long-term objective (vision) to
guide our short-term actions (implementation). It also involves the
discipline of staying on course by avoiding unimportant diversions.”
[3, page 81]
The
long-term objective is collective transformation. This transformation
involves new ways of thinking, new ways of
understanding one’s place in the collective, and a new readiness to flow with the changes ahead. The
people “stay on course”
together by keeping their hearts and minds focused on the common vision or
purpose. That vision — which includes the hope of meeting “felt needs” and
common desires — is like the carrot dangling
in front of a horse’s mouth. It motivates the person to move forward in a
planned direction. There’s no final goal other than ongoing and
unhindered transformation and conformityi.e. continual change. And each part of the group or
community must be so focused on the coveted carrot (with its offer of
personal gratification) that
together they embrace whatever new “mental model” (new worldview, paradigm or way
of seeing reality) the facilitator or leader presents. The group or collective must learn to think and follow as one.
Aldous Huxley made some interesting observations about such social oneness
in a book he wrote after Hitler shattered the utopian vision of an perfectly
evolved human society. In Brave New World Revisited,
he wrote,
“As Mr. William Whyte has shown in his remarkable book,
The Organization
Man,
a new Social Ethic is replacing our traditional ethical
systemthe system in which the individual is primary. The key words in this
Social Ethic are ‘adjustment,’ ‘adaptation,’ ‘socially orientated
behavior,’ ‘belongingness,’ ‘acquisition of social
skills,’ ‘team work,’ ‘group living,’ ‘group loyalty,’ ‘group dynamics,’ ‘group thinking,’
‘group creativity.’…”“In the more efficient dictatorships of tomorrow
there will probably be much less violence than under
Hitler and Stalin. The future dictators subjects will
be painlessly regimented by a corps of highly trained
social engineers….”“Their behavior is determined, not by knowledge and reason, but by
feelings and unconscious drives. It is in these drives and feelings
that ‘the roots of their positive as well as their negative attitudes are
implanted.’ To be successful a propagandist must learn how to manipulate these
instincts and emotions…. Whoever wishes to win over the masses must know
the key that will open the door of their hearts.’…
[Remember Rick Warren’s initial community surveys of needs and wants]
Twenty years before Madison Avenue embarked upon ‘Motivational Research,’ Hitler was
systematically exploring and exploiting the secret
fears and hopes, the cravings, anxieties and frustrations of the German masses.”“It is by manipulating
‘hidden forces’ that the advertising experts induce us to buy their waresa
toothpaste, a brand of cigarettes, a political candidate. … ‘All
effective propaganda,’ Hitler wrote, ‘must be confined
to a few bare necessities and then must be expressed
in a few stereotyped formulas.’ These stereotyped formulas must be constantly repeated,
for ‘only constant
repetition will finally succeed in imprinting an idea
upon the memory of a crowd.’…“In an age of … accelerating over-organization
and ever more efficient means of mass communication, how can we preserve the integrity and reassert the
value of the human individual? … A
generation from now it may be too late to find an answer.”[5]
Emphasis added
Now,
almost fifty years later, the Organization Man — and the
postmodern thinking that
supports it — have become a reality. Individual thinking gives way to
collective thinking under the skilled guidance of benevolent facilitators
whose sophisticated strategies have been tested and proven in psycho-social
laboratories, among low-income students and military guinea pigs, in
corporations everywhere and, more recently, in God’s churches around the
world. The transformation is becoming universal — and woe to
those who resist! The new world
view — or “mental model” — demands conformity to the new “values” or
standards, not confrontation.
As LCC tells us, “Team learning makes
active use of the skills associated with mental models. Beyond these,
team learning requires
close and transparent relationships
an accepted and challenging goal
collaborative approach for sharing and examining
information.
“We refer to these three essential team learning
skills as team building, establishing performance challenges,
and dialogue.”[3,
page 134]
Let’s take a closer look at those three
vital skills:
1. TEAM BUILDING.
“Staying on course” involves lots of repetitions. Part of the
vision/purpose is an ever-deepening awareness of the collective
nature of the group. All must find their place and meaning in
the larger body no matter how much it drifts away from God’s
truth and ways. As Pastor Warren wrote in The Purpose Driven Life:
“You discover your role
in life through your relationships with others. The Bible tells us,
‘Each part gets its meaning from the body as a
whole, not the other way around.”
[1,
page 131]
A few pages later, he adds,
“The
Body of Christ, like our own body, is really a collection of many
small cells. The life of the Body of Christ, like your body, is
contained in the cells. For this reason every Christian needs to be
involved in a small group within their church, whether it is a home
fellowship group, a Sunday schools class or a Bible study. This is
where the real community takes place…” [1,
page 139]
Pastor Warren’s statements illustrate “systems
thinking” in a church context. Yes, God wants us to be one with
Himself and with each other: one family in Christ, all led by the Holy
Spirit according to God’s perfect plan. But when God’s guidelines for His
Body of believers are
placed into the context of a secular management
system — and when each member is told to find its “meaning” or
purpose in the collective “body” rather than in Jesus Christ, the
Head of His body — the Biblical ideal becomes little more than a tool to conform people to an
unbiblical process. Let me try to explain.
In order to be “effective,” the small groups involved
in the 40 Days of Purpose must be diverse; they must mix more traditional church
members with their invited neighbors and friends who may have no
Biblical knowledge at all. This diversity is essential to the planned
“learning” process. A 1969 report by the Behavioral
Science Teacher Education Program (B-STEP)a brainwashing program
established and funded by the U.S. Department of Health, Education
and Welfare to build global citizens for a socialist worldincluded two vital requirements: broad diversity and continual
assessments:
“If
BSTEP is to be functional beyond the specific
sample of students it serves, then that sample should be representative of
the diversity of American society. High priority is recommended to
maintaining a student mix which includes: Students from urban, small towns, and
rural backgrounds…. Broad racial and ethnic representation…. Broad range of academic achievement
potential…. Students with diverse and unusual
interests…. Representative ratio of males and females….
“Continual assessment of student progress is
important in a permanence-based curriculum.”
[See
B-STEP – page 53]
In fact, this “learning” processwhether
used in schools or churcheshas
little to do with knowledge of traditional facts or Biblical truths. Instead it’s aimed at developing
group skills and “systems thinking” (seeing ourselves and
everything else, not as
individual people or projects, but as integrated parts of a greater
whole). As people learn to empathize with each other
within the diverse groups, the members gradually learn to set aside
their old Bible-based assumptions, boundaries and divisive absolutes.
The diverse members join their
hearts, thoughts and feelings as one. They commit themselves to each
other. This new, exciting oneness feels good. It also prompts
the Christian members to ignore God’s solemn warnings concerning
compromise, conforming to the world, and being “
yoked together with unbelievers.”
[See
2 Cor 6:12-18] As LCC explains:
“In an effective team, differences create
synergy. Rather than staying a safe distance apart, the
close working relationships within a team turn diversity into
a source of strength. … Team building is the place to begin to
embrace the differences that the team members bring.”[3,
page 135]
“In an environment of trusting relationships, team collaboration
to set performance standards generates creative tension for the
group…. The most challenging and potentially most important skill for
teams is dialogue. These three skillsteambuilding,
performance challenges, and dialoguewill
accelerate the entire learning process for a team.”[3,
page 142] Emphasis added
Yes,
those time-tested strategies for social engineering will indeed accelerate
the “learning process.” But the “measurable outcome” will be the blinded
products of human manipulation, not the Body of Christ taught and
established by the Holy Spirit.
2. PERFORMANCE CHALLENGES (or measurable
standards). In his teaching video for small
group leaders involved in the 40 Days of Purpose, Pastor Warren calls for
Health Assessments:
“Before you get into the video teaching and we start digging into the
purposes, we want to take a moment to find out where people are
spiritually…. Your health is never static. It needs to be regularly
checked in order to ensure a lifetime of health.
“The same is true with
your spiritual health and that is why we want to begin this second week
with a brief “health” check using a simple tool called the Purpose
Driven Health Assessment. Take a couple minutes… to fill out your
own health assessment (found in the Group Resources in the Small Group
Study Guide). Tally the numbers and note the areas that you are doing
well in, and the growth areas. In the first few minutes of your group
time, challenge the group to go through the same process. …
“Here is an
opportunity for you to model authenticity by sharing with the
group where you are progressing and where you need to grow. Whatever
the level is of your vulnerability and need for accountability will
quickly become the norm in the group.”[6]
In a
non-threatening way, Pastor Warren has just introduced the group to an
essential part of the change process: continual assessments. The health,
growth and progress of every member must be recorded and monitored. This is
where today’s sophisticated high tech data systems fit into the Church
Growth and Purpose Driven paradigm.
[See CMS in Part 1] Every person, every step
forward, every change must be recorded and tracked, analyzed and taken into
account. The same is true of Outcome Based Education in schools, Al Gore’s
attempts at “reinventing government” and Total Quality Management in
business around the world. All follow
Peter Drucker‘s worldwide formula for business
management.
LCC shows how
the vision or purpose works together with continual assessments to
accomplish the human and social transformation:
“Suggested
Actions to Foster Change. “Ultimately, momentum for ongoing transformation is
a function of two factors: the organization’s ability to continually
assess current reality, and its ability to create internal
alignment around the vision….
“Recasting the vision is best done through periodic
assessments with
the vision community. They should address whether the vision needs
to be revised in order to be consistent with their understanding
of God’s calling.”[3,
page 88]
Commitment to
Learning. …Change leaders should assess the
skills of each member and try to create targeted learning
experiences at every stage of the change process.
“Learning experiences must focus
on more than transferring information. Team members should have
opportunities to discuss new insights with each other. They should
be challenged to draw implications from the learning experiences
that are unique and helpful to them and their congregation. Critical
skills will need to be revisited over and over…. Follow-up
presentation and discussion is usually needed. Actual practice in
applying the skill, constructive feedback… are essential
for skill development.”
[3, page 134] Emphasis added
3. DIALOGUE:
In the first of his weekly video lesson
for leaders, Pastor Warren says, “I want you to discuss what we talk
about each week, dialogue with each other, consider the
implications, and plan some action steps as a result. The more you
get involved and participate, the more benefit you’ll receive from
this spiritual growth series in the next six weeks.”
Sounds good and true, doesn’t it? Now consider
LCC’s explanation of dialogue. It quotes Dr.
Peter Senge, founder and Chairman
of MIT’s Society for Organizational Learning, who authored a bestselling book on systems thinking
called The Fifth Discipline which has served as a worldwide
guide on
social and behavioral change.
“The purpose of dialogue
is to go beyond any one individual’s understanding” (Senge). In dialogue,
each individual’s understanding is made available to the entire
group so that all learn….
“In discussion, an individual’s perspective … is presented with the
objective of persuading the rest of the group…. In dialogue, an
individual offers his or her perspective or assumptions for examination
by the group. The object of dialogue is to allow others to see what
you see and why you see it, not to convince them. Dialogue can
create a rich understanding if information is shared openly and if
all participants listen deeply.
“This can only be done in a safe environment…. If members of the
group expect their views to be disregarded or used against them,
dialogue will not occur. Defenses will go up or information will not be
fully shared.”
[3, page 140]
Did
you catch the difference between discussion and dialogue? A good discussion
relies on facts and logic solid information to present a logical
argument that might persuade others that something is true or right. But
such a didactic discussion clashes with purposes of the dialectic
group, which trains diverse minds (remember, everyone is encouraged to bring
friends) to ignore offensive truths for the sake of unity. Each person must
learn to share their hearts authentically, to “listen”
empathically, to set aside divisive facts or Biblical standards, and to
continually synthesize individual views and values into an ever
evolving common ground. Naturally, this feel-good process blurs God’s
dividing line between good and bad, truth and error.
[See
As in Soviet brainwashing,
Gestalt therapy and the popular encounter groups of the sixties, each person
must learn to be “authentic” and vulnerablewilling to freely share their
personal feelings and confess their weaknesses. To encourage such authenticity, the
facilitator must build a permissive, non-judgmental or “safe environment.”
Affirmation, celebration and often an all-inclusive view of God’s promises help
people feel at homeno matter what their beliefs, lifestyles and values.
But, you might ask, doesn’t God call us to
unity, empathy and authenticity (purity, honesty…)? Yes, He does. All who
are born of His Spirit are one in Him. In contrast, there is no genuine
unity between Christians and the world. Yet, God’s enemies delight in using
God’s words in ways and contexts that twist their meanings and deceive God’s
people. At first, those deviations may seem so subtle that they escape
notice. But with each
compromise and distortion of truth, discernment lessens and the paradigm
shift toward apostasy accelerates. [See
America’s Spiritual Slide]
The
dialectic questions in the back of The Purpose Driven Life fit this
process. The first two begin with “What do you think….?” and “What
do you feel…?” None of the questions point to the Scriptures, instead all
focus on subjective elements of Pastor Warren’s five Purposes. They free
members of the group to identify with subjective feelings and bond
without fear of correction, no matter what their beliefs or lifestyles.
Since
the 40 Days of Purpose program is only the first step in a non-ending process of
group learning, it does little more than open the door, begin the training
in dialectic thinking, demonstrate the
oneness achieved in a facilitated encounter group, and build a hunger for
more of the same kind of unity. Apparently, the
majority of participants become so attached to the group (and to the unifying
process) that they continue either with the same friends or in a new group
with others whose lives have been “transformed.”
Now take a look at the aims and
ways of this process as explained in LCC. Notice its roots in Dr. Senge’s
unbiblical agenda for changing the world:
“Senge identifies three key practices for teams engaging in the
practice of dialogue:
1. “Participants Agree to Describe
their Assumptions.
…True dialogue allows team members to examine one another’s
assumptions. As this unfolds, participants often develop new
insights into the personal assumptions that they bring to the
process.”[3,
page140]
2. “Participants Agree to Treat One
Another as Colleagues.
…Senge observes that ‘dialogue can occur only when a group of people
see each other as colleagues in a mutual quest for deeper insight and
clarity.” … This practice serves teams most powerfully when
individuals hold differing points of view.“[3,
page141]
3. “A Facilitator Holds Group
Members to their Commitment to Dialogue.
…Most groups overuse (discussion)…. Changing this tendency
… requires commitment, practice and assistance. A facilitator can
strengthen the group member’s ability to use dialogue by helping them
establish ground rules and calling them back to the rules when they
slide from dialogue into discussion….
“Mastering the skill of dialogue is a painstaking process…. Dialogue
is risky because it requires a high level of transparency and
vulnerability from all participants, especially the team leader.
… dialogue significantly increases a team’s ability to achieve the
results that God desires.”
[3, page 142]
The next quote from The Purpose Driven Life
illustrates the positive perceptions of small group fellowship. In a
Biblical context,
it would represent the very best of Christian fellowship:
“In real fellowship people experience authenticity. Authentic fellowship
is not superficial, surface-level chit-chat. It is genuine,
heart-to-heart, sometimes gut-level sharing. It happens when people get
honest about who they are and what is happening in their lives.
They share their hurts, reveal their feelings, confess their failures,
disclose their doubts, admit their fears, acknowledge their weaknesses,
and ask for help and prayer.”[1,
page 139]
But,
in the context of church growth and MIT’s general systems theory, this
prescribed authenticity fits right into LCC’s
transformational process:
“The gospel of Christ calls us
to this kind of authentic transparency. Jesus modeled this
self-awareness. He knew who he was… his purpose in life. He knew
how his culture influenced him.“Small groups
of many kinds provide a safe setting for individuals to
think out loud about themselves. ….“Individuals who want to master the
discipline of mental models begin by committing to a growing sense
of self-awareness. This allows them to identify their mental models
and test them against reality.”
[3, page 118]
The
next two quotes place confession and authenticity, first, into an interfaith
context and, second, into the overall process of Soviet brainwashing.
Confession and authenticity has been vital to both.
“We think of confession
as an
act that should be carried out in secret, in the darkness of the
confessional…. Yet the reality is that every human being is broken
and vulnerable. ….
“Vulnerability is a two way street. Community requires the
ability to expose our wounds and weaknesses to our fellow creatures.”
[7]
[Look at Scott Peck’s teaching in
“The
Different Drum: Community-Making and Peace“]
“…classes had virtually stopped. Varieties of ‘learning’
meetings were taking up all the time. The students were working
on confessions, as were many of the faculty members….
“Meetings were being held in vacant rooms
and open spaces wherever a group could gather to discuss, self-criticize,
and confess.”[8]
[Read
more about this process in
Brainwashing
and “Education Reform”]
Edward Hunter
wrote his book on Soviet-style brainwashing after numerous personal interviews with victims of the Chinese “education
reform.” These survivors include Western missionaries, prisoners
of war, teachers, and business men who were trained through cruel
but sophisticated “brainwashing” tactics to betray
their nation, embrace dialectic materialism, “confess”
lies, and serve the Communist propaganda machine. In the end, he shows how some were able to resist the process.
In
today’s Church Growth Movement, resisters are usually sifted out fairly
early in the process. In the next installment, we will look at some of the
ways non-conformists are assessed, exposed, vilified and dismissed from the church
family they have loved, served and supported.
“… in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers
of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy… lovers of pleasure rather
than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.
And from such people turn away!
“…all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer
persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which
you have learned…” 2 Timothy 3:1-14
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THREE |
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Biblical Fellowship & Christian Community |
Human Friendship & Traditional Community |
Dialectic
Example: |
|
LED by the SPIRIT |
DRIVEN by felt NEEDS |
DRIVEN by organizational OUTCOMES or PURPOSES |
|
Includes |
“Born again” believers from all nations and cultures |
All who choose to belong, share common interests and are accepted by the group |
Diverse (spiritually & culturally) participants in the dialectic process |
Foundation |
God’s Word and Spirit |
Felt needs; natural desire to belong to a group |
A pre-planned strategy and outcome (purpose) aimed at personal and social transformation |
Goal |
Love, faith and obedience to God, agapeo love for each other, unity in Christ |
Build relationships, meet need for fellowship, have fun |
Transformation: from former beliefs and values to an ever evolving group synthesis or consensus |
Result |
God is glorified through our worship, praise, service and oneness in Him. |
Personal gratification, a sense of belonging, increased dependence on the group |
Bonding of group members, willingness to compromise, changed beliefs and values, surrender of personal will & meaning to the group |
|
Shows others: |
God’s supernatural agapeo love |
Human phileo love |
Skill of facilitator, power of the dialectic process |
|
|
Eternity with God |
Rich relationships in this world |
Achieving the vision of the ideal community |
Next: Part
4: Dealing with Resisters
Endnotes:
1.
Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan, 2002). See “Driven
or Led?”
2.
Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan, 1995).
James H. Furr,
Mike Bonem and Jim Herrington, Leading Congregational Change (San
Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 2000).
Peter Senge,
the founder and Chairman
of MIT’s Society for Organizational Learning, a “global community of corporations,
researchers, and consultants,” authored the 1995 book on systems thinking,
The Fifth Discipline, which presents today’s process for social and behavioral change. The article, “Peter
Senge and the Learning Organization”
mentions Senge’s
emphasis on dialogue and shared vision.” It suggests a “link here with the
concerns and interests of
communitarian
thinkers.” ’Leader as teacher’ is not about ‘teaching’ people how to achieve their vision,” wrote Peter Senge. “It is about fostering
learning,
for everyone. Such leaders help people throughout the organization develop systemic
understandings.”
4.
Rick Warren,
“Relationships
hold your church together.”http://www.pastors.com/article.asp?ArtID=3917
5.
Aldous Huxley,
Brave New World Revisited (New York: Harper & Row, 1958),
25-26, 41, 43-44.Rick Warren, 40 Days of Purpose, Transcript of Small Group & Sunday School
Teaching Video (PurposeDriven, Saddleback Parkway, Lake Forest, CA), page
16.7. Scott Peck, The Different Drum: Community-Making and Peace (New York:
Simon & Schuster, 1987); pages
69-70.8. Edward Hunter, Brainwashing
(New York: Pyramid Books, 1956), pages 50, 51.
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