Growing Edge - Christianity Today

Another book on demographics? Who cares? Haven’t we heard that the church must change to survive? That pastors must lead or perish?Skeptic that I am about futurism and projections, my defenses were up when I picked up Boiling Point by George Barna and Mark Hatch (Regal, 2001). Like I haven’t enough to do already? And change? You’ve gotta be kidding. I can’t get my church to let go of choir robes without a fight!But there are days when I am desperate. Really desperate. This thing called postmodernism is scary. It turns people and principles into jellyfish.We’ve seen massive change in America and in the American church in the past ten years. I live in Silicon Valley, five miles from Stanford, ten miles from Yahoo, one block from Starbucks. Life races by here. But when I talk to pastors in small towns where the pace is supposedly slower, I find we all sound like Tevye from “Fiddler on the Roof”: “I don’t understand what’s happening today, everything is all a blur.”Ten years ago I made fun of Barna’s Frog in the Kettle. So why read the sequel? I have to admit this book was helpful.First, it puts handles on postmodernism. I have tried to explain that idea to people. They nod off until I am done. But statistics about marriage and family awaken them.Boiling Point is not just a book worth reading, but one worth putting on index cards. I can use the researcher’s numbers to show my church how the world really is different today.Second, Barna takes seriously the threat of technology. He calls it techno-stress. Good name! Barna says the use of technology is identical among Christians and non-Christians. He asks: Is this healthy? Is technology neutral? And how many times a day do we need to check our e-mail?Third, there is bleak honesty about the church. Barna confirms my impression that evangelical Christians are in decline mode, largely unaware that they are transitioning from insular separation to indistinguishable integration with society.Some of this book we’ve heard before. Yes, we are in a crisis of authority. No, people don’t care about truth or morality as long as they are well paid. Barna deserves credit for compiling quantifiable proof that our suspicions of dramatic cultural change are correct. But there are limits to the use of his demographics. These are national statistics, not local. In my case, that skews the applications. Silicon Valley is not middle America, and in some ways our values are different.What’s new is Barna’s view on the influence of technology; there he presents fresh perspective. But what do we do with the data? Barna’s book is full of recommendations, but the cumulative effect of the lists is burdensome. I feel exhausted at the end. I wish he would boil it down a bit more. What two or three things are best?Boiling Point serves as a good reference tool, especially for explaining a changing world to fellow Tevyes.

Mark Lauterbach, pastor

First Baptist Church of Los Altos, California Mark@fbcla.org

Stirring the Pot

Some church observers have mocked congregations where leaders spend time celebrating, encouraging, and pumping up—i.e., motivating—people to get them involved in ministry and spiritual growth. But whether we like going to such great lengths or not, we minister in a culture that necessitates such effort . …

More than three quarters of adults in attendance do not experience the presence of God during worship. In fact, half of all churchgoers admit that they have not felt connected to God or in His presence at any time in the past year, in spite of regular attendance at church. Even so, only four percent of Protestant senior pastors list facilitating or enhancing worship as a top priority for their churches.

—George Barna

I Think Icon

New image pushes little churches over big mountains.

Why is this workshop geared only for big churches?”“This could be a helpful idea, if we had 500 people!““No one seems to understand—I can’t find someone to take up the collection, much less start a new ministry.”I have heard statements like these many times from pastors of small churches. In fact, when I was pastoring two little churches of 15 and 30 people, I said these things myself.The overwhelming abundance of resources designed for larger churches often leaves the small church pastor feeling like the overlooked Who wistfully hoping that Horton will hear. Does anyone honestly care about our tiny community perched atop a dandelion puff?Steven E. Burt and Hazel Ann Roper have a resumé of small church experience that fills an entire page of their new book, The Little Church that Could (Judson, 2000).What will impress you, however, is not their credentials, but their passionate love for, and intimate knowledge of, the small church. You’ll hear testimonies of typical members and say to yourself, “I know her! She sits in the third pew from the back!” Burt and Roper will convince you early they know what it’s like to lead the small church.What makes a small church? The authors suggest it’s not the number in attendance but the organizational attitudes that define a small church. Any church that functions more like a living organism than an organization qualifies.“Lyle Shaller compares this size church to a cat,” write Burt and Roper. “Like the cat, the Family Church is self-contained, self-sufficient, resourceful, and independent. And it can be ornery.”The Little Church that Could addresses the small church’s greatest obstacle: the feeling of insignificance, an aura of defeated resignation. “Perhaps the most common remark one is apt to hear is, ‘We’re just a small church.’ The simple phrase ‘just a’ implies low esteem.”Contrary to popular advice, Burt and Roper do not suggest the answer is to become a bigger church. Instead they offer hope for effective ministry, regardless of size, by taking an insightful look into organizational and emotional patterns. Burt and Roper address the unique strengths and weaknesses of the small church.“We need to stop hiding this great light—the faithful, effective, people-affirming small church—under a bushel. Indeed, as David Ray aptly states in his book title, small churches are the right size.”The authors’ goal is to offer healing solutions to harmful patterns and helpful ideas to build on each church’s unique gifts. The pages are filled with methodical insights, inspiring case studies, and helpful suggestions. There are even some ingenious ideas included on how denominations, interim pastors, and seminaries can assist the small church.The book is brief. Bite-sized chapters have discussion questions and self-assessment tools at the end. The book could easily be adapted for use with board members or congregational vision meetings. The entire church could read and discuss it.In fact, I’d recommend it.

Drew Zahn

assistant editor of Leadership

It’s a Matter of Attitude

“Little” book depicts before and after the adjustment.Many candidating pastors have been told, “You probably wouldn’t be interested in us. We’re not very big.” This admission shows a defense mechanism at work. The small church keeps its distance in order to protect itself from rejection should a potential applicant turn down the search committee. Tragically, these statements become self-fulfilling prophecies . …

“If I were to paint or sculpt us as we were then and now,” said a young mother, “I’d show us then in a fetal position, like a baby in the womb, with our hands crossed across our chest, protective and clutching. Now I’d show us with arms extended, reaching out, giving instead of holding.”

—Steven Burt and Hazel Ann Roper

The Preacher’s Thermostat

Here’s kindling for the fire in your bones.

John Piper, Tony Evans, R. C. Sproul, Bill Hybels, E. V. Hill, John MacArthur, Jack Hayford. What do these preachers have in common?They preach with passion. Such passion carries implicit authority and stirs the listener’s soul.At Preaching Today we find our subscribers prize sermons marked by passion. Former editor Mark Galli uses the word “conviction” to describe the element that causes sermons to rise to the top. More than just understanding, people also need to be moved, they need to be inspired, they need to be changed.In Preaching with Passion (Kregel, 2000) Alex Montoya writes, “Some people say that I am passionate because of my Latin heritage. Actually, I am passionate because God’s Word makes me so, and because man’s condition demands it.”Though many may try, urgency cannot be manufactured. Authentic conviction comes from the quality of the preacher’s heart; therefore, the single most important step in sermon development is not the preparation of an outline, but the preparation of the heart.In eight chapters, Montoya says passionate preaching flows from eight sources: spiritual power, conviction, compassion, authority, urgency, brokenness, preaching with the whole being, and imagination.The chapter on imagination was the most surprising. Montoya explains how powerful imagery contributes to the awakening of feeling in both the listener and the preacher.Profound truths, when preached indifferently, seem irrelevant to hearers; while even familiar truths, when preached with urgency, impact the listener’s soul. Montoya quotes Spurgeon: “Every unearnest minister is unfaithful.”Montoya and Spurgeon are right. That’s why I read Preaching with Passion cover to cover. I knew my heart needed work.I read it reflectively, intentionally reading no more than one chapter per sitting. I wanted to let it simmer, slowly stirring my spirit. I wrote down questions and issues that challenged me:“Am I preaching because I enjoy preaching, or because I am burdened for the people?”“Have I delved into the lives of my congregation so that I weep for what they weep for?”“Have I meditated on my convictions until their importance burns in my heart?”Such questions uncover embers of the soul to ignite flames of passionate spirituality.Preaching with Passion can have the same effect on you. Read it:If you recognize that preparing your heart to preach is the ongoing process of a lifetime, or if you feel detachedly professional lately,If you wonder why hearers respond indifferently to your preaching, and you want to change lives, not just dispense information.If you tire of exclamation points, or if you require a book to exude fresh insight, Preaching with Passion may disappoint you. But if you are open to a preacher reminding us what we need to hear most, you will value this book.

Brian Larson

editor of PreachingToday.com

Hall of Famers

Sermons by 20th century preachers who left their mark.

In Sermons of the Century (Baker, 2000), Warren Wiersbe has selected 25 preachers “who had influence beyond their own base of ministry and who left behind something to remind us that they had been among us.”

You’ve heard their names again and again—people like Dwight L. Moody, G. Campbell Morgan, Billy Sunday, Aimee Semple McPherson, Donald Grey Barnhouse—but you may have never read their sermons. Were their sermons really that great? How does preaching of fifty or a hundred years ago differ from today?

With one sermon from each preacher (and a brief biography), Wiersbe exposes readers to the century’s best preaching.

—BL

NOTE: For your convenience, the following products, which were mentioned above, are available for purchase: Boiling Point, George Barna and Mark Hatch The Little Church That Could, Steven E. Burt and Hazel Ann Roper Preaching With Passion, Alex Montoya Sermons of the Century, Warren Wiersbe

The kingdom of God is near.

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