Important Information from Willow Creek

Everybody knows about Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL). From its inception, it was built on the attractional model – offer professional Christian entertainment and people will pack the place out. It made the “seeker sensitive” idea famous . It was phenomenally successful at growing bigger and bigger.

But then it took a good hard look at results. And shocked the Christian world in 2007 when it announced that it had failed to disciple people, and that “increased involvement in church activities ceases to predict spiritual growth.”[1]

It undertook a massive research project to discover factors that enhance spiritual growth, and I want to report some of them to you (I also recommend that you get the book, Follow Me, so you can read it for yourself and get all the juicy details!). So what I’m writing about today is not just somebody’s theory or nice idea. This is research-based information, and you can count on its usefulness in your ministry!

The first big discovery was that people follow a “Spiritual Growth Continuum,” which has four segments:

1.      Exploring Christ (people who believe in God but aren’t sure about Christ in their lives)

2.      Growing in Christ (those who have accepted Christ and are in the first steps of following Him)

3.      Close to Christ (people who daily build their relationship and obedience to Christ)

4.      Christ-Centered (those whose relationship with Christ is the most important thing in their lives)

See what I’m talking about here? A path of discipleship, where a person walks from exploring, through growing, into closeness and finally lives a Christ-centered life.

Second big discovery: There are three movements between these four segments:

1.      Movement 1, from Exploring Christ to Growing in Christ

2.      Movement 2, from Growing in Christ to Close to Christ

3.      Movement 3, from Close to Christ to Christ-Centered

So far so good. Big discovery number three is called the “Catalysts of Spiritual Growth.” Here, Willow Creek’s research found four kinds of things that actually influence and enhance spiritual growth (discipleship):

1.      Spiritual beliefs and attitudes (e.g., historic Christian theology)

2.      Organized church activities (e.g., worship, Sunday school, youth groups)

3.      Personal spiritual practices (e.g., Bible reading, praying, tithing)

4.      Spiritual activities with others (spiritual friendships, outreach, serving others)

From the research, I created this chart, which tries to picture the four segments, three movements, and top activities that enhance spiritual growth:

Note that the practices are listed in order of their strength in the life of the believer, as determined statistically by Willow Creek’s research. For example, in Movement 1, the three most powerful Spiritual Beliefs and Attitudes are (1) Salvation by Grace, (2) the Trinity, and (3) Personal God, in that order. Belief in Salvation by Grace is the #1 most powerful belief, #2 is belief in the Trinity, and #3 is belief in a Personal God. (If you want the complete list of all the beliefs and attitudes, you’ll have to buy the book!)

So here is how to use this chart:

Discipling at its best is personal, one-on-one. Yes, it can and does happen in groups, too. But it happens best in the relationship between a discipler and a disciple. So for example, if you are discipling someone in Movement 1, you will want to engage that person in conversation and study about Salvation by Grace: That person has already accepted Christ, because they are moving toward Growing in Christ, so your role is to help them explore their salvation and develop the understanding that they were saved by grace (not by works, etc. – you know the drill J).

You will also want to teach them about the Trinity – this deep mystery of one God in three persons. Nobody fully understands it, yet we believe it. That is why Willow Creek labelled it “Spiritual Beliefs and Attitudes.” And, of course, your disciple will also need to work on belief in a Personal God. If you can help them with these three things, that’s pretty good.

Intermingled with all of that, you will also want to involve your disciple in the top three “Organized Church Activities,” along with the “Personal Spiritual Practices” and “Spiritual Activity with Others.”

Likewise with a disciple who is in Movement 2 or Movement 3. It seems to me that this simple chart provides enough agenda for a pastor or any discipler to stay quite busy guiding a developing disciple toward Christ-Centered living.

Enough of church programs, committee meetings, budgets, bylaws, and buildings! Let us get on with the work of discipling others, and let us use the best practices discovered by trustworthy research!

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[1] John Ortberg, “Foreword,” in Follow Me: What’s Next for You? by Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson (South Barrington, IL: Willow Creek Resources, 2008), 3.

An Indictment of “the church”

I wish to indict “the church” for sins against God’s people. By “the church,” I mean organized religion and nominal Christians who have done massive damage to the souls of God’s beloved children. I do not mean The Church, the Body of Christ, those genuine Christ followers who are the real deal, the authentic disciples who are doing God’s work in the world. Are we straight?

Here are two examples of why I bring an indictment of “the church:”

1.      A while back, I wrote about the Freedom From Religion Foundation (http://21stcenturydiscipling.blogspot.com/2014/10/freedom-from-religion.html). On their website, they have a video of Katie, “an out of the closet atheist.” She encourages other atheists to come out of the closet. If you listen to her, you will hear her say, “When I was in grade school I had to go [to church] five days a week and once on the weekends” (http://ffrf.org/video-landing). This is part of the reason she’s an atheist today. She was forced to go to church.

2.      I teach a course called “Faith and Human Development,” and my students’ very first assignment is to write a Spiritual Autobiography. In some of those papers, I have encountered some tragically heartbreaking stories of deep spiritual damage done in the name of “the church.”

For example, one student wrote, “I have witnessed firsthand where these people were treated so poorly in the church that they would go outside and sit during the service and cry. This is not what is supposed to happen in the church. We are all there to help each other grow in their faith and develop into the people that God would want us to be. If this is how the church was going to be I would rather stay home and do my own thing than sit there and witness things like this.”

This, and many similar stories, remind me of what Jesus said about those who turn people away from God: “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”

- Mark 9:42 (NRSV)

There are three kinds of teaching in the church:

1.      Explicit. These are the intentional teachings we do through organized classes, worship services, etc. Perhaps best represented by printed curriculum and lesson plans.

2.      Implicit. These are the unintentional teachings that happen by the way we do our organized classes, worship services, fellowship meals, service projects, etc. For example, a smiling face and a warm welcome to visitors.

3.      Null. This is the unintentional nullification of our Explicit and Implicit teaching. An example would be forcing a child to attend church six days a week; or snarling at a crying baby during worship; or asking a visitor to move because they are sitting “in my pew.”

How many acts of love and reconciliation would it take to heal one act of Null Teaching? Ten? Fifteen? Twenty? Probably.

And how many souls have been lost to the Kingdom because of Null Teaching? Thousands? Millions? The damage done by “the church” is breathtakingly stunning.

Disciplers – let us resolve to be aware of our Explicit Teaching, our Implicit Teaching, and our Null Teaching. Let us strive to reduce and eliminate all Null Teaching. Let us not put any stumbling blocks in the path of these little ones.