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.