AND: Pursuing Incarnational & Attractional (Part I) by Todd Wilson

eric posted on October 3, 2009

I love what I do. However, when asked what that is, I always struggle. Somewhere near the intersection of scout, explorer, entrepreneur, adventurer, collaborator, catalyzer, and opportunist. The challenge is always in limiting the number of simultaneous adventures.

So what am I excited about? Lots. Most excited about? Can’t say (too hard to choose). Most convicted about? That is a bit easier. Alan Hirsch and I are facilitating a group of 10 mega-church pastors in looking to “what’s next?” What is beyond the current prevailing church models / approaches? What if the prevailing church (mega, multi, etc), is a key future distribution channel for incarnational faith communities that reach the 60% who will never attend the prevailing church?

The Landscape

Throughout history the next great movement has consistently emerged from the convergence of factors that come together to create advances in thinking and doing. What if the next great movement, possibly one with historic significance, presents itself to us? What if we are being called to serve as catalysts and stewards of this next movement of God? Is it a coincidence that all this comes at a time of growing (holy) discontent among our best thinkers and church leaders in the prevailing church…a roaming of the mind that is only now beginning to be articulated?

In the past 30 years the number of mega-churches has increased from under 100 to over 7,000. In the past 10 years the number of multi-site churches has increased from under 100 to over 2,000. By the numbers, these prevailing church models are movements and these churches enjoy the national platform, the national voice, and the resources to profoundly impact the Kingdom. But to what end? In spite of the rapid growth of these prevailing churches we are losing ground.

Some estimate the percent of people living in the US who will never be reached by prevailing church models to be in excess of 60%. In fact, in spite of its relative successes, church growth theory and practice has by and large failed to stem the decline of the church in America over the last 40 years. We stand at the verge of serious (exponential) decline if something is not done…and soon.

The prevailing church is strong at “catching”, converting, and holding. The holy discontent described above also includes a dimension that we need to become better at “releasing” and sending. Jesus said “as the Father has sent me, so send I you.” Unlike boomers who generally are comfortable contributing to ministry, the young emerging “millennial” leaders seek to be ministry; to live missional lifestyles.

These young emerging leaders are demonstrating a strong idealism rooted in service. Their scorecards are different. They measure success not by the size of buildings or budgets or staff but by their sending capacity, their relationships, and their impact in improving lives. These leaders are likely to respect the structures and strengths of the prevailing church models while at the same time resonating with the paradigms of more incarnational ministry approaches.

In recent years a growing schism emerged between those calling themselves missional-incarnational leaders and those leading prevailing church models. The conversation has focused on what Jim Collins calls the “tyranny of the OR” rather than the “Genius of the AND.” However, a growing number of innovative leaders are seeing the possibilities that exist in the “AND”. Applied to the issue at hand, we believe the next big step for the church in the U.S. lies in applying missional-incarnational AND prevailing church models.

God is at work amidst all the uncertainty. The faint knocking is increasing in intensity. A growing number of leaders sense it. As we find ourselves in the middle of a perfect storm, could we be on leading edge of a great movement of God?

The Big Idea

What if prevailing church models (e.g. Mega-church, multi-site, etc) and leaders ARE the future delivery system / channel for incarnational faith communities to retake our cities and expand our churches exponentially through multiplication rather than linearly through addition? What if its not a tyranny of the OR of whether to be “attractional” OR “incarnational” but rather a genius of the AND to leverage the strengths of the prevailing church platform to more aggressively release leaders to expand the Kingdom through new faith communities?

More to come…

Todd  Wilson currently serves as Director of the Exponential Network and executive minister at New Life Christian Church in Manassas, Virginia.