Avoid Common Evangelical Myths that Restrict their Absorption

This document is in the process of development. Send us your thoughts–George Patterson

Body Building Group Activity # 1
KEEP LITTLE TO KEEP LIVELY

Scripture, history and recent research all agree that small congregations are more effective in mobilizing believers to win friends to Christ and do vital ministries.

The debilitating myth is that big is always better.

Body Building Group Activity # 2
DIALOGUE TO DEVELOP

1 Corinthians 14:3 defines the purpose of prophesying in the New Testament as to edify, exhort and console, and verses 24-26 require that ‘all’ do it. The New Testament’s many ‘one another’ commands require the same (teach one another, exhort one another, etc.). Churches with this kind of interaction consistently see amazing results.

The devastating myth is that pulpit monologue is the most powerful teaching method.

Body Building Group Activity # 3
BUILD ON THE ONE BIG BOULDER

Jesus said to make disciples by teaching them to obey His commands, and the wise man who built his house on the rock was the one who heard Jesus’ words and obeyed them. Jesus said if we love Him, we will obey His commands. The first church in Jerusalem obeyed them from the beginning. They can all be summarized in seven basic commands that the 3,000 new believers obeyed in Acts 2:37-47. Churches that disciple for such loving obedience have members that are far more active.

The distracting myth is  that the Ten Commandments, or extensive biblical indoctrination, is the starting point for the Christian life.

Body Building Group Activity # 4
MENTOR TO MULTIPLY

Training new leaders the way Jesus and Paul did, by mentoring on the job, results in the rapid multiplication of both leaders and new churches, as seen in Acts and the chain reaction of 2 Tim. 2:2. Where new leaders get such training, the results have been far superior. Both methods of training have their place, and a wise educator will discern the conditions that favor both.

The paralyzing myth is that institutional training outside of the church body and disjointed from its life and ministry is always sufficient and superior.

Body Building Group Activity # 5
LIBERATE LAY LEADERS

Ephesians 4:11-16 requires that all believers participate in at least one of the five basic church ministries, and reveals that God gives churches the people who can do so. These include apostles (sent ones), prophets (those who edify, exhort and console), evangelists, pastors and teachers. The broader context shows that for every paid professional in each of these five categories, God wants dozens, perhaps hundreds, of volunteer, lay ministers. Where leaders have maintained this proportion, God’s work has prospered immeasurably more by comparison.

The prejudicial myth is that professional clergy should carry the bulk of the weight in church ministry.

Body Building Group Activity # 6
MIX GIFT-BASED MINISTRIES

1 Corinthians 12 requires that people with different spiritual gifts work closely together, integrating their ministries in the body. Church planters and pastors who work with others who complement their gifts this way, normally see far better results in all areas of ministry, rather than in one area of specialization. Small groups or house churches that gather people with different gifting are consistently more powerful over time, and far more apt to reproduce in new bodies.

The destructive myth is that churches should organize by compartmentalization (programs).

Body Building Group Activity # 7
REJOICE IN JESUS’ LIFE-GIVING RESURRECTION

1 Corinthians 15, John 11 and many other passages show that eternal life comes only through our participation in Jesus’ life-giving resurrection, which is just as much a part of His saving work as His atoning death. Teachers should not separate the two; when witnessing, the apostles always related Jesus’ resurrection as the glorious climax of His work. Christians in the New Testament were very aware of the presence of the risen, ascended Christ, through the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit. They saw Christ as their savior not only in the legal sense in that He provided for their forgiveness, but also as the very source of our new, holy and eternal being. This view of Jesus’ saving work glorifies Him not only as the sacrifice for sin, but also as the life-giver, the door to heaven, and source of all meaningful existence.

The blinding myth is that saving faith consists mainly in understanding and accepting the logic of Christ’s 'substitutionary' atonement. The pernicious side of this myth is that faith is not belief in doctrinal propositions–true as they are–but trust in a Person. This failure leads to a static, analytical and intellectual view of the Christian life, rather than a dynamic, active and continual experience of Jesus’ reigning presence.