Where Are You? Our Need for Biblical Community

Pastor Randy Thornton (pictured above) 

The Rev. Randy Thornton, senior pastor of Grace Church in Southern Pines, N.C., preached to his congregation on Sunday, June 23, 2013, a message called “Where Are You? Our Need for Biblical Community.”

Pastor Thornton read John 16:12-14 (NIV): “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”

“God brings cleansing to the church to bring cleansing to the nation,” Thornton said.

Calling his summary “Randy’s Rule of Revival,” he offered a list of results he theorizes take place during a “revival”: 70 percent is “of God”; 20 percent is emotion (flesh); “and 10 percent is the devil.”

“When lives are getting changed, there is always a counterfeit, too,” he said.

The gentiles who made up the majority of the Church of Galatia during the Apostle Paul’s day were waning in their passion for Christ, Thornton said. 

Paul wrote:

Galatians 3:1 (NIV): “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.”

Galatians 1:6: "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel . . . "

Galatians 3:3: "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?"

“Gnosticism was coming into the church,” Thornton said, adding that Gnosticism involves “trying to obtain more and more knowledge” and emphasizing “outward performance.”

The word “Gnosticism” comes from the Greek word “gnosis,” which means “knowledge.” Gnosticism generally purposes that salvation is achieved through special knowledge.

Thornton said he recently read “Reveal” (2009, by Greg L. Hawkins and Cally Parkinson), a book analyzing “the effectiveness of churches” and describing four categories of believers.

The book centers on survey information gathered from 11,000 forms distributed among Willow Creek Church attendees.

(Find a “Summary of the Willow Creek REVEAL Study” by Russ Rainey, Ph.D., at http://www.christiancoachingcenter.org/index.php/russ-rainey/coachingchurch2/.)

Dr. Rainey writes in his “REVEAL Study” summary, “Before the research, Willow Creek had been assuming that ‘the more a person far from God participates in church activities, the more likely it is those activities will produce a person who loves God and loves others.’ However, this assumption was found to be invalid by the research. To quote the study: ‘Does increased attendance in ministry programs automatically equate to spiritual growth? To be brutally honest: it does not.’”

Rainey says the Willow Creek study divided church attendees into groups according to their levels of spiritual formation: 1) those who are ‘exploring Christianity,’ 2) those who are ‘growing in Christ,’ 3) those who are ‘close to Christ,’ and 4) those who are ‘Christ-centered.’

The study found that those who were in the first two categories (exploring and growing – the least mature attendees) actually did benefit more from the church’s programs and ministries.

But Rainey notes that those who were more mature (the close to Christ and Christ-centered members) were often “stalled” in their spiritual growth or “dissatisfied” with what the church was doing to help them grow. 

“When the stalled and dissatisfied groups were combined, they totaled over 25 percent of the total membership of the church,” Rainey says. “Those who admitted to being stalled seemed to come mainly from the ‘close to Christ’ category and they appeared to be ‘holding back or . . . somehow blocked from spiritual growth and progress.’ This group represents 16 percent of all those surveyed. Even though they see Jesus as the only way to salvation, only seven percent reported regular Bible reading and 25 percent of this group were considering leaving the church.”

Rainey reports that those who admitted to being dissatisfied seemed to come from the most “Christ-focused” segment of the church. 

“They are active evangelists, volunteers and donors to the church,” he says. “They are also the ones most likely to report that they are considering leaving the church.” 

The surveys concluded that the higher the level of engagement, the more likely it is that satisfaction with the church will be lukewarm.  The highly engaged group makes up about 10 percent of the total church. 

According to Rainey, researchers made two important observations: 1) this mature group of believers were dissatisfied that their church did not “keep them on track” as they tried to lead a Christian life and 2) they were disappointed that the church had not “helped them find a spiritual mentor.”

Rainey’s Conclusion:

The Church and its ministries seemed to have the most influence at the beginning of a person’s spiritual growth process. 

“The more mature believers do not seem to benefit so much from programmatic hand-holding – ‘the institution of the church becomes less central to their faith development,’” he says.  

Rainey adds, “The study concludes that, ‘Our analysis paints the picture of the church being too preoccupied with the early growing years, leaving the spiritual adolescents to find their own way – without preparing them for the journey.’”

The data from this study “suggests that the church provides minimal support for those who are most devoted to Christ.

“Since these people are the best equipped and most motivated advocates for Christ, providing them with increased coaching (emphasis mine) and encouragement could reap great gains for the kingdom.” Rainey says. “The new goal of Willow Creek is to “transition the role of the church from spiritual parent to spiritual coach (emphasis mine).”

Rainey offers a final positive note: “Those who are most advanced on the spiritual growth continuum state that they have an increasing need for ‘someone to hold me accountable” and “speak the truth to me.’ The study concludes that, ‘ . . . they also seem to want a personal growth coach (emphasis mine) or spiritual mentor. That may be what would truly ‘keep them on track’ and from walking out the back door.’”

“Twenty-five percent of people [in the Willow Creek survey] were at two levels of dissatisfaction,” Pastor Thornton said, continuing his sermon. “They were thinking of leaving the church or had stopped growing.”

He observed that a lot of people in the first two categories (those who were “exploring Christianity” and those who were “growing in Christ”) had some problems such as: addictions, inappropriate relationships, emotional issues, lust, etc. They had not prioritized their spiritual lives and were not experiencing God because they were not seeking God.

“But, also, some of the more mature Christians were thinking of leaving the church,” Thornton said.

He added that those Christians were “disengaging” from the church by not serving in ministry, not being active in small groups, and indulging in “church is here for me” thinking.

“When you do not give, you become dissatisfied,” Thornton said. “By giving your life away, you receive life.”

There is a time when mature believers realize the church cannot meet all their needs, he said.

“You have to become a ‘self feeder,’” Thornton said. “There is a time when you need to be a meat-eater.”

Over time, believers have embraced the lie that the church is responsible for their spiritual welfare, he said.

“The lie of Satan is that you need to be constantly fed,” he said. “As you give, you are ministered to.”

He read Jeremiah 2:13 (NIV): “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”  

“A lot of us have bitten into the lie that the church is our problem,” Thornton said.

He read Revelation 2:1-7 (NIV):

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: . . . I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.

“You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”

“As a mature believer, you need to come in here already filled with God,” Thornton said. “An immature believer says, ‘Grind up my food; turn the blender on. Some of us are stalled. If you’re a mature believer and you’re not telling others about Jesus – repent!”  

He asked, “If revival truly hit our community, what would happen? [Would you be] ‘Waa, waa, waa, feed me, feed me, or [would you be] mature believers?”

Thornton said that a “leaker” is one who has Jesus leaking out of him and is not having to be fed by others.  

He said that a “leecher” claims he’s “not being fed” and is a milk-feeder. (The “Urban Dictionary” defines a “leecher” as “someone who takes a lot and doesn't give much.”)

“Rather than feeding others, others have to feed you; you’re leeching – you’re a leecher, not a leaker,” Thornton said.

He noted that telling people about Jesus is part of the “overflow.”

“Is your cup full enough that there’s an overflow?” Thornton asked. “We need Jesus-leaking people.  When Jesus is leaking out of your life, you change the spiritual climate. We want to be so close to Jesus that we become the church that leaks.”