The Megachurch Phenomenon

The church growth movement is an important new initiative in the long history of church innovation and adaptation. At its core, it constitutes the most significant attempt by conservative churches in North America to approach a new social attitude that has cast aside Christian faith and has become increasingly secular in its public life, and pluralistic in its private life.

Interestingly, this is a factor that is often overlooked due to the movement's own accusatory rhetoric. Church growth movement leaders talk and write so much about Christians and churches that are "stuck in tradition," "stuck in the mud," or "dying for a change," that people end up understanding their criticisms as descriptions. One author, lacking a sense of historical perspective, writes: "Frankly, evangelical Christianity has been successful in terms of revelation (The Bible), but not in terms of the essentials (culture)." This gives the impression that there is a Neanderthal church incapable of change.

There is no doubt that it is easy to find cases of stubborn resistance. But Christian faith is unrivaled among world religions for its proven ingenuity in innovation and adaptation. And no branch of Christian faith has demonstrated this genius more frequently and successfully than the evangelical movement.

All innovation is open to scrutiny and various evaluations. And the dark side of this innovative genius is the church's tendency to compromise with the spirit of its times. But, starting from the early church's adaptations (e.g., Augustine's translations of Platonism's language and ideas, extending to the innovations of 18th-century Methodism and 19th-century revivalism), Christians have always shown themselves tirelessly determined to innovate and adapt for the sake of the gospel.

Pages: 124

Dimensions: 14 x 23 x 0.7 cm

ISBN: 9788415189183