not say that tongues were foolish, only that they appeared to be foolish to unbelievers so therefore be seeker sensitive. Miller’s examination of the attitude of the three church groups, reflected an interesting statistic, while all of the three church movements believed fervently in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, their usage of the gift of tongues varied greatly.
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Of all the church members surveyed in the three movements 41% indicated that they spoke in tongues, 13% said that they had spoke in tongues a few time and 4% said that they had spoken in tongues once while 42% had never. While the Vineyard fellowship encouraged the use of tongues in worship, Calvary and Hope chapels did not discourage or encourage.[1] The laying on of hands, visions, healing services are all encouraged but the use or lack of use of tongues usually indicated the pastor’s position.
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The MCM clearly and intentionally redeveloped their approach to public worship so as to make the unbeliever feel comfortable and that meant identifying with their environment, culture etcetera. For the MCM, worship takes place as McNair[2] suggests, for the “cultivating and refreshing of spiritual thirst” and while that is true, how to do that is a very practical challenge. The MCM look at the small details of the worship experience, venue, lighting to create the right mood, the best sound system, comfortable seating, space - not too much and not too little.
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Wagner[3] talks about developing “sociological strangulation” where a small building can both strangle the worship experience and the growth of the church. The ambience of the building is important right down to the type of plants and flowers on display. Good nursery facilities, clean rest rooms, a no dress code, and a desire to constantly evaluate and review.
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Warren suggests that “we should match the music to the kind of people we wish to reach”.[4] He would argue that there is no such thing as Christian music only Christian lyrics. Music can set the mood of your service. Every true revival has always been accompanied by music. That is correct in that it accompanies but not causes. So worship construction is a key element in the MCM`s growth and development and as we will see also in Saddleback’s growth.[5].
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3.2.4 Attendance expectancy.
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Attendance is a vital principle for the mega church and this is a clear distinctive. It is not enough to have many names on rolls; attendance is the way to measure participation, involvement and commitment. To be categorised as a mega church, attendance figures are usually beyond 2000 worshippers[6] at any particular service.
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When a church reaches that size it can be taken for granted that it has good organisational structures, suitable staffing arrangements for all activities, programmed worship and all the facilities that a post modern mind would expect.Warren quotes from Matthew 4:25: “enormous crowds followed him wherever he went”.
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He argues that enormous crowds characterised the ministry of Jesus, and seekers, according to Warren, loved to listen to him. He goes on to suggest that “a Christ like ministry still attracts crowds; you don’t have to use gimmicks or compromise your convictions to gather a crowd”.[7] He infers that if you minister to people in the way Jesus did, people in large numbers will follow.
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If that is true then the mega church could argue that it is following Christ faithfully and the proof of that is seen in the attendance figures. It could be suggested that this supposition is a little too simplistic and very discouraging to pastors who struggle in various small churches.
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The argument could also be made that every Mega Church was once a small church; why is it then that some churches grow and others do not? Warren suggests that the crowds follow because mega churches minister into the lives of the people in the same way Jesus did. He loved them,[8] He met their needs,[9] and he taught them in interesting and practical ways.[10]
Attendance is an indicator of the vision, the quality of the leadership and care of people.
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Warren in his book “The Purpose Driven Church” gives realistic reasons why so many unbelievers and believers regularly attend mega churches in general, and Saddleback church in particular. He points out a few simple truths about personal and collective ministry. He believes unbelievers must be loved[11] as Jesus loved them, he suggests that this is the key to growing a church.
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He also reflects that often in the traditional church there is little growth because there is the perception that, the lack of a crowd is proof of their biblical, orthodox and spirit filled fellowship. They maintain that their small size is proof that they are a pure church, that they haven’t compromised their beliefs, it may mean that they don’t love lost people enough to reach out to them. [12] Warren maintains that attendance is a key characteristic of church growth and reflects a principle behind the success of the mega churches.
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3.2.5 Congregational structuring.
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Congregational development and meaningful structuring is decisive to the growth of the mega church. Vision is the outworking of a strategy by dynamic leadership which turns the attendees they love and care for away from a life of rampant individualism to the place of not just “believing but belonging”.[13]
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The Mega movement has developed a system and a structure to assimilate and keep the people together in Christian fellowship. Membership traditionally may have meant nothing more than some ritual, rules to follow and the placing of your name on a church roll; for Warren membership was becoming a “vital organ in the body of Christ”.[14]
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Here we gain a view of the internal strengths of the movement, the idea that the local church body was a spiritual incubator where spiritual life could be nurtured.. Warren would argue that churches that don’t care about the spiritual well being of new members are destined to decline. If many traditional churches examined the structure and the development of their spiritual care ministry they would discover one of the main reasons for their decline.
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Getting people to make decisions for Christ is one thing but the journey to discipleship is incredibly difficult. The MCM made the decisive step to assimilate new members into distinct programmes which would connect them spiritually to the body of Christ, and in so doing succeed in growing numerically and spiritually.
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Miller[15] highlights the effectiveness of such a course of action as cell groups or house groups for they give a sense of belonging to the converts to share and pray in an intimate way as well as dealing with real life issues such as divorce, parenting, finance challenges, drug problems, sickness etc.
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Warren has a structure and a distinct strategy in ministry which gives growth on multiple levels. His strategy for preaching to the unchurched is one of adapting his style to meet the needs of his audience. Like most of the mega church senior pastors, Warren preaches to the felt needs, hurts and interests of people.
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This method is seen by many traditional critics of the Mega Movement as compromising.One of those critics, Os Guinness, a writer and a scholar, suggests that themore modern breeding ground for irony is the uncritical elevation of modern notions of need. The mega churches entire law, as one proponent puts it, is summed up in their two great commandments, `find a need and meet it, find a hurt and heal it.[16]
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Warren counters such arguments by reflecting thatpreaching to the felt needs is scorned and criticised in some circles as a cheapening of the gospel and a sell out to compromise. I want to state in the clearest possible way: beginning a message with people’s felt needs is more than a marketing tool! It is based on the theological fact that God chooses to reveal Himself to man according to our needs! Both the Old Testament and New Testament is filled with examples of this. [17]
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Warren is not prepared to allow his theological understanding and his ministry practice to be demeaned and seen as some kind of marketing process. Reading his book[18] there is no doubt that his intense interest is in helping people and not just the establishing of a mega church. The argument is clear that Saddleback Church is an effect of the intensity of desire (the cause) to meet people at the point of their need. The church generally has been strong on revelation but at times incredibly weak on relevance.
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Miller[19] recognised the three mega church movements to be relevant for each movement was not looking for adherents to another denomination but for people who longed that their lives could be transformed and renewed. To say that we know the mind of God (revelation) is one thing; finding ways to communicate that message to the masses is an incredibly complex and complicated matter.
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Criticisms aside, the MCM’s approach is making a difference for many as the message is contextualised.Within the congregational development process, the MCM makes the Bible accessible to unbelievers by using newer translations, placing Bibles in the pews and only reading suitable portions which the unchurched can identify with. Warren, Hybels, Southerland and others provide outlines of their sermons and all scriptures used.
[1] Donald E. Miller, Reinventing American Protestantism, 92-93.
[2] Donald McNair, The Practices of a Healthy Church, New Jersey, P&R Publishing, 1999, 10.
[3] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, 267.
[4] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, 281.
[5] Dissertation: chapter 4.
[6] Scott Thumma & Dave Travis, Beyond Megachurch Myths, 8.
[7] Warren, TPDC, 207.
[8] Matthew 9:36.
[9] Matthew 15:30.
[10] Matthew 13:24.
[11] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, 209.
[12] Warren, TPDC, 209.
[13] Warren, TPDC, 310.
[14] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, 310.
[15] Donald E. Miller, Reiventing Amercan Protestantism, 42.
[16] Guinness.htm.Page 2, Issue 17.08.2007.
[17] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, 295
[18] Warren, TPDC, 331f
[19] Donald E. Miller, Reinventing American Protestantism, 52.