"The Church seems
afraid to invest in new
modes of being the Church,
breaking free from antiquated models
and irrelevant traditions toward living
the gospel in a twenty-first-century context."[1]
George Barna,
Leaders
on Leadership
"Our common
future will depend on the extent to which people and leaders around the
world develop the vision of a better world and the strategies, the institutions,
and then will to achieve it."
[2]
The UN Commission on
Global Governance
"...there
is a substantial critical mass of people and churches that are already moving.'
...While acknowledging that there are still many unhealthy churches, there
is a justified
'change
in basic premises, basic attitudes, basic mind set... on the whole,
we are on the march...."[3]
"Peter
Drucker on the Church and Denominations," Leadership Network.
A strange distortion of truth has
spread like a grass fire on a windy day through churches around the world. It
calls God's people not just to understand our changing times from the world's
perspective, but to actually blow with the wind and help fuel the transformation.
This Church Growth Movement (CGM) uses familiar old words to persuade the people,
but it conforms God's Word as well as human thinking to politically correct
views of unity, community, service and change.
Behavioral
laboratories, schools, UNESCO and
liberal churches
all helped light that fire during the 20th century. Hidden from sight, their
subversive efforts seared America's Biblical foundations and prepared the masses
to believe a lie.
Now, at the dawn of the new millennium,
"conservative" and "evangelical" churches are following suit. Worldwide "Christian"
networks provide trained leadership and management consultants to guide God's
people along this alluring superhighway to a new world order. Forget the old
narrow way that leads to life. Today's "change agents" hope to popularize Christianity
so effectively that whole nations will join their crusade.
Forget solid Bible teaching
and "the offense of the cross." To win the masses "for Christ", the church must
be re-cloaked in a more permissive and appealing image. It must be marketed
to the world as "a safe place," purged of the moral standards that stirred conviction
of sin and a longing to separate from the world's immorality. So they
re-imagined a feel-good church stripped of offense - one the world could love
and claim as its own.
Their march to a "better world" is
well under way. In this new church, group thinking, compromise, conflict resolution,
the dialectic process and facilitated
consensus are in. Uncompromising conviction and resistance to group
consensus are out. For God's way seems far too intolerant
to fit the managed systems of the new millennium. [To better understand these terms,
please read Brainwashing in America and
The People's Church]
Guiding the revolution
"Dissatisfaction
with existing conditions seems to be a prerequisite for intentional
change. ....dissatisfaction should not be regarded merely as a factor
operating to furnish initial motivation. It should be utilized at all
stages of the process to keep crystallization from setting in."
(See Utilization of Dissatisfaction)
Hard to believe? Then listen to the
leadership team chosen by George Barna, founder and president of Barna Research
Group, to write his revolutionary 1995 book, Leaders on Leadership. I
call it revolutionary because it is. It actually invites a revolution
in the Church and shows a new brand of leaders how to manage it.
Doug
Murren, former senior pastor of Eastside Foursquare Church, wrote a chapter
titled, "The Leader as Change Agent." In it, he explains the first step in the
psycho-social process of "managed change." Notice that he takes his cues from
an experienced "change agent" at Stanford University which -- like MIT, Harvard
and Teacher's College at Columbia -- is a major research institution in the
area of social change, persuasive propaganda and psycho-social manipulation:
"Arnold Mitchell, a social psychologist
from Stanford, has spent years studying the attitudes and behaviors of Americans.
He contends that three ingredients are necessary for change to occur. First,
Mitchell notes that change comes from dissatisfaction....
Effective change agents assess the chances for change by evaluating the
level of dissatisfaction within the group. If dissatisfaction is strong,
the potential for change exist....
"To be effective, a leader must
also deliberately develop dissatisfaction."
"Preparing people for change
sometimes takes what seems like forever.... I shared startling or even embarrassing
statistics about where we were as a church body and where we needed to be,
seeking to create the right level of dissatisfaction."
"Positive change rarely intimates
'returning to the way it used to be.' Most positive change I have witnessed
has been about creating a better future rather than returning to
a cherished past."[4]
The Stanford psychologist's second
and third ingredients are "a terrific amount of emotional and physical energy"
and "insight" evidenced by "a well-conceived strategy for making things better."
Notice that Pastor Murren's
"three ingredients" for changing people have nothing to do with God's guidelines
or standards. They have everything to do with deceptive human visions of how
elite "change agents" can control the masses. Their manipulative methods have
become so familiar that their subjects barely notice what is happening. Lest
you forget, take another look at the initial steps:
1. Assess (survey) the
attitudes, values and wants of the people. Your personal assessment will
be the benchmark for measuring planned change in the months and years ahead.
2.
Stir dissatisfaction with the old ways so that the seeds of revolution
can grow without regrets. Actually,
the survey itself initiates the "dissatisfaction", since a "good"
church survey would contain anxiety-producing questions that suggest internal
problems and prompt public dialogue and complaint.
This tactic was explained in a 1951
manual on "group development" written by such infamous psycho-social change
agents as Kurt Lewin. Titled Human Relations in Curriculum Change, it
includes a chapter on "Utilization of Dissatisfaction, which states:
"Dissatisfaction with existing
conditions seems to be a prerequisite for intentional change.... Yet, it
is not a simple matter to make dissatisfaction function actively as a motivating
force in our complex modern society. ... In utilizing dissatisfaction as
a factor in producing change the student of society must learn to deal with
these two types of conservatism, the conservatism with those with a stake
in the present arrangement and the conservatism of those who do not wish
to be bothered with change....
"Fortunately for human progress,
thee is a fourth group of persons in whom already exists dissatisfaction
of such nature that they are ready to be utilized at once as motivation
toward action.... This group can be counted on a nucleus for hasting
the process of change....
"... dissatisfaction should not
be regarded merely as a factor operating to furnish initial motivation.
It should be utilized at all stages of the process to keep crystallization
from setting in. Groups should be encouraged to make use of valuable solutions
to problems only so long as they serve a useful purpose."
[pages 58-59, 63. Emphasis added]
3. Offer an inspiring vision of "a better future." That better future
must be a here-and-now future -- one that man can create with his imagination.
It's the opposite of the glorious future God offers us for all eternity. In
this context of worldly change, heaven serves no earthly purpose. Only visions
that motivate collective efforts and
drive transformation can advance
the revolutionary plan.
To guide this process, well trained
leaders are needed. That's why Mr. Barna gathered "a team of experts that is as awesome
as any of you can imagine" to write his manual for the church. "Fifteen people have contributed
chapters to this book," he wrote. "I believe that the cumulative efforts of
this team have demonstrated the meaning of
synergy."[5]
emphasis added
Mr. Barna wrote the chapter on "The
Vision Thing" himself. In it, he explains that vision "is a view of the kind
of world God wants us to live within, a world He can create through us if all
those He has called as leaders would lead according to the guidance provided
by His Spirit."[6]
Does that statement sound like an
oxymoron? It is. Mr. Barna seems to imply that God will recreate the world around
us if today's "change agents" would walk by the Spirit. But these leaders of
"managed change" have been trained to follow a formula never given by Holy Spirit.
Man may shoot himself in the foot, but God will not give us tools that clash
with...
-
Biblical absolutes (Isaiah 40:8)
-
His call to trust Him, not human
ways and philosophies. (Proverbs 3:5-7)
-
His call to share in Christ's
suffering and persecution (John 15:18-21)
For example, Mr. Barna calls for
"evaluative tools prepared
so you can assess how well you are doing along the way, fine-tuning your implementation
efforts as you go along...."[6]
But God doesn't tell us to continually assess and evaluate our progress. He
tells us to love Him, study His Word and follow His ways, then leave the result
with Him. He will produce the fruit. He knows that if we continually measure
our successes, we may shift our focus from His will and sufficiency to our own
vision and achievements. That's why David was punished severely when he disobeyed
God by measuring (assessing) the size of his victorious army.
(2
Samuel 24)
God's Word and Spirit must guide
our daily steps, not our human standards and measurement for success. And His
ways tend to clash with the world's vision of prosperity, numbers and success.
But that matters little to mentors of "managed change" whose minds are tuned
to effective methods rather than to their Maker.
Molding Truth to fit the vision
Mr. Barna introduced Jim Van Yperen,
another change agent on his team of experts, as "a marketing strategist and
creative communications consultant." Van Yperen has "worked with a wide variety
of churches, parachurch ministries and non profit organizations in the areas
of vision development, strategic planning... resource development
and conflict resolution."
Note those buzzwords. They help us
identify the change process whenever we see it.
Mr. Van Yperen is consultant, not
a pastor, but he has been "serving several churches as Intentional Interim Pastor."
He hires himself out as Interim Pastor after leading a church through the initial
phases (assessment, dissatisfaction, vision, etc.) of the change process. Using
his strategic surveys to assess church attitudes and needs, he facilitates group
dialogues and "diagnoses" the health of the church.
Since he speaks persuasively and
manages this process well, he can soon inform the members that their church
has some good qualities yet current conflicts and dissatisfaction demand drastic
measures. To become a "healthy
church," it needs new leadership, new structures, new schedules,
a new way of thinking and a new emphasis on spiritual growth through
group relationships.
He also teaches a new way of understanding
the Bible. His chapter in Mr. Barna's book, "Conflict: the Refining Fire of
Leadership," contains a section called "Affirm Truth in Community." It helps
set the stage for the consensus process by suggesting that the Bible can best
be understood in groups where members pool their thoughts and shape their consensus.
Notice how his guidelines minimize the New Testament emphasis on a personal
love relationship with Jesus and maximize the world's view of the collective:
"Nearly all of Scripture
is written to and for groups of people, not individuals. We
must learn to read our Bibles this way. Instead of asking, 'What
is God saying to me?' we need to ask 'What is God saying to us?'
"Responding to power with truth
places Christ at the center and builds bridges with our brothers and sisters.
It acknowledges that no one person knows the truth completely, so we
need each other. It opens up the opportunity to own our assumptions
honestly, state our convictions directly and allow others to give perspective
openly."[7]
[See
Creating Community - a New Way of Thinking]
Today's change agents don't really
want everyone to "give their perspective openly." Some facts and group observations
can topple their plan. They want "dissatisfaction" but not dissent. They want
tolerance toward the things of the world, but they stir intolerance
toward "uncooperative" or "divisive" church members. Those who are found to
be enemies to their manipulative process must be disciplined, expelled or changed.
[See
Dealing with Resisters]
I have talked with many humble and
faithful Christians who were labeled "divisive" or "critical" by the new leadership
in their beloved church. Some were given a simple choice: leave or stop asking
hard questions. Others were told that "confession" -- including confessing
the "sin" of questioning the change process instead of submitting to it
--
and counseling under an assigned change agent would be a prerequisite for permission
to stay and continue their ministry.
In contrast to the critic, the perfect
group member is flexible, cooperative and open-minded -- especially toward new
and different ways of interpreting the Bible.
Thinking outside the box and Bible
Church reform, like education reform,
calls for "critical thinking," but
few church members know the real meaning of this phrase. To pacify parents,
public school teachers might define it as
"teaching students to think for themselves."
They
know that the revolution in education will proceed far more smoothly if parents
never realize that "critical thinking" means
criticizing and challenging traditional
beliefs, values and authorities.
Former pastor, Kenneth O. Gangel,
is academic dean and Vice president of Academic Affairs at Dallas Theological
Seminary. A prolific author, he wrote "Competent to Lead" and is considered
an expert on this topic. A natural choice for Mr. Barna's book team, he wrote
a chapter titled "What Leaders Do."
One of the six tasks of a leader,
says Pastor Gangel, is to "think." Of course, we all think. But, in the context
of managed change, thinking isn't really thinking unless your thinking fits
the new formula.
Pastor Gangel quotes Stephen Brookfield
who, for ten years, was Professor in the Department of Higher and Adult Education
at the liberal Teachers College at Columbia University. While traveling as keynote
speaker to national, and international education conferences around the world,
Brookfield continues to serve as Adjunct Professor at Columbia. The statement
Pastor Gangel used to support his own teaching came from Brookfield's book,
Developing Critical Thinkers:
"Central to critical thinking
is the capacity to imagine and explore alternatives to existing
ways of thinking and living. ... Critical thinkers are continually exploring
new ways of thinking about aspects of their lives....
"Critical thinking is complex
and frequently perplexing, since it requires the suspension of belief
and the jettisoning of assumptions previously accepted without
question."[8]
Did you catch the message?
"It requires the suspension
of belief and the jettisoning of assumptions previously accepted without question."
That's the essence of "critical" thinking! Church managers can't establish the
new view of "reality" without first undermining the old Biblical beliefs. Before
they see success, the group must let go of the old absolutes and dare to flow
with the winds of change.
Linking the old mental hindrances
to negative feelings speeds the process and brings lasting change. That's why
each group member must learn to associate the "poor thinking" of the past --
including Biblical absolutes that can't be bent to fit our times -- with something
unpleasant or unacceptable.
[See
illustration]
On the other hand, "good thinking" must feel good and be linked to the "right"
things such as unity, small group fellowship, or fun entertainment such as
Harry Potter. This illusion of freedom
without consequences is illustrated by a set of Middle School lessons published
by the curriculum branch of the mighty, liberal National Education Association:
Good
Thinking vs. Poor Thinking
"This model helps us
make some valid and useful distinctions between good and poor
thinking. Here we wish to distance ourselves from those who
equate good thinking
with a long list of discrete mental operations and those who
describe poor thinking in terms of several logical errors.
"Good thinkers
are willing to think and may even find thinking enjoyable.
They can carry out searches when necessary and
suspend judgment.
They value rationality, believing that thinking is useful for
solving problems, reaching decisions, and making judgments.
Poor thinkers, in contrast,
need certainty, avoid
thinking, must reach closure quickly, are impulsive, and rely
too heavily on intuition."[9]
Emphasis added
[See
New
Beliefs for a Global Village]
|
Does the phrase "suspend judgment"
remind you of Dr. Brookfield's call for "suspension of belief." It should!
The two phrases make the same point. They also show that the new breed of church
leaders are simply taking the world's pedagogic formulas and psycho-social strategies
and peppering them with Christian words to veil the unbiblical sources and diffuse
opposition.
Do you wonder how Pastor Gangel,
the academic dean at Dallas Seminary, could use Dr. Brookfield -- a globalist
change agent -- as a model and authority? I do, and it grieves me to see such
deception in high and trusted places.
It's no secret that Columbia's
Teachers College embraces the UNESCO education agenda and leads the world in
training teacher-facilitators for the new global management system, which has
no tolerance for Biblical truth. As in the former Soviet Union, the education
goal is nothing less than developing a new kind of person -- not with facts
and logic but with the latest high tech versions of the mind-changing strategies
first used to manipulate and monitor the
Soviet masses.
Taking our stand
This is spiritual war, dear friends.
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood," writes the apostle Paul, "but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."
Paul tells us how to "stand" in the
victory Christ won for us on the cross: "...take up the
armor of God, that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand
therefore, having girded your waist with truth...." Ephesians 6:12-14
The main truth has to do with the
nature of God Himself. We need to know Him as He has revealed Himself through
His Word. We need to know...
-
His justice in order to understand
His mercy
-
His wrath in order to appreciate
His amazing love
-
His mighty power so we trust
Him in our weakness
-
His wisdom so we can let Him
be our guide always.
The second truth of the armor deals
with our imputed righteousness in Christ. If you indeed have "been crucified
with Christ" and filled with His Holy Spirit, you belong to Him. You are already a "new creation"
[10]
blessed with a personal relationship with the King of the universe! As you set
your heart to follow Him, He will speak to you through His Word and guide you
by His Spirit through the challenges of each day.
Jim Van Yperen may tell us that the Bible must be understood
in groups -- as something "written to and for groups of people, not individuals."
[11] Don't believe it.
Like the serpent's deceptive arguments
in the garden, those misleading words sound believable because the message is
cloaked in a half-truths.[12]
We do need each other, but each of us can best encourage others when we know
Jesus as our life and His Word as our guide. Then, even if we must stand alone
for His name's sake, His loving presence will be enough. Many tortured and persecuted
martyrs can testify to the sufficiency of Christ when all other help is gone.[13]
What we don't need is dependence
on a group that would divert our hearts and attention away from Jesus to hollow
alternatives. The facilitated group consensus that
Van Yperen promotes trains people to compromise their understanding of truth
under the noble banners of relationship, "conflict resolution" and "common ground."
While God wants us to practice standing firm in our faith, such groups press
members into oppressive re-learning sessions which force everyone to practice
-- over and over -- conforming their convictions to that of the group.
As His ambassador and earthen vessel,
I must follow His narrow and rocky way. But it's easy and sweet when He takes
my hand. I must refuse to compromise, but I'd rather have Jesus than the world's
fame and fortune. An old hymn summarizes the disciple's walk well:
|
When
I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
|
Were the whole realm
of nature mine,
That were a present far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
|
See
Re-Inventing the Church - Part
2
Endnotes:
1.
George Barna, editor, Leaders on Leadership
(Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1997), page 29.
2. Our Global Neighborhood,
The
Report of The Commission on Global Governance (Oxford, UK: Oxford University
Press, 1995), page 12.
3.
"Peter
Drucker on the Church and Denominations".
This pdf file is posted on the Leadership Network website at
http://www.leadnet.org/allthingsln/archives/netfax/1.pdf
4. Doug Murren, "The Leader as
Change Agent,"
Leaders on Leadership
(Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1997), pages
204-206.
5.
George Barna, editor, Leaders on Leadership
(Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1997), page
7.
6. Ibid., page 48.
7. Jim Van Yperen, "Conflict:
The Refining Fire of Leadership,"
Leaders on Leadership
(Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1997), pages
246-247.
8.
Stephen D. Brookfield, Developing Critical
Thinkers (San Francisco: Jossey
Bass, 1987), pages 8-10. Cited by Kenneth
O. Gangel, "What Leader Do,"
Leaders on Leadership
(Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1997), page 40.
9.
Alan A. Glatthorn and Jonathan Barron, "The Good Thinker,"
Developing Minds: A Resource Book for
Teaching Thinking (Alexandria, Virginia: The Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development, 1985), 51. Included in
Caught in the Middle: Educational
Reform for Young Adolescents in California Public Schools, Report of the
Superintendent's Middle Grade Task Force (Sacramento: California State Department
of Education, 1987), 14.
10. Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians
5:17.
11. Van Yeperen, page 246.
12.
The Nature and Tactics of Satan
13. Abide with me; fast falls the eventide/ The darkness
deepens; Lord with me abide./ When other helpers fail and comforts flee,/ Help
of the helpless, O abide with me.
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