Wave Generators and Church Growth

by Mike Chong Perkinson

Growing churches, reaching culture and transforming society has been at the heart of our church growth dialogue for some time; expressed most poignantly in becoming a people that discern the times, exegete culture and carefully employ creative avenues to express the gospel in the language of the day. The techniques are not necessarily what I am questioning as much as I am the odd use of “wave generators”. Let me explain.

Surfing a God ordained, Spirit generated wave is life generating, life transforming and to say the least, exhilarating. There is nothing like a life lived in the fluidity of the Spirit of God, doing only what you see the Father doing (John 5:19) and partnering with the God of the universe for the expansion of His Kingdom life and rule. The joy and simplicity of riding the wave of the Spirit is the key and the practice of those who are Spirit led more than tradition or systems led. Oddly enough, there is another kind of “wave” that we find in our church processes that resembles a wave of the Spirit, but is nothing of the sort.

In the world of “church growth”, like athletics, there is a thing called “momentum” that is developed that drives the body / team towards victory. “Momentum” in athletics seems to ignite confidence in the players, unifying the team in its objective to win and focusing each participant towards that end. In the church there is a similar reality that takes place where growth is surging and momentum is in full force allowing for the accomplishment of the vision with greater ease. Things seem to simply work with greater ease when momentum is in play. However, momentum as good as it is, is not the same thing as a Spirit generated wave of life that sweeps through the life of a spiritual community.

The effects and feel are similar to that of momentum with one drastic difference. Momentum brings increase in attendance and excitement, but does not produce long term transformation in the lives of the people. What sustains the wave of the Spirit is the ongoing transformation of lives that leads to the transformation of culture and society, driving the expansion of the Kingdom of God deep into the cultural ethos. Things not only work with greater ease when the wave of the Spirit is flowing, but salvation, life transformation and unity around the mission finds fluid expression while multiplying with little effort.

The wave of the Spirit, however, is somewhat unpredictable and hard to discern, requiring that the leader learn to wait on God, pray and intercede for more laborers while developing faithful disciples, stay faithful to living out the “IC” in life and ministry, and develop the art of discerning what the Father is doing. In our ever increasing “hurry up and grow your church fast before you run out of church planting funds”, we find patience and the ancient art of discerning the ebb and flow of the Holy Spirit a topic relegated for theoretical dialogue with little or no training on how to discern or practice this key art.

Sadly, when momentum wanes, the temptation then is to find or create a wave via a “wave generator” that will produce a wave of life that can be surfed; of course, this in hopes of the real deal coming soon. Artificial waves can be surfed and enjoyed but have one major flaw – they have to be maintained as well. We have come to believe a simple rule of thumb. “If you give birth to it, then you get to make it live – maintain and care for it.” If, however, God gives birth to it, then you can partner with Him in this new life that He will sustain, fund and see to its ever increasing development and expansion. He makes it live while we ride the wave.

Wave generators produce a flurry of activity maybe even draw in the crowds; but ultimately, drains the existing leadership community of life as they attempt to not only surf the wave, but also maintain it. Jesus did not call us to be an activity based community that seeks to draw people. Rather, He called us to be a disciple making community that lives in relationship to Him and each other, finding ways to incarnate the reality of His love to the created order.

The issue for us is not so much how we can generate life – you know, “make something happen” - the issue is more simple than that. It is the discovery of the life that is already happening, the life the Spirit is already forming; the life that is at work in your family, your neighbor, your colleague, your staff; the life that is at work in your spiritual community. If life, the wave of the Spirit, is not happening within us and our spiritual community, how then can it find expression in the community “out there”?

May we all find our hearts encouraged to hear the voice of the Father, to see the clear movements of the Spirit in our lives, our families, our spiritual community as we contend for His Spirit to come in full force, creating a wave of life that transforms our country. May we all catch the wave of the Spirit!