Research is a key part of any type of Church ministry. It doesn’t matter if you’re in an established congregation, renovating a decaying job, or planting from scratch, we have to do our research. This is especially important for church planters. From the beginning, the question should be, “What kind of church do we want to be?” If we are to answer this question with any degree of certainty, we must understand the people around us whom we seek to reach out with the good news of Jesus. If I now asked you to write 300 words about the makeup of your local community, could you honestly describe it fairly accurately? Many of us think that we know the people around us, but we don’t. Not really. For example, many people make various assumptions about who lives in neighborhoods and subdivisions. In particular, they make false assumptions about your intellect and spiritual status (non-readers and hostile to the Gospel). Bad planning, bad research, and lazy assumptions can kill a ministry before it even starts.
Most planters are comfortable getting facts and figures from the internet and passing them on to anyone who will listen to make it sound like they know what they are doing. But you work hard on the ground, within the community, talking to people and, most importantly, listening to what they have to say. How will I know how people interact unless I see them act? How will I know where the places are? As for places where people meet unless I’m there? No book on the planet will tell you what is on a person’s mind or what they think about God and spiritual things better than a real, living person before you. 6 years ago they told me not to come to Edinburgh because it was a “spiritual graveyard”. or, as one person put it, the center of “post-Christian Europe. ” However, my experience was exactly the opposite. The problem with the Niddria Community Church is not that people who admit to their state of sin tell them about Christ. This is the easy part (in general). The problem is in discipleship. People just don’t want to pay the price and bend their knees in humble submission to King Jesus. As we all know, this proud stance knows no boundaries of social class and / or socioeconomic. The point is that, when I arrived, there were some assumptions about the worldview that may be true in the “world of the middle class”, but that did not influence the culture of urbanization. These mistakes can only be avoided by working in the trenches and conducting constant research.
- If we want to understand a group of people? (or any individual for that matter).
- We must try to bridge the gap between his worldview and the gospel.
- There are a few areas we can evaluate:.
1. What are your ambitions and hopes? If they don’t (unfortunately, 95% of the people I work with will say “None”), I’ll change my behavior. For you, what’s the biggest problem in the whole?How would you improve this set?Is there anything in your life that you’d like to correct?The final question is where you want to go, but it’s important to arrive slowly and not do it as a job interview. You don’t have to be asked quickly, not all on a date!Wisdom and discernment, folks!
2. How do they see the world?What is your creative story?(Don’t use this language, but that’s what you’re looking for) At the end of the day, we’re trying to discern a worldview.
3. Who controls everything?Who are the main protagonists?Who runs the show? (These are dangerous problems and require good information and great confidence; however, addicts often talk all day, but keep in mind that their information is often suspicious. )
4. What do you think about spiritual things?(These are the two main questions. The established conversation will be easily integrated into these questions). What do you believe in life, death, God, and the church?Don’t you think you should communicate directly?close to them. On the other hand, don’t limit yourself. Seek a complete gospel in simple, clear, and understandable language when opportunity presents. However, don’t leave the conversation closed, leave what I call?Free space, for additional and continuous interaction.
This kind of information collection (if I can put it that way without seeming too scary!) It’s good, both at community level, if you do it as a formal questionnaire (what do I never do?Which is not to say that ‘t’ is a legitimate instrument); or individually, to build a profile. In the end, we try to figure out how we can build a biblically, theologically and doctrinally reformed evangelical community (in my case!) and engage with the community in a way that is understandable to them. Know that I don’t care if what I teach offends you, only if you can’t understand it; If you have understood the gospel, or you will be terrified and bend your knees, or you will be sad and hostile I must say that I always prefer the first reaction!
If I have done my homework correctly, I will be able to understand the functional idols of my community and communicate the gospel to deal with them. Make no mistake, the Holy Ghost will act in people, attract them to Christ, lead them to repentance. and allow them to live a life of faithful obedience. But I have some responsibility to carry a contextualized message that relates specifically to my listeners and their worldview.
Here are 3 tips to help us in these areas as we approach the department in our contexts:
1. Think of at least 4 different types of people you would like to reach in your community. Who are they and how can they approach their lives to apply the principles mentioned above?
2. How do they differ culturally from each other, from their church (if it is part of it today) and from their own cultural context?
3. How can this help you plan your ministry of evangelism and/or your philosophy to try to get more involved with these people?
It’s often a long and arduous process, but let me cheer you up: it’s a worthwhile process. Nothing beats the good preparation and knowledge of the people you’re trying to call on the edge of hell. means that it will make us more effective communicators of the gospel, as long as we never change the truth.
Author’s Note: Some of this material was adapted from a conference given by Al Barth, l?Mysterious agent? Redeemer Presbyterian in New York.
By: Mez McConnell. © 20 diagrams. Website: 20schemes. com. Translated with permission. Source: The importance of good research for the ministry of church establishment.
Original: Good research is important for the establishment of churches. © Faithful Of the Department. Website: MinistryFiel. com. br. All rights reserved. Translation: Camila Rebeca Teixeira. Review: André Alosio Oliveira da Silva.