This presentation was given to a North American evangelical denomination that was considering how they should learn and grow in their engagement with a changing culture and church.

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A Context for 21st
Century
American Evangelicalism
Who’s out there and
do they really get it?

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What does “one body” mean?
• Does it mean shared experiences?
• Does it mean shared values?
• Does it mean shared ministry?
• It comes down to a shared body of truth.
• 1 Corinthians 12:12-18

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Assumptions are Scary
• Can we assume that the church we enter
is a missional church?
• Can we assume that the church we enter
supports missionaries?
• Can we assume that the church we enter
understands their place is their
community?
• Can we assume that our story will connect
with them?

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In the future everyone will be
famous for fifteen minutes.
Andy Warhol

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Observation Blows Away
Assumptions
“To acquire knowledge, one must study; but
to acquire wisdom, one must observe.”
Marilyn vos Savant
• Every church is a new experience with its
own set of values, passions and problems.
• Your ability to see into the hearts of a
community of believers and speak to their
desire for Kingdom impact is the key.

6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Drilling Down
• God didn’t ask us to pray for vision . . .
– He gives that to the pure of heart
• God didn’t ask us to pray for money . . .
– He owns everything
• God asked us to pray for PEOPLE . . .
– “Pray that the Lord of the Harvest sent forth
laborers . . .”
• So why is this the hardest thing for us to
do?

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People Problems
• People take:
– Time
– Patience
– Love
– Value
• Sometimes people don’t:
– Care about what we value
– Respond in love
– Grasp the bigger picture

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So lets Understand These People
• I want to introduce you to several key
concepts that I think will provide you with
the ability to observe the churches you
visit and connect at a deeper level
– Thin Slicing the Church
– Evangelical Epistemologies (World Views)
– 3 Generations of Evangelicals
– Method/Message Matrix

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Thin Slicing the Church
“Thin-slicing is not an exotic gift. It is a central part
of what it means to be human. We thin-slice
whenever we meet a new person or have to
make sense of something quickly or encounter a
novel situation. We thin-slice because we have
to . . . Lots of situations where careful attention
to the details of a very thin-slice, even for no
more than a second or two,
can tell us an awful lot.”
Malcolm Gladwell, Blink (pg. 43-44)

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Thin Slicing the Church
• It is more important to understand what
matters at the key moment. More isn’t
always better.
• God has designed people to understand
volumes of information very quickly if we
can be aware of what to look for.

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Evangelical Epistemologies
• Positivism: Truth is completely knowable
and there is only one correct interpretation
• Critical Realism: There is a core of truth
that is completely knowable but many
things are not certain until the other side of
Heaven

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Questions and Answers
• Is it possible for an African theology to exist that
looks different from ours?
– Positivist: NO, we all share a global theology
– Critical Realist: YES, worldview, culture and
experience should shape a unique theology as long
as the core is the same
• How does difference of opinion shape the
church?
– Positivist: It is divisive because people cannot see the
truth clearly
– Critical Realist: It is healthy, many of these things are
larger than anyone’s understanding of truth and only
through discussion will we understand them better

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Three Generations of Evangelicals

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Three Generations of Evangelicals
• Traditional Evangelicals:
– Communication through words
– Retain Reformation distinction in
history/tradition
– Systematic theology
– Church is a place for private worship
– Education has a knowledge focus

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Traditional Evangelicals
“Pure modernism held to a single, universal
worldview and moral standard, a belief
that all knowledge is good and certain,
truth is absolute, individualism is valued,
and thinking, learning, and beliefs should
be determined systematically and
logically.”
Dan Kimball

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Three Generations of Evangelicals
• Pragmatic Evangelicals:
– Communication through broadcasting
– Start something new instead of focus on
history/tradition
– Christianity 101 Theology
– Church is a place to meet everyone’s needs
– Education is answering felt needs

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Pragmatic Evangelicals
“I would argue that the church growth
movement is a transition in the North
American church between the old church
culture and the emerging culture.”
Reggie McNeal

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Three Generations of Evangelicals
• Emerging Evangelicals:
– Internet Communications
– The future runs through the past
– Ancient-Future Theology
– Church exists to witness through word and
deed
– Spiritual Formation is Education

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Emerging Evangelicals
“The appropriate response to the emerging
world is a reboot of the mission, a radical
obedience to an ancient command, a loss
of self rather than self-preoccupation,
concern about service and sacrifice rather
than concern about style.”
Reggie McNeal

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Postmodernism Defined
“The postmodern world is a world which understands itself
through biological rather than mechanistic models; a
world where people see themselves as belonging to the
environment rather than over it or apart from it. A world
distrustful of institutions, hierarchies, centralized
bureaucracies and male dominated organizations. It is a
world which networks and local grassroots activities take
precedence over large scale structures and grand
designs; a world in which the book age is giving way to
the screen age; a world hungry for spirituality yet
dismissive of systematized religion.”
Dave Tomlinson, The Post-Evangelical

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Meaning / Method Matrix

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Meaning/Method Matrix
• 4 types of clearings
– Garden: tried-and-true seeds that have been inherited
– Park: the seeds that have been passed down from
their ancestors, but they exploit new methods of
planting the ground
– Glen: fortify the seed stock and adapt it to meet the
challenges of new environments . . . They sow this
new seed in traditional furrows.
– Meadow: augmenting the seed stock, even using new
techniques of cross-fertilization, hybridization,
aquaculture and the like.

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Identifying the Scorecard
“Church scorecards currently reflect
member values: how many show up, pay,
and participate in club member activities . .
. A missionary church culture will need to
keep score on things different from what
we measure now.”
Reggie McNeal

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Thin-Slicing Check List
• What is their epistemology?
• What generation of evangelicals do they
represent?
• Are they a Garden, Park, Glen or
Meadow?
• Are they missional – outward vs. inward?

25. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Group Exercise
• Church A:
– Country church that is a mix of elderly and
young families
– They just went to Mexico to paint a church
– They have supported the same missionaries
for 20 years – that couple just retired
– Value ministers and don’t question details of
missionary work

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Group Exercise
• Church B:
– Old downtown church – 100 years of history
– 3 services for different worship styles
– ATM in the lobby
– Focus on social justice
– They just raised money for an orphanage
– Lots of couples not many kids

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Group Exercise
• Church C:
– Suburbs of major city
– One service with focus on community
– Focus on Indonesia for short term ministry
and giving
– Family friendly focus
– Seeker-sensitive

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Group Exercise
• Church D:
– Outskirts of a city
– Focus on art and worship
– Community ministry is paramount
– Mix of ages
– Focus on holistic ministry
– Entrepreneurial spirit
– No missions understanding

29. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
All great things are simple, and
many can be expressed in single
words: freedom, justice, honor,
duty, mercy, hope.
Sir Winston Churchill