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FREEDOM COMMUNITIES

The Three Purposes

Freedom Communities are intentionally limited to three purposes. The three purposes encompass growing, sharing, and serving. Although the concepts may seem overly familiar, the execution strategy of Freedom Communities is unique to modernity, relevant to postmodernity, and aligned with the wisdom of Scripture.

Growing

grow - Freedom CommunitiesFirst, the concept of “growing” within the context of modernity consists primarily of reading the Bible, engaging in prayer, learning didactically in Bible studies, and listening to a sermon on Sunday morning. The inherent risk associated with the modern view of growth is not a lack of information, but a lack of integration. A postmodern society is not only thirsty for knowledge, but also desires assimilation of the knowledge to address issues of meaning and purpose.1 Accordingly, the strategies for growth must address both information and assimilation. Freedom Communities address the concern in two ways. First, Bible study is not didactically based information disseminated from a human teacher to a recipient: an outside – in approach. Rather, in Freedom Communities, the individual reads the Bible in light of an orthodox commentary and then a facilitator asks questions regarding the Holy Spirit’s teaching of the recipient: an inside – out approach. Second, Freedom Communities do not ignore, outsource, or combatively confront issues around the unhealthy actions of believers: an outside – in approach. Instead, facilitators extend empathy and inquiry to assist individuals in discovering the unhealthy beliefs and thoughts that lead to the unhealthy emotions and actions. Once the believer re-aligns the unhealthy beliefs and thoughts with Gospel message that a believer’s identity is in Christ, then God’s Truth provides the power to resolve the unhealthy emotions and actions (Luke 6:43-45). In other words, God’s Truth sanctifies the believer (John 17:17). Charles Colsen and Nancy Pearcey support the approach by answering the question, “How do we redeem a culture? …from the inside out. From the individual to the family to the community, and then outward in ever widening ripples.” Accordingly, the overarching inside – out approach to growth in Freedom Communities not only appropriately addresses the procurement of orthodox information, but also the assimilation necessary for transformational living to impact the world.2

Sharing

share - Freedom CommunitiesThe second purpose of Freedom Communities is sharing. Sharing the Gospel message is a critical part of the Great Commission. Jesus commands each believer to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Unfortunately, the vast majority of evangelism over the last couple of centuries has centered on institutionalized programmed events, which have included evangelistic crusades, revivals, concerts, special Sunday morning services etc. However, the Institute of American Church Growth (IACG) suggests that only 17 percent of all conversions occur from evangelistic events, yet the organized church continues to spend more financial and human capital on evangelistic institutional programming than others form of evangelism.3 The research provided by the IACG also shows that between 75 and 90 percent “of new believers come to Christ through a friend or acquaintance who explains the Good News on a one-to-one basis.”4 Accordingly, Freedom Communities take a decentralized approach to sharing the Gospel. Granted, the prospects of sharing one’s faith can be daunting, but Freedom Communities eliminate the fear by employing a no-argument approach to purposeful evangelism. Within modernity, personal evangelism historically focused on scaring nonbelievers out of hell and using reason to overcome objections by employing sound argumentation.5 Both approaches entail significant risk. First, regarding scaring nonbelievers out of hell, imagine a man courting a wife by putting a gun to her head and telling her that if she does not join him in a an eternal relationship, then he will kill her. Of course, she would likely concede, but the risks associated with building any form of healthy future relationship are significant. Thus, it seems reasonable that the Apostle Paul “never in his letters explicitly uses hell as a means of stimulating unbelievers to repent.”6 Second, the problem with using argumentation to convince a nonbeliever to believe is that, not only is it quite uncomfortable for the believer, but it also causes the interlocutor’s defense mechanisms to increase, which actually undermines the chance for evangelistic success. Alternatively, Freedom Communities utilize a no-argument approach to sharing the Gospel that addresses life’s meaning and purpose. It utilizes empathy and inquiry to assist the nonbeliever in discovering an identity in Christ and thus, experience the fruit of the Spirit (i.e. joy and peace). In other words, by emphasizing inquiry over argumentation and significance over threats, the method and the Gospel effectively address the questions a postmodern world is asking.7

Serving

serve - Freedom CommunitiesThe third purpose of Freedom Communities is serving. Christian service has historically aligned with the organization in two specific ways. First, and the most lethal, is the expectation that it is solely the job of paid clergy to serve. The unspoken (and sometimes adamantly spoken) rule is that serving is the responsibility of the pastor and tithing is the responsibility of the congregation. Unfortunately, neither solution is working. The clergy make hospital visits and care for hurting people, while the laity attends church programming and 94% admit to not tithing.8 The devastating result is a perpetuation of consumerism while simultaneously contributing to the high-risk nature of pastoral employment.A second way serving aligns with the organization is through sanctioned programs such as community projects, food banks, or servant evangelism initiatives. These projects are often beneficial to the community and to the participants. However, the risk exists that church members only identify service with institutionally approved programs. Alternatively, the serving initiatives modeled by Jesus were significantly different in that neither was His service contingent upon funding nor was His service authorized by an institution. Christ’s service was a denial of self that served both believers, as shown in Jesus’s example of washing the disciple’s feet in John 13, and nonbelievers, as shown in the story of the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus’s method to determine the type of service to render consisted of joining God in the initiatives the Father had already begun as evidenced by His comments: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing” (John 5:19). Accordingly, Freedom Communities do not look to the institution to serve them or to a sanctioned program to serve other believers and nonbelievers. Instead, the individuals within the Freedom Communities look to join God in His initiatives while simultaneously connecting the Gospel when serving others. In other words, not only is service another way of growing through intentionally denying self, but also another way of sharing the Gospel. The method of service within a Freedom Community focuses on both the external and internal needs of society. Externally, the focus pertains to the practical and physical needs of believers and nonbelievers. Examples may include offering transportation, providing financial assistance, or helping create a resume. Internally, the focus pertains to addressing the spiritual and emotional needs of both believers and nonbelievers. Examples may include taking time to listen, extending empathy, and providing encouragement. The powerful implications of decentralized service are a Spirit directed deployment of millions of Christians to a hurting world.

All three purposes of the Freedom Communities, growing, sharing, and serving, are highly focused in order to engage action and avoid the passivity of consumerism. All three purposes relate to a postmodern world by joining God in His initiatives. Finally, all three purposes support a Scriptural view of a body of believers that actively live and breathe as an organism rather than an organization.10

get involved - Freedom Communities

1 McRaney, The Art of Personal Evangelism, 127.

2 Charles Colsen and Nancy Pearcey, How Now Shall We Live? (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1999), 308.

3 William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd, Share Jesus Without Fear (Nashville, TN: B&H, 1999), 12.

4 Ibid.

5 Will McRaney Jr., The Art of Personal Evangelism: Sharing Jesus in a Changing Culture (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2003), 116-18.

6 Douglas J. Moo, “Paul on Hell,” in Hell under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents Eternal Punishment., ed. Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004), 109.

7 For a comparison between modern and postmodern evangelistic approaches, see McRaney, The Art of Personal Evangelism: Sharing Jesus in a Changing Culture, 127-31.

8 Barna, Maximum Faith: Live Like Jesus, 39.

9 For a plethora of statistical evidence regarding the high-risk nature of pastoral employment, see H. B. London and Neil B. Wiseman, Pastors at Greater Risk (Ventura, CA: Gospel Light, 2003), 20, 86, 172.

10 For more information, see G. Bulley, “What Is Church,” in Introduction to Church Planting (Alpharetta, GA: North American Mission Board, 2000).