This week we will continue our discussion of the three phases of ministry and how it applies to the three parts of the habitations of God in Scripture. As a reminder, I have broken them down into the following general definitions.
Phase I: Rescue and Salvation. The main goal of this phase is to lead people to Christ and add them to the church.
Phase II: Church planting. In the New Testament, all new believers were added to the church. The main goal of this phase is to establish and organize the church to help the new believers mature and grow strong just as the church matures and grows strong.
Phase III: Bearing fruit and multiplication. The Lord commanded His people to bear fruit and multiply, and this is so important that He even promises in John 15 to cut off every branch that does not bear fruit. Every church that is abiding in Him will reproduce and bear fruit.
As stated, all of these phases can and usually will overlap each other. It is common to have all three phases going at once, at least in some form. We also discussed how Phase I is usually the most exciting, and how many people gravitate more to it than the others because of this, even if their main calling is to serve in Phase II or III. For this reason, you can count on many believers swarming to a new church that begins in town because that is where the excitement will be for a time.
Years ago, when Larry Randolph started a church in Orange County, California, and immediately had several hundred people attending, Steve Thompson asked him where all of the people came from. Larry replied, "These are the same people who started every other church in Orange County." This was probably true. These are the ones addicted to Phase I energy and excitement, and they usually spend their lives running to each new thing. This is helpful to the new works, as they do help them get started, which may be the calling of many of these people. We need to keep in mind that there are some people who God made to be Phase I workers, and these people will usually cause problems if they stay too long in a church or work that is in Phase II or III.
Again, Phases II and III cannot sustain the intensity of Phase I, and should not, so these are usually not nearly as thrilling and exhilarating as Phase I. For this reason it is a hard change to make in a work, but it must be done. Even so, this can be one of the biggest leadership challenges of all, and often calls for new leadership. We have this example in Acts 8 when Philip stirred the entire city of Samaria. The apostles were sent to establish the work, and Philip was called away from one of the remarkable moves of God in the Book of Acts to lead just one man to the Lord.
The one man Philip went to lead to salvation was obviously important to the Lord, but one reason why the Lord probably did this was to get Philip out of the way so the work in Samaria could go to another level. To Philip's credit he obeyed, and history bears out that the one man he led to salvation went back to Ethiopia and bore much fruit.
Even so, how many leaders today would you find who would do the same? Most that are used to starting something become so possessive of it that there is little chance of them obeying this kind of leading—especially to go and talk to just one man! This is probably one of the main reasons why we don't have the kind of results that they had in the Book of Acts. They each knew their part and stuck to it. The failure to do this is why many churches or ministries get off to a brilliant start only to flame out fast. Very few Phase I leaders will be good Phase II leaders, and still more rare are those who can lead a work through all three phases. There are some, but they are rare.
We briefly discussed last week how combat veterans can become combat junkies because of an addiction to the adrenaline that flows in such intense situations, which happen in crises. This also happens in Phase I work. After being in combat, a soldier can go through what seems like depression as the adrenaline subsides. This can also happen to churches and ministries that are moving into Phase II. Many think the remedy to this is to keep the people pumped up and excited, when they really don't need that. They just need to be helped to understand what they are feeling, that this is normal, and that they are entering the phase when a lot of hard work needs to be done, so learning to rest in the Lord is crucial.
This is also at the point when you will lose many people, but that's okay. In fact, if you don't let those people go they will cause you much worse problems later. Some will come back, some won't; but if you are going to go on to maturity, you cannot stay at the excitement level of Phase I.
This same thing applies in male/female relationships. Studies have shown that in the first phase of these relationships a certain endorphin is released that is like a drug. This is why, when we fall in love, for a while we tend to be blind to almost anything else, and are just consumed with each other. The Lord obviously created us this way so that we would bond together in marriage. However, studies have also shown that the body can only release this endorphin for about three months to a maximum of six months. After this time, that high will temporarily become a low because what goes up must come down. Those who do not understand this think that when the feeling goes away, which is really a drug induced high, that they have fallen out of love. Then you start hearing things like, "Something's changed," or "I just don't feel it anymore." That's true, but it really does not mean that you have fallen out of love, but rather that your love is entering another, potentially much more deep and stable phase.
I think either this same endorphin or one like it is released when we come to the Lord, which is a new relationship, and when we become a part of a new church, which is a new relationship as well. When you are born again, this can be every bit as intense as the most vibrant male/female relationship, but within three to six months, the high begins to fade away. We may temporarily feel down when this happens and desperately miss the high, but it is important to move on. Your love for the Lord, for the church, or for your spouse, can actually go much higher and be much deeper, but it must grow at a less steep incline to keep from burning your system out.
However, just as people run from relationship to relationship trying to find the high again, many jump from church to church, seeking the same thing, but what they're seeking is not in another relationship or another church, but in them. I have seen many people who were made for Phase II or III, as far as their God-given gifts and temperaments, getting addicted to Phase I because of the thrill and excitement of it, and living a fantasy life of fruitlessness because of it.
I have spent nearly forty years studying revivals and moves of God in church history. There is probably nothing in church life more exciting than an authentic revival. I have this love because I have experienced a few and have been hooked. They come in many shapes, sizes, and forms, but however they come, there are few things in this life more exciting than a move of God breaking out. When they are needed they are usually desperately needed, but we must always keep in mind that they are not the main business of the church.
As Vance Havner once observed, revivals can be compared to a sale at a department store. The sale may get most of the publicity and excitement, but that is not the main business of the store; rather day-by-day faithful merchandising is what brings in profit. Likewise, the number of people who have come to the Lord through revivals is actually a tiny percentage of Christians, actually less than 1 percent. Revivals can ignite moves of God that propel the church forward in other ways, but I have concluded that the progress of the church as the result of Phase I revivals is likewise a tiny percentage of the progress made by the church.
For years, we have polled people in our conferences to see how many had come to the Lord through crusades, other forms of outreaches and campaigns, or Christian television, and never has it been more than 5 percent of an audience, and usually all of these together make up only 1 or 2 percent. When we asked how many came to the Lord through friends or relatives, the other 95 percent plus raised their hands. Other studies have the same results. This poses a very important question—why do we put 95 percent plus of our evangelistic and missions resources toward that which is only bearing 5 percent or less of the fruit? Is that good stewardship?
I received a word from the Lord years ago to redirect our missions giving, which was so loud and clear it caused me to study what we were doing. I still give to Phase I works, but the majority of our resources now go to Phase II and III operations. The most powerful evangelistic force will always be an encouraged church, just as the greatest harvest of souls and the greatest advancement of the church in the New Testament came when the believers were scattered from Jerusalem, and they went about preaching the gospel. Sometimes the Lord has to break up a work that is stuck in Phase I to keep the work going, but there is an easier way.
Once you taste revival, it is easy to get addicted to it. Once you taste revival, anything but revival, including Phases II and III of church building, will seem boring in comparison, even if God made you and gifted you especially for Phase II or III. This has happened to many, who have been sidetracked waiting for the next move of God and have failed to use their gifts to prepare for it. It is now estimated that most Christians in the West are no longer in a local church. These Christians will never be satisfied or fulfilled until they are in their place doing the work God created them to do before the foundation of the world. Regardless of how long they have been drifting, they can be recovered, and we need them for the great move that is coming.
