F06 The Fourth Field – Gathering
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F06 The Fourth Field – Gathering
We had an empty field where we enter and connect with our people. The second field represented sowing of God’s seed. The third was about growth, or serving new disciples. Now comes the fourth field where we are gathering the harvest. In movement observation, that fourth field is all about developing community. To confirm, equip, and encourage new believing Georges so that they themselves would immediately make more disciples and soon repeat the whole process, including gathering of the harvest – that is, creating new communities with new people. The essence of the movement is that everything reproduces itself healthy way again and again.
We have tested many times that Discovery of the Word – with powerful spiritual effect on present people – can be carried even by very new Georges; if given the necessary „training“, initial coaching and long-term personal discipleship. It is only natural that a new George who has come to know the Lord in an informal group, and has even tried guiding it himself, invites his friends to the place where he has experienced the encounter with Jesus, and following support. We want to strongly encourage him that the friends at George’s Discovery will also be exposed to the Word of God and meet living Lord Jesus there. For a group that begins with a simple Discovery and in which a few new people receive the Lord can soon become a family of God with all biblical characteristics and activities.
Today’s great movements – how they inspire us, how we pray for them for our country, and how we strive hard for them – are happening in the world primarily through small informal communities that discover their identity soon after their formation. By reading Word, they discover they are full-fledged biblical churches! Or they discover that some characteristics are missing, so they simply add them.
Involving new people in traditional fellowships is possible. I am happy to observe that in some places the Czech evangelical „army“ is gradually learning to provide support and armaments for the new Georges, so that they would soon reach to their unbelieving friends, too.
It is very interesting to look into history of various evangelical denominations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. All of the contemporary evangelical churches had small fellowships in their early days; either in households or other settings. Some of these groups had some connection to the traditional church. Other groups themselves carried out all the defining elements of a biblical local church, including baptism, the Lord’s Supper, biblical leadership, etc. It is very clear that groups have been a concomitant feature in growth of all contemporary denominations, at least in their early stages. Some had their peak in early 20th century, others took shape in the secrecy of the 1980s, and some were given a place under the sun only after the Velvet Revolution (1989). The founders knew that the key features and functions of a biblical church could be performed by a small group as long as the Word and living Jesus were in the center. An effective complement here is usually a network of such fellowships that support each other. We see this in the New Testament, too.
In the United States, surveys show that at most 30% of the population is willing to come to what is called „church ground“. If contemporary churches reached this potential 30% with the Gospel, it would be wonderful! We value the existing churches, have personal friends and supporters in them, and want to help them grow! That’s why we offer Bridges to People training completely publicly – so that all followers of Jesus can benefit from it, and learn what they can’t yet do in interaction with unbelievers. Occasionally, we also serve with in-person consultations and live trainings. May they just continue to focus intensely and boldly on growth of existing congregations! Possibly on planting other congregations of the same type! But the statistics mentioned above show that over 70% of the population will never set foot in any church setting! We cannot win these people except by creating new communities around God’s Word and living Jesus right around them, where they live or work! We already have Czech experience with this!
The Fourth Field is a community where new believers find not only a home, but also equipping and support to begin the same with their friends.
Lord Jesus, we are repeatedly assured by the New Testament texts that – whatever the form – You love and care for Your Bride immeasurably. Thank You for that…