A CPM Launched:Why Not Now?
Living With Great Expectation/Anticipation
“Dare I go where I don’t
understand and do I dare remember where I am? I stand before the great eternal
throne….I’ve been invited as a son, I’ve been invited to come and believe the
unbelievable, receive the inconceivable and see beyond my wildest imagination
Lord, I come with great expectations….” – Steven Curtis Chapman
Do I truly realize that what I am
about as a missionary finds its life and breath defined in God’s glory being
the reason? If I did embrace this kingdom reality, then I believe I would quit
deciding what can and can’t work before God speaks it thus. As a pattern in CPM
(Church Planting Movements) it seems to be consistent that a
discipled/trained/leadership-developed insider is more effective than a trained
outsider. Were we really expecting this as a missions community? All of this is
dependent upon a choice to deliberately cling to a Biblical model to focus upon
the oikos (close community family)
rather than upon the individual. When one begins with the End Vision, while one attempts to establish new foundations of
discovery Bible methodology, God is the teacher through the power of His Word
and His Holy Spirit. In CPM approach, one must embrace the kingdom reality to
do “whatever it takes”. At the same time one needs to be willing to commit to
“how ever long it takes” for His glory to be expressed among the UPGs.
The forming fellowships are trained
with DNA encoded from the beginning of pre-belief leading to trusting and
growing in their faith as they place their trust in Christ with a sense of an
urgency to obey Christ’ commands. “Immediate, costly, obedience” is the desire
though it comes as a process. The role of the forming streams of groups to self
correct, basing their correction upon Scriptural patterns along with God’s
grace and mercy, and to then model accountability to jointly obey the passage
is indeed a process. From the inception of the forming groups they will
understand the commands to disciple the lost, and to then see themselves as
delighting in being called of the Father to one of the greatest joys known to
man.
The process of changing our mindset,
as some of those called to be the instigators of what God has promised among
these Unreached People Groups (UPG’s), is of prime import. To see that we are
about “planting pregnant churches”
is a paradigmic shift at all levels. Our desire to find where the Father is
already working in the given Unreached People Group and join in His processes
as He leads but move on when time to move on is crucial. To be about what
others might call “ruthless evaluation” of which I better like the term “relentless
grace-filled evaluation” is essential. Some have commented that a “UPG’s
opportunity to have abundant life for here and eternity comes down largely to
our growing sensitivity to the moving of the Holy Spirit.” Something to think
about for sure. Though the Sovereign hand of the Father in partnership with
what He desires to birthe in and through His Bride has much to do with this as
well as His timing and Perfect Will. Part of End Visioning in the CPM processes
is really reminding ourselves that God was and is on the scene long before we
were brought into the mix. How freeing, and yet, how amazing all at the same
time.
Bottom line is, do we truly expect God to be about movements? Are we
really expecting that they will be reproducing? There seemed to have been a consistent
theme song echoed from the over 70+ former foreign missionary colleagues who have
since come and gone in our UPG area. The thought simply is this, “this is just
a hard place to see anything happen.” Others have commented, “it is just really
hard to reach this upg” was the common mindset of those who have come and gone
and notably those who saw very little fruit, if any.
If God has not seemingly been at work, instead of asking the question,
“how long?” in our mindset, do we rather need a totally different speak to
embrace and believe the Father? Instead of “how long, O Lord?” or “this is just
too hard of a place, how could we see anything happen among this UPG?”, could
we not ask the question of the Father, “God, based on Your Glory and Fame and
Renown, why not do a work here
among these UPG’s? Why not
among these people? For Your namesake, according to Your great promises in
Revelation 5 and 7 and beyond we ask You and believe You for a movement.” The
question begs my heart to consider, do I really expect that God is about
movements? According to His timetable?
Sometimes the seeming lack of vision (end visioning of what the Father
has laid on our hearts to join/partner with His Holy Spirit to accomplish) and
the issue of faithfulness have been confused. We sometimes see slugging it away
as faithfulness and the vision gets somehow lost along the way. However, as we
continue to be faithful to the End Vision He has placed upon our hearts then we
see persevering faith come into view with greater clarity. We have known and
seen folks being faithful in our years on the field and yet they have lacked
any clarity in End Vision and Evaluation thereof.
The Lord will accomplish His purposes,that is no question. However, the
greater question begs if we will be involved in slowing His purposes down or
even hindering, though His purposes will be fulfilled in the end. There is a
growing sense in our area to continue to say, “Why not, Lord!!” Honestly, by helping to cast the End Vision of
not aiming for fledgling groups of individual MBB’s (Muslim Background
Believers) forming here and there into house fellowships but rather embracing
the End Vision. That End Vision has in part the planting of pregnant house fellowships from the beginning. We have an
entirely new crop of M’s here whom we are coaching into asking, “if this is so,
what must I do to engage in His purposes?” And sometimes the quite opposite is
happening as we interact with other foreign m’s where, because of considering
the End Vision in greater measure we are able to coach them into asking the
Father, “what must I cease doing that is not what this UPG needs to be able to
hear and respond and move with the glory of the gospel of Christ?”
Transformation is always just that. It is process and it is the process
of surrendering over the totality of our hearts so that the Father’s heart is
more readily modeled, by reliance upon His Holy Spirit, in and through our
lives. How many of the UPG I am called to today will have access to hearing and
interacting with the Word of God? How many will see the demonstration of the
message of the beauty of Christ in and through those called to love them? By
what I am engaging in today, how will this be accomplished is the more relevant
question to my heart. Also, the area of fear needs to be addressed deeply
before the Father on-goingly, if we are to be vessels of His power being
expressed.
Indeed, one of the greatest hindrances of past teams we had opportunity
to see led from several different orgs here on the SOLI focus was the level of
immobilizing fear which kept these teams from proclaiming Christ. This fear
they allowed to immobilize them from openly modeling (one of the key elements
of CPM is Model, Assist, Watch, leave/letter/love) in context sensitive
specific ways. This apparent lack of boldness brought many years of a shutdown
to the gospel going forward here. Largely fear is intended by the Evil One to
be immobilizing of our worship of God and therefore crippling on many levels.
The SOLI focused nationals caught the fear bug and then passed it on to the few
they were trying to reach and so forth.
Healthy evaluation can catch these tendencies if we are relentless and
willing to acknowledge where fear leads us versus End Vision of “God desires to
be glorified among the ethne peoples of the Earth.
Why not, here? Why not now?”
The urgency for obedience flows from the throne room of His grace and
mercy as we continue to spend time with Him, we know Him more fully. As we
continue to reign with Christ, we appropriate utter desperate dependency upon
His Spirit alone. As we know Him more fully, we trust Him more implicitly.
“Perfect love casts out fear.” What would we be and do if we truly knew and
believed we are loved, without reserve? Dependency upon God in complete
unbridled definitive ways is vital. When we examine the Lord’s movements
throughout history there are always these same commonalities. Why not now? Come, LORD Jesus, Come.
RA
