The Mission flow or what I call the Apostolic Model begins with engaging the culture and then from those with whom you build relationships forming community. Then and only then do you begin structuring the congregation or the local church.

We were looking at the “Attractional” versus the “Apostolic” model of planting the Gospel and building the Church. Last article we set out the basic difference and looked at the “flow” or the steps that each system would be taking to reach the objective of a healthy, reproducing church.

Let’s look again at the “Missionary Flow” or what I call the ‘Apostolic Model.’ The diagram looks like this:

We have been looking at the way we build churches and the way Jesus builds His Church. There is a vast difference. If need be – go back to previous editions of Churchquake and have a look at what we have been discussing together these last few weeks. Today, let’s take a look at the traditional way we have almost always worked – seeing the lost saved and beginning a church with them.

Last time we were talking about the need to engage the culture and build relationships with those that we are wanting to reach for Jesus today. As we do this we have a great need for a lot of patience. We may want an instant or microwave result and see the local church grow quickly as our evangelistic efforts bear much fruit. But, this is seldom the case. Much time, effort, energy, and prayer must first go into building solid and healthy relationships with people and with the community before we will see any return on our investment.

Often when considering a church plant those involved do one of two things. They either announce that they are starting a church and advertise this fact thus attracting disconnected and often disgruntled believers together to form the base of the new work. Or, they send out a launch team from a local church comprised of a few families willing to do what it takes to begin a new work. Either way you are beginning a church with a church.

Around the world leaders are coming to realize that they are being asked by the Holy Spirit to go back to the basics – and, as they do, they are realizing that they must go even more basic than they first though “basic” would be.

In a recent unscheduled supper conversation in an airport in Moscow I was speaking with 2 leaders of a very large network of churches that is being shaken to its foundations by the Holy Spirit. These two key leaders and I have had numerous conversations over the last 18 months about “the basic” and it was evident that they had just had a major revelation of how basic “the basics” can really be.