Spontaneous Expansion of the Church Post 2
In chapter 3 of Spontaneous Expansion Allen says several things that got my attention:
In putting the advancement of the church first, we teach the converts and the leaders whom we train, so soon as they arrive at consciousness of the direction in which they are being led, to look upon their own progress as of the first importance, to concentrate upon themselves.
This is as true today as in 1912. We need to get this in place. We need to do that. We need to look for a permanent place of worship. We need to hire more help. We are a very inward focused church.
He also writes about the self-supporting church:
Self-support is universally considered a mere matter of finance. No more striking example of the extraordinary materialism of our missionary outlook can be found than this, that we can only with definite and painful effort think or self-support in any other terms that that of money.
This is not true. A self-supporting church supports itself, whatever the need. Ministers, teachers, finances, and whatever else that particular church needs, it will gather itself.
I’ve had people give me a hard time about not asking for a salary from our group. We’re not a real church if I’m not paid they say. Yet we are self-supporting. Money from the church is not what I need. I don’t think it is necessarily wrong if people get paid, but I don’t see the NT demanding this. We have our own government, leaders, finances, but don’t meet in a building, have a paid staff, or a board of elders, yet are self-supporting.
Interesting….