“Ouch!” was Bill Hybels’ response to the results of a 2004 survey of the spiritual growth and well-being of the congregants at Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago. Hybels had pastored Willow Creek Community Church for thirty years (as of 2005) using the seeker-sensitive Church Growth movement model of doing church. Since 1992, Hybels also had indoctrinated twelve thousand churches and their leaders with those same methods and practices through the Willow Creek Association (WCA). As a result of the 2004 survey, the church commissioned a three year study to delve into the reasons for the discontent and lack of spiritual growth in a large segment of those attending Willow Creek. The reasons for the survey results that shocked Hybels and his staff gradually emerged over the course of the three year study which was published in 2007.[1]
In 1975, twenty-three year old Bill Hybels and his wife Lynne began Willow Creek Church in Palatine, Illinois. In 1977 they purchased land and built Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, which became the central church among six regional campuses that have a combined weekly attendance of twenty thousand.[2]
Hybels’ approach to ministry was inspired by Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian, a New Testament professor at Trinity College, when he vividly described the Acts 2 church as it grew in Jerusalem (See Acts 2:42-47). Bilezikian (see Chapter 21) was born in France, grew up under Nazi occupation during World War II, immigrated to the United States in 1961, and became a minister and teacher at Wheaton College in Illinois. Bilezikian developed the mega church model that emphasized bringing people together in small groups to help each other accomplish their missions.[3] Similar to Rick Warren, Hybels attended Robert Schuller’s Institute for Church Growth seminars. As Hybels often states, “the church’s mission, to turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, remains its singular passion.” But over thirty years later the Willow Creek study revealed that something was fundamentally wrong in the Church Growth movement’s formula to build a church similar to the one found in Acts 2.
The Willow Creek Study
The study was conducted by Greg L. Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek, and Cally Parkinson, brand manager for REVEAL, a WCA initiative that utilizes research and discoveries to help churches with spiritual growth among their congregants. They were assisted by Eric Arnson, an independent research and strategy consultant with twenty-five years of brand and consumer strategy experience with various consulting firms that primarily dealt with Fortune 500 companies.[4]
In 2004, the Willow Creek conducted its periodic congregational survey, but that survey was different than those conducted in prior years. Rather than just focusing on numbers and activities, the survey attempted to gauge “the movement of people toward Christ, toward deep love for God and genuine love for others.” Hybels was stunned at the results of the survey, “…nearly one out of every four people at Willow Creek were stalled in their spiritual growth or dissatisfied with the church—and many of them were considering leaving.” What followed was an on-going three year study aimed at revealing the reasons for the spiritual condition of a large segment of Willow Creek congregants.[5]
The study defined spiritual growth as “An increasing love for God and for other people.” The study accumulated 2.6 million data points and eleven thousand completed surveys from Willow Creek and six other churches across the United States which included denominational, seeker-targeted, and independent/Bible churches of various sizes, ethnicity, and both city and suburban churches.[6] The results of the study revealed six key discoveries.
1. Involvement in church activities does not predict or drive long-term spiritual growth. But there is a spiritual continuum that is very predictive and powerful.[7]
The researchers found that there was a positive connection between participation in church activities and behaviors such as tithing, service to others, evangelism, and praying. The researchers identified four levels of commitment across a spiritual continuum: exploring Christianity, growing in Christ, close to Christ, and Christ-centered. Where one is located on the continuum is highly predictive of the level of their spiritual growth, and the farther along one is on the continuum, the greater the level of spiritual growth. However, the finding that astounded the researchers was that higher levels of church activity did not mean a person had an increasing love for God or increasing love for others. In other words, participation in church activities does not drive spiritual growth. A growing relationship with Christ, as opposed to increasing involvement in church activities, moves one along the spiritual continuum (and which result in increases of spiritual behavior and activity).[8] From this finding, one may say that spiritual growth is driven from within rather than being externally driven by the church. Although the church cannot create spiritual growth, it can facilitate it.
2. Spiritual growth is all about increasing relational closeness to Christ.[9]
The researches asked the question as to why there is not a solid connection between participation in church activities and spiritual growth when the purpose of church activities is to turn people to Christ. Their answer is “Because God ‘wired’ us first and foremost to be in a growing relationship with him—not with the church…As we draw closer, we begin to see a dramatic change in how we live our lives and relate to other people.”[10]
3. The church is most important in the early stages of spiritual growth. Its role then shifts from being the primary influence to a secondary influence.[11]
The researchers conclude that the church is extremely important in the early states (Exploring Christianity, Growing in Christ) and a less important place to go for spiritual development and to find spiritual relationships for those in the later stages of spiritual growth (Close to Christ and Christ-centered). Rather, it is a “platform” that provides serving opportunities. They suggest that the church plays a lesser force and personal spiritual practices play a greater role in driving spiritual growth. The personal spiritual practices include “prayer, journaling, solitude, studying Scripture—things that individuals do on their own to grow in their relationship with Christ.”[12]
It is here that the researchers’ conclusions blatantly ignore an obvious and exceedingly important observation about those in the Close to Christ and Christ-centered segments of the spiritual growth continuum. A major part of spiritual growth and well-being of any Christian should come from preaching and worship directed at the church rather than preaching and worship that is directed week-after-week towards unchurched seekers. Therefore, the conclusion that spiritually mature Christians are less interested in small groups and weekend services is self-fulfilling because the spiritual fare is almost exclusively directed to seekers as opposed to the church (See Chapter 26). The Church Growth movement’s incessant focus on customizing its services (especially preaching and worship) to meet the needs and likes of unchurched seekers through a weekly evangelistic-topical message ignores or abandons preaching and worship directed to the church and which should be the primary purpose of the weekly services.
Thus, it is not surprising that the more mature, faithful, and spiritually advanced Christians have less interest in weekend gatherings. But the underlying reason for this decline in interest is not because they are relying on personal spiritual practices. It is because they are not receiving essential spiritual sustenance traditionally gained from weekly preaching, worship services, and Sunday school directed to the church. Should the researchers have recognized that weekly preaching and worship services directed to the church as being highly important aspects of spiritual growth and spiritual well-being (especially the Close to Christ and Christ-centered segments of the spiritual continuum), such recognition would have presented an irreconcilable conflict with the Church Growth movement’s substantial focus on the seeker-sensitive paradigm. As noted in discoveries 1 and 2 above, the church cannot drive spiritual growth in the Close to Christ and Christ-centered segments but it can facilitate it by directing services and worship to the church and not the seeker-sensitive.
4. Personal spiritual practices are the building blocks for a Christ-centered life.[13]
This discovery led to two key observations by the researchers. First, people are propelled along the spiritual continuum by a deep internal desire to fill the spiritual void in their souls. As one advances along the spiritual continuum, influences beyond the church become more important in spiritual growth. Second, the church declines in influence as one proceeds along the spiritual continuum. From these observations, the researchers concluded that, “The church doesn’t need to handhold people who are moving along in the later stages of the spiritual continuum.” In other words, a growing Christ-centered life is a result of a growing personal relationship with Jesus Christ.[14]
In this discovery, the researchers have again misread the needs of the church’s more spiritually advanced members. These members are not asking that their hands be held, but they desperately need regular spiritual support that should be received at weekly services but which the Church Growth movement continually and substantially focuses toward the seeker-sensitive elements at the lower end of the spiritual continuum.
5. A church’s most active evangelists, volunteers and donors come from the most spiritually advanced segments.[15]
The substantially higher levels of activity (evangelism, tithes and offerings, and volunteer service) come from the Close to Christ and Christ-centered segments of the spiritual continuum. This finding was contrary to the Willow Creek assumption that evangelistic fervor was highest in the early stages of one’s journey on the spiritual continuum.[16]
It is interesting to note that in advising pastors who are considering adopting a Purpose Driven church model, Rick Warren states that opposition will most likely come from the “pillars” of the church. He cavalierly suggests that those pillars (those in the Close to Christ and Christ-centered segments) are interfering with the pastor’s vision (holding things up) and should be allowed or even encouraged to leave the church.
Be willing to let people leave the church. And I told you earlier the fact is that people are gonna leave the church no matter what you do. But when you define the vision, you’re choosing who leaves. You say, “But Rick, yes, they’re the pillars of the church.” Now, you know what pillars are. Pillars are people who hold things up … And in your church, you may have to have some blessed subtractions before you have any real additions.[17]
If the pillars of the church are the most active evangelists, volunteers, and donors, why would Warren and other Church Growth advocates have such casual contempt for this segment of the church? Perhaps it is because they are so enamored with the Church Growth paradigm that focuses on the seeker.
6. More than 25 percent of those surveyed described themselves as spiritually “stalled” or dissatisfied” with the role of the church in their spiritual growth.[18]
The researchers state that stalled spiritual growth generally occurs in the early to middle stages of the four-segment spiritual continuum. Those stalled in their spiritual growth represent one out of every six surveyed. In the stalled group, 40 percent are satisfied, 28 percent are dissatisfied, and 25% are considering leaving the church.[19]
The dissatisfied group generally comes from the more “Christ focused,” that is, the evangelists, financial contributors, and volunteers. This group, unlike the stalled group, is committed to daily spiritual practices (prayer, Bible study, etc.). In other words, these are true Christ-followers and not just believers. Ninety-six percent attend church three to four times each month, 61% volunteer at least once each month, and 31% tithe. Yet, 63% report they are the considering leaving the church due to much lower levels of satisfaction with the church across the board.[20]
Ignoring the 800 pound gorilla in the room
Because the researchers are committed to (or perhaps “blinded by”) the Church Growth paradigm, they blame the stalled and dissatisfied congregants for their discontent because they haven’t taken responsibility for their own spiritual growth. .
But at the heart of their unhappiness may be the fact that neither segment seems to realize that much of the responsibility for their spiritual growth belongs to them. This is the big “aha.”
The decline of the church’s influence as people mature spiritually suggests that the church may have put too much emphasis on the spiritual equivalent of the diaper-changing and homework-helping stage of care.
As people work to grow in their personal relationship with Christ—a relationship that presumably has benefited from a foundation of solid theology and encouragement from church teaching—the institution of the church becomes less central to their faith development.[21]
The researchers have wrongly presumed that their members have a foundation of solid theology and encouragement from church teaching. But those progressing on the spiritual continuum grow beyond the elementary weekly fare of most seeker-sensitive churches. As they mature they aren’t given anything beyond the basics which will allow them to continue growing. This conclusion is confirmed by the study when it states that dissatisfied Christ-followers in seeker-sensitive churches say they “desire much more challenge and depth from the services,” whether it is church services, Bible classes, or small groups. Only 20% rate services as “outstanding or excellent” versus 71 percent of the total surveyed.[22] This supports the author’s conclusion in discovery 3 that to address the dissatisfactions of the Christ-followers in Purpose Driven and other seeker-sensitive churches presents an irreconcilable conflict with the Church Growth movement’s focus on the seeker-sensitive paradigm. This arises because the overall purpose of the local church’s weekly services has been wrongly redirected from ministering to the body of Christ to almost exclusively ministering to the needs and desires of seekers.
Rather than “more challenge and depth” from church services, the researchers promise additional and larger studies to
…evaluate the effectiveness of small group strategies, service formats and a host of other church activities…and detail the impact of things like Internet-based products and services on people’s spiritual lives, as well as different approaches to prayer, journaling, solitude and other personal spiritual practices.[23]
Even though Willow Creek’s leadership remains married to the idea that weekend services have less value for those farther along the spiritual continuum, the study’s findings have forced them to see the need to “extend the impact of our weekend services” to these disaffected groups. One example of their efforts is the provision of a free journal, pages for taking notes, questions for use during the week to reflect on the week’s passage of scripture, study questions for small groups, and insights from a biblical commentary. However, such halfway measures are merely pacifiers and will never satisfy the dissatisfied as long as the fundamental purpose of the local church’s weekend services are substantially directed to the seekers and their needs and desires.
Has Willow Creek’s spiritual continuum left out accepting Christ as one’s savior?
The Willow Creek study is primarily concerned with an adherent’s progress on the spiritual continuum. A continuum is “a range or series of things that are slightly different from each other and that exist between two different possibilities.”[24] In Christianity, the beginning of the spiritual continuum occurs when one accepts Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and savior. The other end of the spiritual continuum is reached when one leaves this earthly life as a Christian.
For Bill Hybels and the researchers, the foregoing definition appears to contradict Willow Creek’s definition of the spiritual continuum. This becomes apparent when their definitions of the segments of the spiritual continuum are examined.
Exploring Christianity – “I believe in God, but I’m not sure about Christ.” These people are taking the first steps in spiritual growth and are marked by significantly lower levels of agreement with belief statements such as “I believe salvation comes only through Jesus Christ.”
Growing in Christ – “I believe in Jesus, and I’m working on what it means to get to know him.” These believers are growing in their faith through church experiences and are also starting to incorporate personal spiritual practices into their normal routine outside the church.
Close to Christ – “I feel really close to Christ and depend on him daily for guidance.” These believers report much higher levels of spiritual practices than earlier segments. Serving emerges as an important expression of their faith. While their devotion to Christ is growing they still hold back from full commitment.
Christ-centered – “God is all I need in my life. He is enough. Everything I do is a reflection of Christ.” These people have fully surrendered their lives to Christ, demonstrated by their significantly higher levels of spiritual behaviors across the board. They “very strongly agree” that they seek God’s guidance in every area of their lives-at two times the level of any other segment.[25]
In the entire book that presents the study’s findings, no reference can be found as to the requirement that to be a Christian one must accept Jesus Christ as one’s Lord and Savior. Many people in the Exploring Christianity phase of Willow Creek’s spiritual continuum apparently believe in God but not Jesus Christ. They attend church, participate in church activities, sing, worship, and pray. But if they do not believe in Jesus Christ (and most importantly have not also accepted Him as their Lord and Savior), then they are not Christians. They are lost sinners, not on the spiritual continuum, and therefore not growing spiritually. The seeker may be under conviction of the Holy Spirit, but they are not saved and therefore not growing spiritually. It is only when one accepts Christ as his or her Lord and savior that they begin their spiritual journey. Those in the Growing in Christ segment have professed a belief in Jesus, but again that is not the same as accepting Christ as one’s Lord and Savior. Here we have people supposedly moving along the spiritual continuum but with no mention of the life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ which is the true beginning of one’s journey on the spiritual continuum.
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The substitution of man’s efforts to replace the redeeming work of the cross appears to be one of the great failings of the Church Growth movement and seeker sensitive churches (see Chapter 29). Paul’s second and final letter to Timothy warned what the last days would be like, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” [2 Timothy, 3:5. KJV] Matthew Henry wrote of Paul’s warning. “In the last days would come perilous times, not so much on account of persecution from without as on account of corruptions within…A form of godliness is a very different thing from the power of it; men may have the one and be wholly destitute of the other.”[26]
Larry G. Johnson
Sources:
[1] Greg L. Hawkins and Cally Parkinson, Reveal – Where Are You? (Barrington, Illinois: Willow Creek Association, 2007), pp. 3, 111.
[2] “Willow History,” Willow Creek Community Church. http://www.willowcreek.org/aboutwillow/willow-history (accessed December 29, 2015).
[3] George Mair, A Life With Purpose – Reverend Rick Warren, (New York: Berkeley Books, 2005), pp. 101-102.
[4] Hawkins and Parkinson, p. 111.
[5] Ibid., pp. 3-4, 8.
[6] Ibid., p. 29.
[7] Ibid., p. 33.
[8] Ibid., pp. 35-37.
[9] Ibid., p. 39.
[10] Ibid., pp. 38-39, 41.
[11] Ibid., p. 41.
[12] Ibid., pp. 42-43.
[13] Ibid., p. 44.
[14] Ibid., pp. 44-45.
[15] Ibid., p. 45.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Rick Warren, “Building a Purpose-Driven Church,” Seminar at Saddleback Church, January, 1998. Rick Warren Quotes. http://rickwarrenquotes.blogspot.com/2010/04/driving-under-influence-of-rick-warren.html (accessed January 12, 2016).
[18 Hawkins and Parkinson, p. 47.
[19] Ibid., pp. 47-49.
[20] Ibid., pp. 50-53.
[21] Ibid., pp. 54-55.
[22] Ibid., p. 53.
[23] Ibid., p. 59.
[24] “continuum,” Merriam-Webster Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/continuum (accessed January 12, 2016).
[25] Hawkins and Parkinson, pp. 38-39.
[26] Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1961), pp. 1896-1897.
