Pioneers and pastoralists: both are needed to finish the task

Some people remember “the old days” of America fondly (even if they didn’t experience them). The “old days” were different: not just because there were different situations, or less technology, or different climate patterns–but because the people themselves were different. They had a different perspective, shaped by the events that happened in their youth. They were a different generation.

Consider America in the 1700s and 1800s. More (most?) Americans were 1st and 2nd generation immigrants. There were immigrants arriving all the time–and they had a different outlook than we had to day. They were people who were willing to pull up, leave hearth and home behind and come to America and make a new life. They had pioneering values.

When a person is born in one place, and lives in that place all of their life, they develop a different outlook from the person who moves out of their own homeland to a new homeland. The differences aren’t necessarily “better” or “worse” – but they are “different.”

For the sake of this story, let’s label the two types “pioneers” and “pastoralists” – those who want to start something new, and those who want to sustain and improve what is already started.

Both types are needed–even in the church. Remember, there are two types of church growth: demographic (babies, “raise up your children in the ways of the Lord…”) and conversion (“go into all the world”).

We fondly remember the “old days” in the church – days of revival, of city-wide evangelistic crusades, of people walking the aisles, great in-sweepings of the Holy Spirit, and choirs singing “Just as I am” and so on. But once a family has come to faith, the likelihood is that we will more often see what I saw in church two sundays ago: grandparents, parents, siblings, gathered around as a grandchild is baptized. A “legacy of righteousness.”

Seeing this, I was reminded of the contrast of our time in Asia, where many of our Christian Asian friends were the first generation of believers – they did not have the legacy, and they were trying to figure out, as they were looking for spouses and raising children, what a Christian Asian family should look like, and how it should function. If the church is to be sustained over time, figuring that out is critical.

We have to value both church growth by conversion, especially in the ultimate expression of people who move to a new place in order to pioneer the church into new areas–and church growth by families, that maintains the land already gained.

If we fail at demographic growth, we will enter a period of apostasy which will lead to decline, and the need for conversion of new generations that are not only non-Christian but unevangelized. This is what is happening in the West (to greater or lesser degrees, depending on who you talk to).

If we fail at conversion growth, church growth will largely flatten worldwide – eventually growing at precisely the same average rate as global population growth. This is maintenance but does not lead to the completion of the great commission. It results in billions of people never hearing the Gospel, because we are so focused on sustaining our own and pay so little attention to those outside.

How do we find the pioneers? Perhaps we can start by looking at places where the pioneering culture is showing up. One might be among the “restless” in more “pastoral church” areas (not necessarily the rural, but areas where little new conversions are happening, where most of it is sustaining growth). Second, we might look at the “fringes” – the edges where the Christian and non-Christian meet. There, by force of necessity, we may have a higher probability of finding “pioneering” souls. We can also look at those who have moved by force – relocated by jobs – as well as the 2nd generation of movers (TCKs, MKs, etc) – those who are successful in a move may be a sign of a pioneering capacity.

Meanwhile, we also need to work on ensuring the church has the capacity to raise up leaders of families who in turn raise up the next generation. Remember, in the long run, one of the most important things the church can do is help believers marry believers and raise believing children.