The “Why” of Holistic Church Planting (Part 2)

The Nature of Man’s Greatest Need

​“Too often in church planting we have relegated God’s transforming work to spiritual realities and assigned earthly matters to science and technology. The result is a schizophrenic Christianity that leaves everyday problems of human life to secular specialists and limits God to matters of eternity. A truly holistic approach to mission rooted in biblical truth is as essential in planting vital churches that remain Christ-centered over the generations as it is in Christian ministries of compassion” (Paul G. Hiebert, Foreword to Bryant L. Myers’ Walking With the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development, 2011).

The idea of transformational development wedded to Christian witness is not a new concept. Myers sets forth clearly the idea of transformational development in his seminal work, Walking With the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development (Orbis Books, 2011). His use of the term reflects a deep seated conviction that what we are to be about in entering people groups and communities is seeking change “in the whole of human life materially, socially, psychologically and spiritually.” Myers goes on to say that Christian witness is concerned with communicating that “God has, through his Son, made it possible for every human being to be in a covenant relationship with God.” Myers chooses to use the term “Christian witness” over against “evangelism” because evangelism for him conjures up images of street evangelists broadcasting monologues loudly through megaphones, or crusade evangelists preaching passionately and persuasively to stadiums filled with people. Instead, he sees Christian witness as proclaiming the gospel by “life, word, and deed.”
This brings us to what holistic mission is all about: restoration of relationships.

“God’s inherent nature is good. One of the ways this is shown in the Bible is through the central theme of justice and care for the poor in scripture. Consequently, poverty and oppression are symptoms of something fundamentally wrong in the relationship between God and humanity. The biblical narrative describes an arc of history starting from a life of wholeness in creation (Genesis 1 and 2) that was marred by the Fall (Genesis 3). The consequence was broken relationships—ultimately with God, but also with each other, with ourselves and with the whole of creation.” (Tearfund: “Understanding Poverty: Restoring Broken Relationships”)

A holistic approach to church planting seeks to restore peoples to proper and right relationships with God, with each other, themselves and the world on which they depend. “Poverty itself can be understood as a state caused by broken relationships—a broken relationship with God that causes us to be separated from Him and act contrary to His desire for our lives; a broken relationship with each other that causes us to ignore God’s desire for us to love one-another as we love ourselves; a broken understanding of ourselves, forgetting that we are made in God’s image, causing us to ignore God’s ways and be hard-hearted; and a broken relationship with the world in which we live, abusing the resources we are to be stewards of and with which we have been entrusted” (Stephen Gaukroger, Clarion Trust International). Holistic church planting engages unreached people at their point of greatest need, namely the restoration of broken relationships:

• Broken Relationship with God – The consequence of Adam and Eve’s disobedience was that their relationship with God changed radically and they were expelled from the Garden (Gen 3:8).
• Broken Relationship with Ourselves – God created men and women in His own image (Gen 1:26), but after the Fall shame entered the human race (Gen 3:7). Adam and Eve no longer understood themselves as God’s children.
• Broken Relationships with Others – In the Fall, the relationship of Adam and Eve was broken (Gen 3:16). The natural harmony they enjoyed before the Fall was ruined, and injustice entered the world. The result of this was highlighted in the slaying of Able by Cain.
• Broken Relationships with God’s Creation – The relationship between human beings and God’s created environs was broken (Gen 3:17). As a result, fruitfulness no longer comes easily to mans. Men and women have to toil, with no guarantee of an equal return on their effort in working the land. Natural and manmade disasters are evidence of this broken relationship with God’s created order.

Holistic or Integral Mission insists that our faith requires action in terms of the way we live and conduct our relationships. It demands we take seriously Christ’s admonition to love both God and our neighbor. According to Jesus, the motivation behind the messages of the Old Testament Prophets is based on this principle of reciprocating Love. Holistic mission is nothing less than transformation resulting from all-consuming love for Christ and for those whom He has created in the imago dei.

“Poverty is the result of a social and structural legacy of broken relationships with God, a distorted understanding of self, unjust relationships between people, and exploitive relationships with the environment. These broken relationships not only affect individuals’ lives, decisions and actions, but also create broken systems, leading to problems such as power imbalances and corrupt governments. These fractures are made worse by conflicts and natural disasters, many of which also have roots in the broken relationships between God, humanity, and wider creation” (Anna Ling and Hannah Swithinbank, Tearfund).

The Role of Local Churches in Community Transformation

“The church occupies a distinct space in communities, nations and the world. It is privileged in its reach at all levels, connecting at the level of the individual right up to international organizations. This creates huge potential for its role in tackling poverty, in all its forms, across the globe” (Lucie Wooley, “Integral, Inspirational and Influential: The role of local churches in humanitarian and development responses,” Tearfund: 2017).

Christians are called to take intentional and strategic initiative in restoring broken relationships. Integral mission “understands that God is working to restore broken relationships by responding holistically to people’s needs, including economic, emotional, spiritual and physical ones. The church, as the body of Christ, therefore has a distinctive role to play in fulfilling this mission” (Ling and Swithinbank, “Understanding Poverty: Restoring Broken Relationships,” Tearfund: 2019). Churches are by definition prophetic communities of faith (please see our earlier blog: “The ‘Why’ of Holistic Church Planting, Part 1”, 12/2/19). The response of The Unfinished Task Network is to mobilize the planting of churches that are by nature and effect agents of spiritual and community transformation. The aim of transformational church planting is to restore all four different types of broken relationship. This approach goes beyond meeting basic needs, equipping churches to enable and empower people to flourish as they come to know Christ individually and become agents of transformed relationships:

• Restored Relationship with God – Human flourishing depends on a living relationship with God the Father through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. Biblical Shalom is about being right with God through repentance and the forgiveness of sin. God’s desire is that individuals, communities, and people groups respond to Christ’s invitation of a restored relationship with Him, and love God with all their hearts, all their souls, all their minds, and all their strength (Luke 10:27). This response enables transformation by the power of the Spirit that is reflected in character, values and behavior.
• Restored Relationship with Self – This requires us to have the blinders removed so that we see ourselves as God sees us (Gen 1:27; 1 Thess 1:4), and bring our body, mind, soul, feelings and will back in sync with that biblical identity. Only when we understand that we bear the image of God will be display Him to the world in all areas of life.
• Restored Relationship with Others – Restored relationships are characterized by love and respect in the face of obvious and implied differences—gender, race, culture, economic status, or religion.
• Restored Relationship with God’s Creation – Living sustainably means caring for the whole of creation (Gen 1:26; 2:15). This includes the physical environment, living creatures, and maintaining environmental resources like water, land, seeds, and air. 

Dane Fowlkes, Ph.D.
Co-Founder, The Unfinished Task Network