Church Matters: Retrieving the Great Tradition

Ses s i on 6: Shared Sp i r i tua l i t y and Chur ch P l ant Movement s 115

3. Without a shared spirituality, a CPM is likely to fizzle out shortly after its initial movement, since long lasting movements of the Spirit are grounded in deep conviction and lively practice rooted in biblical theology and kingdom vision.

4. Without a shared spirituality, churches in a CPM are likely to splinter into sectarianism, heresy, and division .

B. Dynamic CPMs are contextualized within distinct cultural people groups.

1. Contextualization conditions how the spiritual identity of the churches is understood, practiced and embodied.

2. Contextualization within people groups ensures that the Gospel penetrates the cultures , embodying itself in the language, customs, styles, structures, and conduct of the receiving group.

3. Without contextualization, churches in a CPM either commingle their own cultural expressions with the Gospel ( syncretism ), reject the spiritual vision of the church planters altogether in favor of their own cultural norms ( essentialism ), or merely take on the forms of others without critique or change ( assimilationism ).

4. None of the above options ultimately results in the Gospel penetrating a community, people group, or nation; only if shared spirituality is contextualized will it have long lasting impact within the culture .

C. Dynamic CPMs employ a strategy for multiplication that allows for efficient, rapid reproduction .