Paradigm Shifting Thoughts
A “paradigm shift” is a fundamental change in an understanding, approach, or underlying assumptions or presuppositions.
“31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired [to have] you, that he may sift [you] as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” – Luke 22:31-32 KJV
Brief Explanation of Luke 22:31-32
The conversion that Christ was explaining to Peter was not a conversion for his salvation. It was a turn (converted) from the specific demonstration of Peter’s unbelief when he denied Christ three times (22:34). I believe a healthy Christ-follower will have multiple “conversions” in their walk with Christ. These “conversions” are not for “salvation” but for the refinement or enlargement of our faith.
Peter had another paradigm shift when God changed his Jewish mindset about bringing the Good News to the so-called unclean Gentiles. This was a massive paradigm shift, for it was one of the reasons the Good News of Jesus Christ was expanded to the world. Aren’t we grateful?
“12 In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. 13 Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.” 14 “No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.”
15 But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” 16 The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven. 17 Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house. Standing outside the gate…” – Acts 10:12-17 NLT
There are times when we need to recalibrate our past and present thinking to become more aligned with God’s thoughts, or we need to adjust our behaviors to coincide more closely with the Word of God.
Isn’t this glorious?!
Truly the Lord Jesus Christ has given us the “gift” of repentance (Acts 11:18 KJV), where hope is increased, obedience is enhanced, and the progress of our maturity is evident to ourselves and to others.
“15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.
16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” – 1 Timothy 4:15-16 NIV
I’ve experienced several paradigm shifts (conversions) in my faith journey, and there is a good chance that you have too. Here is the explanation of one of my latest:
A Paradigm Shift Regarding the Church
The best biblical description of the Church is the simple version of an indigenous Church as revealed in the Renewed Covenant (the New Testament). It is not the democratized form presently functioning in America.
I realize that I am writing many of the following concepts ahead of the time in which we are presently living—particularly during this period of the institutionalized, democratized church here in America.
However, I am clearly not alone in my ecclesiastical thinking (that is, how the church is organized and functions). Godly men and women have long been writing about the importance of the indigenous church—the self-supporting, self-propagating, and self-governing church—and how it ought to operate. Many of them not only wrote about indigenous churches, but they also participated in such movements of the Holy Spirit. Many underground church movements are currently functioning—often thriving—in places like China and Iran, even in the midst of persecution. There are also more recent indigenous movements in history where exponential growth and impact occurred, for example, the Wesleys’ revival or Third World Pentecostalism today.
The Church is Usually Reflective of the Culture
In many ways, the church is reflective of the society in which it exists. For example, living in a Constitutional Republic/Democracy has afforded us many freedoms, significant wealth, and expansive prosperity. Most of our churches, whether large or small, are accepted by our society and are greatly influenced by our democratic principles.
Our Adopted Western Forms of Church
Essentially, the Western expression of how church is done today is through the elevation of the professional pastor and teacher. This form became prominent under Constantine, who elevated the offices of Pastor-Teacher and introduced the detrimental concept of separation of clergy from laity. He also popularized the physical church structure to be configured where the pulpit became supreme, and the attenders would come and listen. The great cathedrals and Catholic church buildings of Europe reflect this. Since the time of Constantine, numerically the church is in decline proportionate to the increase of the general population.
The Institutional Church
Below is a typical picture of any given church service today in most parts of the affluent world:
- a person enters a room where they talk to a few friends
- they will find a seat, usually in rows
- they will sing a few songs
- they will listen to a teacher or pastor give a sermon—proclamation
- silently pray while the pastor or lay leader vocally prays
- listen to announcements
- perhaps take communion
- give a financial offering
Our churches consist of musical teams with guitars, drums, sound equipment, microphones, and screen projection systems. Our buildings occupy a large percent of church budgets and are physically designed (fixed seating, rows of chairs) for the proclamation of the Word of God by one teaching pastor.
As Winston Churchill once remarked: “We shape our buildings, and then they shape us.”
The shape of our buildings reinforces passivity because the congregation is understood to attend to “be fed.” It is very easy for ministers to cater right into this dependency.
People gifted as pastors and teachers love to teach and care for people, and the congregation, in turn, loves to outsource learning and to be cared for. It is safe to say that this model has created a consumer mentality in which comfort, convenience, and safety and security become the dominant values.
The structures are not designed with participation in mind; rather, congregants are meant to come and listen. Paid staff are hired for ministries that are deemed the most important by that given church. These paid staffs grow in numbers and become increasingly managerial in nature, attracting management-oriented people. Many churches are consumed with meetings and managing minutiae. Simply ask the average evangelical pastoral team member.
The pastors selected are not apostolic visionaries or entrepreneurial risk-takers but are caregivers or shepherds. In recent years, I have noticed that these sincere godly men have developed into master churchmen. From my perspective, this has hampered the church, and we are losing our voice in the public square because we have minimized the functions of the apostolic and prophetic roles. I believe this neglect has thwarted significant Spirit-led movements that could have deeply impacted the broader culture.
The Indigenous Church
The institutionalized/democratized churches dot the landscape of America, and they are a far cry from the New Testament (Renewed Covenant) churches that spread the Good News of the Kingdom of God through small, highly participatory gatherings, primarily from house to house—but they would also gather in the temple courts.
In these small gatherings, people would participate with:
- songs of praise, usually with little or no instrumental accompaniment
- confession of sins
- intercessory prayer for each other, their nation, the safety of their families, and for those outside of the Faith
- prophecy (speaking for God) to each other for edification, exhortation, encouragement, comfort, and conviction (1 Corinthians 14:3 & 24)
- listening to teaching from the Word of God from the recognized teachers in the small church
- graciously listening to each other as many joined in by communicating from the Scripture what they were learning from Christ and the Holy Spirit
This was all done in a circular seating arrangement where, when one spoke, it was easy to see and hear the person.
- They shared communion with bread and wine in remembrance of what Christ did for them on the cross. Perhaps individuals spoke of their gratefulness to Christ as they partook. This is absolutely powerful to experience!
- They would then conclude with a “love feast.” They “broke bread together” and gave thanks with glad, humble, and gracious hearts. (See Acts 2:42-47)
About Alan Hirsch
A number of years ago, Seth, our son, introduced me to the writings of Alan Hirsch. He has become one of my favorite authors who writes about the state of the present-day church, the latent (the state of existing but not yet being developed or manifest) apostolic ethos (characteristic spirit) present in the life of the Body of Christ. He brings clarity to the positive impact that a correct understanding and application of Ephesians 4 can have and has had in expanding the message of Jesus Christ. I have read most of his books.
The thoughts below are from his book The Forgotten Ways, pages 18–19. I have added a few of my thoughts for further clarity. This is a profound book that has aided me in making significant paradigm shifts regarding the Church. I highly recommend it.
Some of His Motivational Questions
How many Christians do you think there were just before Constantine came on the scene, say, AD 310?
Here is the surprising answer:
AD 100 – as few as 25,000 Christians
AD 310 – up to 20 million Christians
Haunting questions—How did they do this? How did they grow from being a small movement to the most significant religious force in the Roman Empire in two centuries?
Before I respond, it is important to recognize several qualifications that we must factor into our answer:
- They were an illegal religion throughout this period. This takes being “canceled” to another level.
- They didn’t have the Scriptures as we know them. The Canon (the collection of manuscripts accepted as genuine) of Scripture was being put together during this time. In the underground church in past and present-day China, they may take one page of Scripture to a house church and then swap that page with another house group.
- They didn’t have any church buildings as we know them. Archaeologically, we have discovered small chapels from this period, but they were definitely exceptions to the rule, and they tended to be very small, converted homes.
- They didn’t have an institution or a professional form of leadership normally associated with it.
- They didn’t have elaborate church programs and resources with youth groups, praise bands, seminaries, commentaries, or even paid staff.
- They actually made it hard to join the church. By the 2nd century, aspiring converts had to undergo a significant initiation period to prove that they were worthy of it.
My heart is deeply moved as I read about the second greatest awakening in the history of Christianity in Communist China. This staggering story lifts me out of my myopic institutionalized view of the church and motivates me to think of the biblical concepts and applications of the indigenous churches found in the Book of Acts. Please consider reading Hirsch’s book, especially Chapter One, pages 27–48 in The Forgotten Ways.
Below are Some of the Authors I Have Read Extensively:
- The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church, and the Causes Which Hinder It – Roland Allen
- The Forgotten Ways – Alan Hirsch
- A World to Win – Joseph A. Grassi
- The Shaping of Things to Come – Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch
Applications
- Consider doing church in your home, integrating some of the ingredients I listed regarding the indigenous church. Try it every other month. Call me and I can give you some ideas.
By the way, a number of years ago I asked the small group of young men I was discipling where and when they experienced the Holy Spirit the most. Max McNown, our grandson, immediately said, “Papa, it was when we had home church in your house when we were living with you.” Hello—this is rewarding. - Please pass this article on to your pastor and ask him for his feedback.
- Describe your understanding of the self-supporting, self-propagating, and self-governing church.
- Please refer to my three articles on the Five-Fold functions in Ephesians 4:
- Page 4 on my blog: www.daleebel.org, titled Preliminary Comments on Ephesians 4, dated June 8, 2023.
- Page 4, also dated June 8, 2023: Dale’s View of the Five-Fold Ministry in Ephesians 4.
- Page 1: A Questionnaire About Your Spiritual Functions, dated May 30, 2025.
Provide Your Thoughts to My Comments Below:
The fruits borne by the indigenous church will be immediately and constantly seen in the amelioration (make better, improve) of the whole social structure of the surrounding area in which it is planted. It is a truism that it is not laws that are needed in the land, but good citizens who will obey those laws—those who fear God and keep His commandments. (Page 101, Jesus Family in Communist China)
Samuel Adams also emphasized this when he contended, “Good laws and constitutions are insufficient without a virtuous citizenry.”
Maturing in Christ, with you!
Dale