Vol. 2 Fall 2016 Donald McGavran and Church Growth, A Quarter Century after His Death George H. Martin 5 Editorial: Why another look at Donald McGavran? John Michael Morris 9 McGavran on McGavran: What Did He Really Teach? Troy L. Bush 25 Te Homogeneous Unit Principle and Te American Mosaic Todd Benkert 47 Reconsidering Receptivity in Te Age of People Groups Kevin Bagget and Randy Arnet 65 Redefning Global Lostness Aubrey M. Sequeira with Harry Kumar and Venkatesh Gopalakrishnan 89 Caste and Church Growth: An Assessment of Donald McGavran’s Church Growth Principles from An Indian Perspective D. Rocky Coleman 113 Donald Anderson McGavran: An Annotated Bibliography David Plat 133 A Sermon: “Our Obligation to the Unreached,” Romans 1-3 Book Reviews 147 Editor-in-Chief: R . Albert Mohler, Jr. • Executive Editor: Adam W. Greenway • Editor: George H. Martin • Book Review Editor: Dylan Blaine • Editorial Board: Randy L. Stinson, Daniel S. Dumas, Gregory A. Wills, Adam W. Greenway, Dan DeWit, Timothy Paul Jones, George H. Martin, Steve Waters, James A. Smith, Sr. • Typographer: Eric Rivier Jimenez • Editorial Ofce: Southern Baptist Journal of Missions and Evangelism, 2825 Lexington Rd., Louisville, K Y 40280, (800) 626-5525, x 4402 • E-Mail: [email protected] 3 Editorial: Why another look at Donald McGavran? George H. Martin George H. Martin is Professor of Christian Missions and World Religions in the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Ministry at Te Southern Baptist Teological Seminary and editor of Southern Baptist Journal of Missions and Evangelism. He received the Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Teological Seminary and he is the author of numerous essays and articles and the author of Understanding Your New Life in Jesus Christ: Leters to a New Believer (Rainer, 2014). Donald McGavran and his church growth principles remain controversial and are regularly debated. Whatever one’s evaluation of McGavran, he stands as a giant among 20th century missiologists, having done some of the most important missiological research and writing of the previous century. He introduced concepts that remain components of missions vocabulary and practice. Current missions scholarship and practice would not be what they are without Donald McGavran’s contributions. Who among us, even with litle specifc knowledge of McGavran, has not heard, or used, terms such as “church growth,” “harvest felds,” “people groups,” etc? An important fgure, Donald McGavran remains a lightning rod for criticism. At times, McGavran's critics have argued that his writings and recommendations seem unclear and that he appears to fnd indisputable biblical support for his positions, when, in actuality, the support appears vague or merely inferred. (See Morris, below: “Missiologists… difer as to whether the principles described by McGavran are grounded in Scripture.”) Perhaps one of the strongest critiques of McGavran is that he could have done much more to address numerous abuses of church growth methodology by those who followed him. Whatever one’s opinion of Donald McGavran, one cannot legitimately ignore him. His impact on church planting and missions strategy has been SBJME 2 (2016): 5-8 5 The Southern Baptist Journal of Missions and Evangelism 2 (2016) wide and deep. A year beyond last year’s 25th anniversary of his death (July 10, 1990) afords a timely opportunity for scholars and practitioners of a new generation to take a look. Te authors contributing to this issue help us to think carefully and helpfully about Donald McGavran and his impact on current ministry. Te present efort makes no atempt to be either pro- or anti-McGavran; let readers consider the presentations and arguments found here and decide for themselves. At its founding, Te Billy Graham School at Southern Seminary was linked to McGavran; its original name included the terminology “Church Growth.” Dr. Tom Rainer served as founding dean, and with his voluminous published scholarship on McGavran and church growth maters, the school continued to be linked to McGavran and the discipline of church growth. Tis issue provides not only the opportunity to acknowledge last year’s 25th anniversary of McGavran’s death, last year, but also to recognize God’s providential oversight and blessing of Te Billy Graham School. Several of the contributors to this issue are alumni of the Graham School. Much history is found in any consideration of Donald McGavran: the details of his life and research on the mission feld, his relationship with Fuller Seminary, the controversies surrounding his work and his responses, his later years. Tese historical and biographical maters are not the focus of this issue of SBJME, however. Rather, we take a look at some of his key contributions to missiology, maters that remain parts of contemporary scholarship and practice. Among the contributors, the reader might expect to fnd some of the beter known names connected to McGavran and church growth: Peter Wagner, Elmer Towns, Tom Rainer, and others. Te jour- nal, however, has given space to a new generation of writers, current voices examining church growth principles within the contemporary context, and writing with a passion about the issues they presently face. Te reader will discover, among the contributors to this issue, varying degrees of comfort with McGavran. Te journal believes that these diferent views should be heard as the conversation continues. We ofen hear about Donald McGavran that he taught this or that. But what did he really teach? Mark Morris, President of the Great Commission Research Network, gives atention to this question. Morris reaches his conclusions by way of a heavy reliance upon McGavran’s own writings. In the increasingly multi-ethnic and multi-racial society that is 21st century 6 Editorial: Why another look at Donald McGavran? America, Troy Bush, so immersed in that reality as pastor of Rehoboth Baptist Church, examines McGavran’s homogeneous unit principle and the American mosaic and gleans from McGavran’s work lessons for the practice of ministry. In light of the strong focus by so many missions groups on the global unreached population, Todd Benkert reminds us that God would have us not overlook places where he is working. In reconsidering the mater of receptivity, Benkert draws out a number of ofen forgoten missiological positives for reaching the unreached. Two current cross-cultural workers, Kevin Bagget and Randy Arnet, challenge the validity of the categories anticipated in the work of McGavran, upon which much evangelical missiological strategy rests. Tey propose additional analogical categories that allow a more complete representation of the dynamic, complex relationships of the world’s people groups. In the article on caste, the reader will note quite a degree of discomfort with McGavran. Aubrey Sequeira, Harry Kumar, and Venkatesh Gopalakrishnan are particularly concerned about caste in India, which they believe McGavran understood inadequately and with harmful consequences. Te reader who has found much to commend McGavran will discover three Indian voices that ofer a strong cautionary word about caste in India. Tese are voices that should be heard. Rocky Coleman provides an annotated bibliography. Tough not exhaus- tive, the bibliography is extensive, and it presents many of McGavran’s most important works. And fnally, though he needs litle additional introduction to the denomination he serves, the journal considers it an honor, by way of ofering David Plat’s sermon “Our Obligation to Reach the Unreached,” to let our readers hear his heart for reaching the nations with the gospel. In a sermon published as transcribed from the spoken message, Plat reminds us that we have the obligation to reach all peoples, whether they are found in traditional harvest felds or among the unreached and unengaged. Donald McGavran and his church growth principles continue to be debated. In light of this reality, I conclude with an adaptation of a word of counsel from Dr. Tomas J. Delaughter, my Old Testament professor in seminary. Much material is available, both from McGavran’s own pen and from his promoters and from his detractors. Let the reader chew it all up, the good meat along with the bone and gristle and fat. Swallow the good and spit out the bad. 7 McGavran on McGavran: What Did He Really Teach? John Michael Morris John Michael Morris (Ph.D., D.Min.) holds the Ida M. Botoms Chair of Missions at Southwestern Baptist Teological Seminary, where he serves as Associate Dean of Applied Ministry and Mentorship. He is also President of the Great Commission Research Network (formerly known as the American Society for Church Growth). He previously served as an International Mission Board (IMB) missionary in South Korea, as a church planter in Tennessee, as a pastor in Kentucky, as an associate pastor in Tennessee, and as a youth minister in Arizona and Texas. Donald A. McGavran was one of the most infuential missiologists of the twentieth century. John Michael Morris asserts that McGavran’s teachings have ofen been misunderstood and unjustly criticized. In light of his many contributions, evangelicals will do well to reexamine his teachings with a view toward ascertaining his actual positions versus his purported positions that actually diverge fom his thinking. Tis reexamination clarifes and argues for the continuing relevance and correctness of the missiological principles that he described. Introduction Te phrase “Church Growth Movement” (CGM) has bad connotations for many people. Tis reality is one reason