QUOTE
Unit 3: The First Wave Interpreted Worldwide
Lecture: Introduction to Unit 3
At Yoido, Dr. Cho had transitioned his traditional congregation to the cell model in a time of crisis. In the transition the church learned from success and failure, systematized those lessons and refined the cell model into a system with very clear, specific operating procedures. They were no longer a church in transition; after two decades, cells now were Athe way we=ve always done it here@ for the vast majority of Yoido members.
While cell groups at Yoido differentiated, just as cells differentiate in the human body, at their core they all had the same, identical DNA of instructions that guide every action. Newly born cells were no longer an innovation; rather than being a creative artistic expression or entrepreneurial reinvention, they functioned more like replications of a franchise guided by a detailed manual of operations. As the innovation moves through the adopter framework, it gains a stable, functional structure which is now the primary cause of generative growth. The goal is not to revise the plan but work the plan, cycling the current reality over and over again to make disciples. The Wesleyan discipleship system was likewise
Brilliant, innovative minds took
from the Yoido cell system what seemed to be needed back home and began adapting Awhat
worked in Seoul@ into
something new based on something old.[1]
Innovators are able to understand and apply complex technical knowledge,
improvise with that knowledge, cope with a high degree of uncertainty and often
have resources which offset the risk and inevitable losses that come from
experimentation. They are continually debugging, improving and reworking their
projects; a project is never done while a new feature or improvement can be
added. Innovators love to improvise solutions to problems. They resist
structure and systems, preferring to reinvent everything; early adopters then
refine these new adaptations for local optima. Innovators are drawn to anything
new, unusual and productive; they are by nature incapable of carrying out a
plan developed by someone else. Some aspects of the Yoido system were considered
unnecessary and dropped, while various aspects of western Christianity were
blended in to improve upon the original and make the flavor more palatable to
consumers.
[1]For more information on the innovator mind set, see Seminar Two: Dialogue at www.disciplewalk.com/resources.
NOTE (my response)
DISCERNMENT QUESTIONS
RESOURCES
Footnotes:
The quote is from Major League Disciple Making: An Overview of the Best Research on the Cell Church, an online course developed for the Institute for Discipleship at www.BeADisciple.com in 2009. Course materials, including these lectures, can be downloaded here: http://www.disciplewalk.com/IFD_MLD_Class_Links.html
All Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Please review the page How and Why We Use Quotes.