The Great Inversion: How the Church is Stepping into a New Day
Statistics show that by 2034, many of the mainline denominations may cease to exist. There has been a disconnect between emerging generations and Christianity. So, how does The Great Inversion bridge authentic Christianity to unreached people groups and emerging generations?
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JESUS: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price
JESUS: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:45-46
There are a couple of basic things we see clearly in this parable.
The Kingdom is worth pursuing because the King is of infinite value.
The Kingdom is worth pursuing because the Kingdom exceeds the value of anything on earth.
Pearls are cultivated in a mussel by embracing an irritation, usually a grain of sand. The pearl is cultivated by embracing some cost or suffering. I mention that because, as a local church, we’ve navigated disaffiliation and affiliation with a new denomination for the sake of the Pearl of Great Price.
There was some pain associated with the transition, but it was unto something—the possibility of stepping into a preferred new day as a faith family.
The Bigger Picture of the Church
To look at the big picture, I want to discuss denominations.
Some people think the day of the denomination is over. Thirteen percent of North American church attendees attend a non-denominational church (Christianity Today Article). However, I want to reason that the day of the denomination isn’t over. Instead, the day of the mainline denomination may be over.
The chart illustrates the mainline denominations of North America (The Presbyterian Church USA, Episcopal Church, Lutheran Church and the United Methodist Church, among several others) are all in free fall. (NOTE: It should be noted that the UMC data is prior to disaffiliations.) The reason this information is important is because it’s not a good thing to be part of a movement that’s in a drastic decline. I’ll say more about that soon.
This is also a reflection of the collapse of the mainline expression of Christianity in North America. In the 1970s, there were times when 10% of the sample were mainline Protestants between the ages of 18 and 35; Today, it's 1.5%. At our current rate, the percentage will be too small to analyze this group.
The Day of the mainline denominational expression of Christianity is coming to a close in North America. Some researchers say that by 2034, many of the mainline denominations, if not all, may cease to exist due to the average age of persons who are part of it. However, the main thing to see is that these mainline denominations are severely declining.
Introducing the Great Inversion
We’re living in a time of significant change, yet some of these are positive. We live in a time when a great shift is happening in the North American Church. There are more than 45,000 Christian denominations on our planet, many of which are growing in North America.
The Anglican Church of North America is growing.
The Presbyterian Church of North America (PCA) is growing.
The Assembly of God Church in North America is growing.
But a great change is also happening in Methodism, which I call The Great Inversion. Inversion means a reversal of position, order, form, or relationship. We need an inversion in Methodism, and we also need it in Western Christianity.
The book The Great Dechurching asks: Who’s leaving, why are they going, and what will it take to bring them back? What’s worked in the past will not be what gets us out of our current predicament. The things that hindered reaching new generations for Christ have not been characteristic of the mainline church. There are things we need to unlearn and things that God is trying to teach us.
Not all statistical data supporting college students, Gen Z, and millennials are pessimistic about Christianity. Emerging generations are being reached for Christ. As Blaise Pascal described, there is a God-shaped hole in all of us that only He can fill. [READ MORE: Reclaiming the Gospel for Our Youth]
However, there are some unique characteristics we should be mindful of, and we see that reality happening in younger generations. We saw it in 2023 at Asbury University and every year in Atlanta at the Passion Conference when thousands of students gather to worship.
“Either America goes forward best by going back first, or America is about to reap a future in which the worst will once again be the corruption of the best.” Os Guinness, author and theologian
These things show that emerging generations are not turned off to Christ and Christianity. Instead, they’re attracted to the authenticity of God’s Word. They’re not interested in the smoke machines or the flash. The bridges reaching emerging generations are authentic and reflective of the original pulses of Christianity.
Let’s look at some truths that statistically and anecdotally display the four inversions we want to be part of as a church family.
The Four Inversions
1) United Methodism to Global Methodism
The late Irish Methodist theologian Dr. Billy Abraham, and I’m paraphrasing, said, “After the United Methodist Church divides, we will enter a new and exciting day because of all the latent DNA that will be released through new expressions.”
We’re in that day, and so much of what’s beneath the surface will rise and emerge.
During the last six or seven years, when tensions were particularly heightened in the United Methodist Church, many gifted people began to labor at annual and general conferences to use what I call the “Legislative Sword.” They sought to bring matters to a head. Their goal wasn’t confrontation but stewarding a healthier capacity for God’s glory.
What’s happening in the Global Methodist Church is a visionary phase, unleashing church planting, disciple-making, and missional movement to unreached people groups.
Moving from United Methodism to Global Methodism is significant because we’ve shifted into a new day. We’ve moved out of theological indifference and pluralism into embracing classic Christianity. We are living into being Gospel-centered, believing in justification by faith and pardoning grace.
Gospel-Lite will not resurrect a nation or reach a son or daughter who is far from God. The original pulses of classic Christianity effectively reach emerging generations and transform hearts.
We’re in a new day of rediscovering the beauty of Wesleyan sanctification, which is being perfected in love and knowing life in our walk with God. We’re in a day of knowing lives that are saturated in prayer. We see the presence and work of the Holy Spirit cultivating fruit in our lives and maximizing the way we worship Him.
These are the ingredients of revival and spiritual awakening for our day. That’s why it matters that we’ve moved from the United Methodist Church to the Global Methodist Church. In the GMC, the mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ, worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness the Body of Christ grow. This is convictional!
2) Restoring the Method in Methodism
In the Old World, if you attended a denominational event, it was geared toward developing leaders to serve on your team, such as a trustee or church council. Let’s validate that those are important roles, as the Bible has much to say about qualifications for elders. However, in those conferences, there was no training for the very thing Jesus instructed the Church to do: make disciples!
Pastor Mark Nysewander wrote:
“In the early 1800’s, Methodism was the fastest-growing Christian movement in the United States. Fueled by the camp meeting revival, there was rapid multiplication through the class meeting. It was a hot house for new leaders. A person could start out as a class member, become a class leader, then become a circuit rider. There was no limit. Even the first Methodist bishop in the United States, Francis Asbury, had come up through this disciple-making track.
By the late 1800’s, however, at the general conference two subtle decisions were passed. These decisions exposed a significant plate shift in Methodism. It was changing from a disciple-making movement into a church of spectators. The general conference decided that attendance at class meetings should no longer be obligatory. To be a Methodist you just needed to attend the worship event. They shifted their base community from a group of a few to an event of the many. The second decision was to start a theological seminary. The primary form of leadership was shifting from everyone a leader to only a few educated leaders who governed the many. The disciple-making discovery of John Wesley to aim for a few and enable the few to lead was quickly unraveling.” No More Spectators (Sovereign World, 2005), p. 63
The genius of the early Methodist movement was its intentionality for discipleship. We’re moving from a culture emphasizing developing leaders to a culture emphasizing developing disciples. When you develop leaders, you may or may not get disciples. However, when you develop disciples, you always get leaders.
The reason we’re called Methodists isn’t because we host great potlucks. We’re called Methodists because John Wesley was so methodical about discipleship, developing small groups, class bands, and societies.
3) Moving from Merely Training to Actively Training
In the Old World, teaching was sufficient. In the Great Inversion, teaching wed with training and equipping is essential.
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-13
Jesus demonstrated both teaching and training in His ministry.
“Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:19-20
When I was a kid, my dad coached multiple basketball and fast-pitch softball sports teams. His father coached. He coached. So, coaching was in his blood.
He would put plastic blinders on my eyes and have me dribble one hundred times with my right hand and 100 times with my left hand, and then he would have me shoot 25 layups with my right hand, and then he would have me shoot 25 layups, with my left hand.
Training cultivates habits, and habits cultivate skills. You would never expect someone to be proficient in playing golf, tennis, pickleball, gardening, or woodworking, only by listening to a speaker talk about them. You teach, then demonstrate and then let them try.
We are shifting from being a teaching church to an equipping church. We no longer want to merely teach; we train and equip. It’s imperative that you know how to share the Gospel and make disciples.
4) “Come and See” to “Go and Tell”
When I say “come and see,” I'm talking about how we invite people to church. I want to encourage you, yes, invite people to church. Never stop doing that. The “go and tell” culture understands that when we're equipped, the “come and see” part tends to take care of itself.
78% of Christians in North America have not shared their faith with anyone in the last six months. Contrast that stat with this: nine out of 10 people who do not attend church would be open to hearing the gospel from a friend. Something’s not lining up here!
If you’re willing to be equipped but don’t feel confident sharing the Gospel, we want to be an equipping church. We want to be a people of enlightened minds and warm hearts so that in the Great Inversion, we, as a people of God, are effective in disciple-making, church planting, world missions, and reaching unreached people groups.
This is why our new posture in the Great Inversion is strategic!
JESUS: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:45-46
You’re worthy of all of this. As we enter this new day, we pray that you would put the Holy Spirit's power behind your life for the sake of the pearl, the sake of Jesus and His glory.
TL;DR
Statistics show that by 2034, many mainline Christian denominations may cease to exist.
Emerging generations (Gen Z & Millenials) aren’t opposed to Christianity. Many willingly embrace it, however, their desire is an authentic representation of the original impulses of Christianity.
The Great Inversion is about stepping into a new day, unlearning what no longer works and presenting an authentic Gospel.
The Four Inversions include:
Transition from United Methodism to Global Methodism, emphasizing classic Christianity and Gospel-centered values.
A focus on restoring the method in Methodism, emphasizing intentional discipleship over developing leaders.
Moving from teaching to actively training, recognizing the importance of equipping individuals with practical skills.
Shifting from a "come and see" culture to a "go and tell" culture, encouraging believers to confidently share the Gospel.
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