Deepening Your Focus Through Research (Focus Series 6 of 6)

How am I going to analyze this group well? In missionary work, mission organizations especially those people reaching unreached people groups, they'll send teams of people over to unreached people groups and all these teams will do for sometimes a summer or something a year, they'll just ask questions, and they'll learn their language and they'll ask questions of how they think, why they do what they do, what are their values underneath, what are their beliefs underneath that? What's their worldview?

Often, in world missions, that initial inroad into examining that people group and doing those studies and then developing a people profile that the missionaries can use is just a vital part of cross cultural missions. That's your world now. That's not just the world of the unreached peoples. I'm going to present to you here very briefly, a research process to deepen your understanding of the culture that you're seeking to serve.

Step number 1, demographic inquiry. Step number 2, what I call sociographic inquiry. Your objective is to learn all you can about the characteristics of the people living in your community. Community demographics provide valuable clues to the social life and patterns you will be exploring in step 2 which is the more critical step. You don't have an advanced team from Wycliffe to go in and do this work for you.

You search for demographic data. Population trends, ethnic groups, age distribution, marital status. There's a host of resources here. Time for a pop quiz. Approximately how many people currently reside in this area? Number 2, over the next 5 years, how is the population expected to change? Number 3. What predominant lifestyle groups are in your community? Affluent families, young incoming, rural families, seniors, urban? What ethnic groups are projected to grow the fastest during the next 5 years? What's the average annual household income? What percentage of households with children are headed by a single parent? What percentage of people age 25 and older have completed college? What percentage of households have no religious involvement at all?

If you're like most people taking this training, you'd be doing great if you could answer 50% of these. Scripture says, live with your wives in an understanding way. Husbands, study your wives. Exegete your wives. Live with them accordingly. Exegete your cities. 2, you know these people; God has called you to serve them. You study them. The next one, after demographic inquiry is sociographic inquiry. Beneath all the demographics of your community are the social lifestyles and patterns that are an expression of their beliefs, values, and worldviews.

Sociographic inquiry involves deliberate types of inquiry to uncover those lifestyle and patterns. Here are four examples: observing, asking, listening, and serving. Observing images, lifestyle, social patterns, life and media. What are the geographical barriers? In almost every culture, there's a difference on one side of the river than the other. The old saying in North America used to be what side of the tracks are you from? It transcends culture. What side of the mountain are you from? It's travel patterns used by people in your community. Social barriers. Community ethnic differences. In North America, church planters have often learned what they call the 20 minute rule, that your ministry focus group is a 20 minute travel time. They're willing usually not to go beyond 15-20 minutes it's fascinating for church planters to do that sociographic inquiry even in terms of geography and social patterns. That's observing. 

Asking. The more you ask rather than tell, the more you learn. You move into that culture. You ask people about things you observe. You ask non-Christians and Christians. Compare their responses. Consider doing structured interviews.

Listening. In addition to listening carefully whenever you ask, there are other situations where deliberate listening can be rewarding and insightful. Listening to causal conversations, forms of public media, attending key community events.

This last one that you've heard me talk about earlier, and that's serving. Serving others should be a time of both giving and learning. It's your opportunity to benefit from all the other types of inquiry, via observing, asking, and listening as a way of life.

The word that John uses that he came and he tabernacled among us. He lived among us. This is why I am a proponent of what's called tentmaking. Actually moving to a community, getting a job in that community, getting a good reputation (which is one of the definitions of an elder or a church planter), building meaningful authentic relationships. Not this utilitarian approach, I'm going to build a relationship so you can join my church, but actually having your heart checked that you love people well whether they follow Christ or join your church or not. Then, of course the dream, you do evangelism, you start a small group, that small group grows and develops, it multiplies. Pretty soon you have a core group on your hands with a dream of evangelizing and discipling other people. Dream of gathering together and worshiping and you've got the DNA there. There's no exegesis of a community like entering the community following the model of Jesus and actually taking on that culture and becoming one of them. It's almost unparalleled. The purpose of sociographic inquiry is to help you understand more deeply the behaviors, beliefs, values, and worldviews that dominate and shape your community. Then you're better equipped to develop your new church ministries in light of this understanding, so as to maximize the impact of the gospel on your ministry focus groups 

There are two types of societal sin patterns I would encourage you to explore. One I call diagnosing societal crookedness, and the other one I call diagnosing societal idolatry. You should be able to answer this question. What are the unique ways that this particular culture or ministry focus group has been made crooked? What are the greatest areas of societal darkness that exist in my ministry focus group because of sin? Is it injustice, is it poverty, hunger, sickness, is it materialism, prejudice, oppression, racism, murder, shame, hedonism? What is your sense of the societal crookedness that God has actually called you to bring a gospel centered church, to bring good news in word and deed, in light of this brokenness to bring wholeness. In light of this darkness to actually bring light in word and deed. If you can't tell me what that brokenness is, then you can't tell them what good news you have for them that will actually be spiritually radioactive.

Not only diagnosing societal crookedness, diagnosing societal idolatry. Acts 17, "While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols." A good church planter is distressed because he sees that his ministry focus group is full of idols. When you come to your city and you plant a church there, a kingdom outpost in the domain of darkness, you are coming with a simple ancient message. Turn from your idols to the living God. You're drinking water that's sewer water. You need to drink water from a well that never runs dry. Turn from your idols to the resurrected and ascended Christ. He alone can satisfy your thirst.

In order to plant a church that results in gospel transformation of human hearts and surrounding culture, the planter must learn how to diagnose not only the unique social crookedness, but also the unique societal idolatry. What do they look to for happiness in life other than relationship with God through Christ? What is it? Is it pleasure? Is it control? Is it comfort, is it power, is it approval? How are these unique societal idols reflected in their behavior? What does this tell you about their core values? Why they do what they do. Their worldview.

Becoming a student of the people that God is calling you to serve means understanding not just their behaviors and their worldview but understanding their hearts. Basically what are they looking to for significance and security that only Christ can ultimately give them? Can you answer that question? Do not give up until you have answered that question as best you can correctly, and you continue to study and exegete the culture as well as the Scripture.