A study was done during the 80’s by Professor Robert Supulski from Stanford University of a group of wild baboons in the Serengeti that will made me stop and think about the new churches being started here in North Africa. How do baboons make me reconsider how we plant churches here? Let me tell you. As you know Baboon males are always fighting. At an early age Baboons leave their family and go to another group where they have to claw and fight their way to respect with the current dominant male of the group. It takes years before they can get a female to even look at them because of the fear of the Alpha Male. All males in the group form a pecking order, each beating on the one below him.
This particular group of baboons that Supulski was studying was no different…until all the males were killed off except one. How did that happen? Well, they males are responsible to bring food home. This group found food from a trash dump of a restaurant and all contracted a deadly desease that killed off the males who visited the dump. The last male was too young and didn’t ever go to the dump. Supulski was saddened to watch his group get killed off so he left off studying them. Seven years later he visited this group again and found that the group had grown and were no longer fighting. He saw males grooming other males and there was generally peace like is unknown to other groups. He continued to watch the group and found that the group was still this way 20 years later. As each new male is added to the group he learns a new way of life than he had previously known in his old group. This kind of change is only possible as the new male baboons are added one by one. They become like the group.
As we start two churches here in North Africa I am amazed at the power of conformity. Most Christians here are fearful. They have unbiblical ideas of what it means to be “wise as snakes” when living their Christian lives. When a new Christian, no matter how bold and fearless is added to their group he becomes like the group. Our systems are perfectly designed to produce exactly what they have always produced.
Here in our two baby congregations I am encouraged by this study to focus on training the 10 or so new believers to be bold and full of evangelistic zeal. As we add one or two at a time those one or two will either become like the group or run away to a different group.
What about your new church…or old church? Are you waiting for some new convert to come in an revitalize everyone? What kind of new Christian will be turned out when he conforms to the average level of committment in your church?