From Spiritual Movement to a Monument - Warning signs to watch out for

Many so called spiritual movements that started out forty to fifty years back with much passion and fervour, have ceased to be movements today, I am not going to name them, but you might definitely know some of them. Many are on the verge of becoming fossilised relics with nothing to show other than their past glory and their dilapidated buildings and properties for which the present members are shamelessly bickering and fighting lawsuits for the spoils.  Many have died painful slow death with the passing away of their original founders and leaders. Some of them are on life support, struggling to keep afloat with the changing times and few of them are hurtling towards the black hole of no return blissfully unaware of their condition or seeming to be not aware? But some of them like the sons of Issachar, "men who understood the times" have been careful to reinvent, revive and replenish their movements to come back with even greater passion and vision to remain on the cutting edge.

Recently as I was going through some of my old study material, I came across this very interesting and thought provoking lesson which basically talks about the difference between a movement and a non - movement (a monument). Thought I need to share this in my blog, as it clearly points out the danger signals to watch out, for anyone who is part of a spiritual movement to evaluate, correct and move forward.

Spiritual Movement	A Monument/ Non- Movement
Exponential growth and increase in numbers of adherents, like the first century church in the book of Acts.	Tendency to become in grown:  self-concerned. Most of their time and energy is spent on staff development, personal growth, internal coaching, reporting and tracking, constant surveys and self analysis etc, than on the original calling and goal.
Eyes constantly on the Great Commission: nothing less. People are driven by the vision than prodded and pushed to do things.	Satisfied with more limited  goals like rising-up the ladder of position and power, occupy a chair and hold on to it, run few bible studies and programs etc.
Willing to take any risk to achieve things: stepping out in faith and challenging the status quo.	Low-risk conservative actions, not “rocking the boat”. Maintain the status quo and manage to run the show.
Basic unity and consistency to maintain one-ness; Willingness to forego some independence, willing to be held accountable, the vision is above the individual and personal goals	Increasingly, staff are doing their own thing.  Personal agendas and ulterior motives take precedence in decision making than the vision. Most of the time the question is,"what do I stand to gain from this"?
Looking to God to meet needs. Exemplifies a life of faith.  Fervent Prayer is the life blood and fuel.	Looking to the organisation to meet needs. Organisation and its resources  becomes a means of  furthering ones wants and desires. Prayer becomes an activity or event to be ticked off.
Emphasis on simple methods and singleness of message. Everyone knows exactly what the message is.	Specialization. More and more departments to meet new needs, it becomes difficult to know what the movement does and stands for. Initially what was done by one or two people is being done by 10 different leaders.
Personal sacrifice is high. Staff feel they must give all to the cause time, strength and money. Leaders model it at every level.	Less and less personal sacrifice needed to be part of the group. Leaders look for benefits and perks at the expense of the staff. Staff in turn protects their own turf.
One goal - one Purpose	Becoming involved in meeting “needs” of people who are directly not tied or committed to the Great Commission.
Long term commitment.	Short-term involvement; just to fulfil responsibility
Plenty of  Dynamic revolutionary models to follow. Easy to spot champions in every critical aspect of the mission.	More Tellers than doers. Lacks models or examples. More and more leaders who "tell" 'how to do' than leaders who "show and tell".