Christoph Schalk

Radical Therapy or Church Cosmetics?

When NCD started in the USA a couple of years ago, I was involved in training the first generation of NCD coaches. I remember that the night before, we had dinner with Dave Wetzler, our NCD Partner, at a restaurant, and I asked him if he had already received any feedback from the first churches using NCD. His answer was, "Not much, but there was one negative feedback."

"What did they say?" I asked. Dave responded, "This church complained about the 20-page minimum factor manual because they expected a quick fix – and not a whole 'book' to be read..."

During the NCD Summit in South Africa in October 2004, I had a chance to talk to many of our NCD National Partners. And I heard from some of them similar statements, such as "There are churches that say that NCD does not work because they see no results after 4 months..."

 
People Like Cosmetic Approaches – Why?

Yes, there is a problem with the "I want it instantly" mentality of our society. Some people call it the McDonaldization of civilization – and this is often also true in churches. People prefer TV and magazines with the latest quick tips and trends instead of books and deep analyses. One of the reasons is that people are desperate; they need help, support, and solutions – but instantly! They need it now! Everyday life is so busy; there is no time to think long-term.

By the way, my most common coaching topic is: Surviving in busy everyday life. I’m talking about NCD Coaching here, not just general life coaching!

A second reason: People are looking for external motivation (congresses, models etc.) because they have lost the power of internal motivation (self-motivation is my second most common coaching topic).

 
Where Do We See Church Cosmetics?

Everywhere. This is not the place to agitate against other movements or models – because we do find church cosmetics in NCD as well. Actually, not in NCD, but in the incorrect way people try to apply NCD. I see this very often. Let me give you a few examples:

• Doing things without deeper analysis (e.g. no focus groups after the survey to explore the reasons for the minimum factor, but immediate action "planning".)

• Acting without "interdependence" in mind: For instance, using "The 3 Colors of Your Gifts" without follow-up and gift counseling. This initially creates motivation, but soon a lot of frustration because people don’t find places to use their gifts.

• No time line for working through the whole NCD cycle

• No coaching, or seeking outside assistance to remove blockages

• No commitment to repeating profiles to see what progress has been made.

What Does "Radical Therapy" Mean?

Is it radical if you work on NCD in your church with 10 full time staff persons, making great progress, and still thinking it is too slow? Is speed an indicator of being radical? No! Radical therapy in NCD begins with a radical change of our paradigms and our thinking about what church is.

NCD is not always a fast process, sometimes it is even slow – but it is always long-term. NCD is not a quick fix, it is not crisis management, but church development. "Radical" does not mean: Changing everything immediately, turning the church upside down. It means: Turning your thinking about what church is upside down.

Just remember the old saying: Speed is only useful if you are going in the right direction. And even then, you must always drive carefully.

 
We Need a "Forestry Paradigm"

Jesus uses a lot of pictures and parables from nature to describe the Kingdom of God. I believe we need the same kind of thinking: It takes time for a plant to grow before you see the fruit. The paradigm of a farmer is needed, or even more: a "Forestry Paradigm" – instead of quick fixes.

The church as a living organism, and everything is long-term, ongoing, and biotic.

1. Long-term: You will see fruit after 1-3 years, not after 1-3 weeks. Research shows that there is – on average – a 50% higher growth rate after 2 years of implementing NCD (in other words: if your church grew by 10 people per year in the past, it is now 15 people).

2. Ongoing: Don’t see NCD as a one time event, but complete one cycle after the other with a survey each time. A cycle is not even complete until you have done the next profile.

3. Biotic thinking is needed: Applying the biotic principles is the challenge when applying NCD.

 
What Are the Consequences?

1. Biotic thinking: Start with interdependence

While the biotic principles are at the core of NCD, many churches and leaders find it hard to get familiar with "those abstract principles". From my experience, it helps to use the principle of interdependence as a starting point to understand more and more the other principles. Actually, the five other biotic principles do have aspects of interdependence.

So you may want to ask yourself in everything you do in your church: How is this connected with other areas / programs / measures in our church? How will it influence other areas? How will it be influenced by other areas? What will be the long-term effects? Is there a danger of negative side-effects that will only be seen in the long run? Are we aiming too much for short-term success, ignoring long-term side-effects that we do not want to see?

NCD is not a program, but a way to lead a church, and a way to live as a church. That’s why these questions are key questions – regardless how many "NCD-related activities" you have.

2. Stay in the NCD Cycle

NCD is not a quick fix, it is not crisis management, it is not a one-time event, it is not a (time limited) project. NCD is, as said above, a way to live as a church. It makes no sense to go through the NCD Cycle once, and then to say, "We did NCD" – and quit. NCD is a never-ending process of leading your church and developing the church on a healthy base.

If you want to learn more about the NCD Cycle, download our free manual "The NCD Cycle" from www.ncdnet.org.

3. Use ProfilePlus to detect root causes, not to work on symptoms

The NCD Survey tells you what your minimum factor is, but not what the reason for it are. Use ProfilePlus, a detailed analysis, to discover what’s behind the scenes. See our ProfilePlus sample here

4. Take advantage of coaching

Did you know that the word "coach" doesn't originally come from the English language? It comes from the Hungarian "kocsi", which means coach or bus. In 1556, it was used for the first time in England. So, what is a coach? It is a vehicle that brings you to your goal. It brings you from A to B.

A coach – and now I do not mean the bus but the "consultant" – is a person who helps you get from A to B. He or she helps you reach your goals.

NCD Coaches help churches reach their goals: improving their quality by repeatedly going through the NCD Cycle. Worldwide, we do see a huge difference between churches having a coach (or a network that supports them in a similar way) – and churches without coaches. While the first group succeeds in 90% of all cases, the second group only improves their quality in 40-50% of all cases.

5. Let NCD be rooted in your denomination

More and more, NCD becomes a movement adopted by whole denominations. In many countries, denominations have become sub-partners to the NCD National Partner and train their own NCD Coaches, have their own NCD office where they do surveys etc. We see in the denominational involvement a key that will make NCD sustainable, and not just the "gimmick" of a local church. NCD has become a strategic component of the denominations' planning and evaluating.

Christoph Schalk lives in Germany and directs the international consultant network of the Institute for Natural Church Development.