February 7, 2012
Scott Hibben
LDM for Evangelism & New Ministry
High School Biology Class—Markers of Vitality
We all learned a thing or two in our high school biology classes that may or may not have had much to
do with the “curriculum”. For instance I learned how to make flamethrowers out of Bunsen burners! (I
also learned there are consequences to putting that learning into practice—especially when your father
is the biology teacher.) But there was other knowledge I gained that was more pertinent to biology, like
the acronym “Mrs. Gren”.
In biology the question is asked: “What are the shared characteristics of all living organisms?” – and the
(old--*) answer used the “Mrs. Gren” acronym:
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Movement
Respiration
Sensitivity
Growth
Reproduction
Excretion
Nutrition
“Mrs. Gren”. Unless an entity exhibits all seven characteristics it isn’t a living organism, and if it doesn’t
exhibit all seven vitally, it struggles/is in decline/meeting its demise in extinction.
Today in the Church we are caught up in an on-going (immobilizing) debate about
“measures/metrics/markers” of “effectiveness/vitality/fruitfulness”. Are there quantitative measures
(analytical, driven by numbers)? Are there qualitative ones (anecdotal, driven by feelings)? And do
these measures reflect and so support the mission of the church (more truly the mission of God) or the
institution of the church? These are important questions, because “you get what you measure”. So
what measures can we use?
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February 7, 2012
Well, since the Church (and so every local church) is an organism, it occurs to me that maybe we can use
the “Mrs. Gren” test on us as measures of vitality/effectiveness/fruitfulness.
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Movement—Where is the movement in your church—to God/away from God, in your
community/away from your community, in the Spirit/apart from the Spirit, …?
Respiration—Not just is your church breathing, but releasing energy (that is the focus,
biologically, of “respiration”.) A living orgasm can’t “make” energy, it can only release it. A
church can’t energize itself; it can only be the body into which God breathes life, and so we live
(release) it out.
Sensitivity—In what ways does your church feel for others, and for whom do you feel within
your community—sensitive to the needs and pain of others?
Growth—When an organism stops growing, it dies. The same is true of churches. Where, and in
what ways, is your church growing—in numbers, in spirit, in impact, in…?
Reproduction—Reproduction isn’t growth, it is multiplication of the organism. Unhealthy
organisms don’t reproduce, and die. Healthy ones carry on the species—and that’s true for
churches (and individual Christians), too.
Excretion—Organism must get rid of the toxins and other poisons that build up in life, otherwise
illness sets in, even death. Many of our churches need to excrete the toxins that are poisoning
their life, if they are going to have any chance of continuing on.
Nutrition—Without taking in nutrients, organisms die. So, what nourishes your church, and how
healthy is that diet? As the “bread of life”, Jesus feeds our life, together, and our life in the
world.
So, what would it look like if we used these measures to evaluate the health and vitality of our local
churches, and our Church together? I think it would be well worth our time, and well worth a try--because people will come where they see evidence of life, including in our churches, too?
In the life of Christ, together,
SCOTT
(*) “Old” because biologists have since found fungi and deep-ocean organisms that don’t exhibit all
these characteristics
[email protected] • P: 515.974.8926 • F: 515.974.8976 • www.iaumc.org