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LITERACY: A USEFUL TOOL IN THE DISCIPLING OF THE EMERGING CHURCH IN INDIA A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GORDON-CONWELL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY DONALD E. CHAPMAN MAY, 2006 Copyright © 2006 by Donald E. Chapman All Rights Reserved. ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to two individuals who have been loving mentors to me over the years of my work with Mission India and through this doctoral process. The late Dr. Neal VanGoor shepherded me through many challenging days and loved me like his own son. Willis Timmer, a man who has given his long life to building God’s kingdom through challenging people to use their finances to fund the spreading of the gospel, demonstrates daily living for Jesus as long as he has breath. I thank God for allowing these men to be a part of my life. iii CONTENTS ILLUSTRATIONS ..................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. x Chapters 1. The Problem of Illiteracy in the Emerging Church in India .................................... 1 Thesis Statement and Methodology .................................................................. 2 Assumptions of Thesis Project.......................................................................... 2 Key Questions Thesis is Seeking to Answer .................................................... 3 The Setting: Crippling Problems of Illiteracy ................................................... 4 Illiteracy and Oppression .......................................................................... 5 Illiteracy in India ....................................................................................... 8 Illiteracy and Church Growth in India .................................................... 10 Illiteracy and Memory ............................................................................. 16 Literacy and Discipleship ............................................................................... 18 Literacy and Discipleship in History ...................................................... 18 Literacy, Discipleship and the Great Commission.................................. 20 Literacy, Discipleship and the Great Compassion .................................. 22 Project Methodologies and Parameters ........................................................... 25 Summary ......................................................................................................... 27 2. Theological Framework ......................................................................................... 29 Discipleship..................................................................................................... 30 The Great Commission and Discipleship ............................................... 31 A Historical Understanding of Discipleship ........................................... 32 Definition of Discipleship ....................................................................... 35 The Emerging Church ..................................................................................... 39 Radical Protestant Description ................................................................ 39 The People of the Emerging Church ....................................................... 40 iv Scripture: A Written Tradition ........................................................................ 41 Historical Written Tradition in Jewish Life ............................................ 42 Reading in the Early Church ................................................................... 44 Sola Scriptura ......................................................................................... 46 Christian Social Responsibility ....................................................................... 48 The Two Great Commandments ............................................................. 49 Lausanne Report on “Evangelism and Social Responsibility” ............... 49 Recent Historical Summary Linking Evangelism and Social Responsibility ......................................................................................... 51 Literacy as Obedience to the Great Compassion .................................... 54 3. A Literature Review ............................................................................................... 57 Literacy and Orality ........................................................................................ 57 History of Literacy to the Fifteenth Century ................................................... 73 Israelite Literacy ..................................................................................... 75 Literacy in the Life of Jesus and the Early Church ................................. 79 Literacy During the Middle Ages ........................................................... 80 The Word of God and the Reformation .................................................. 82 Literacy, Discipleship, and Development ....................................................... 86 Longevity ................................................................................................ 91 Knowledge .............................................................................................. 93 Decent Living Standards ......................................................................... 96 Literacy and Discipleship Today .................................................................... 98 Summary ....................................................................................................... 101 4. Project Design ...................................................................................................... 103 Introduction ................................................................................................... 103 Emerging Churches in India ......................................................................... 105 Survey 1—Grass-Roots Church Planters .............................................. 108 Survey 2—India Ministry Leaders ........................................................ 115 Survey 3—Impact of Literacy on Spiritual Maturity ............................ 131 Selection of Control Groups ......................................................... 134 Description of Control Groups ...................................................... 135 Theory Behind Construction of Interview Questions ................... 137 Summary of Findings .................................................................... 139 Implications................................................................................... 144 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 144 v 5. Outcomes ............................................................................................................. 146 Statement of the Problem .............................................................................. 146 Review of Methodology ............................................................................... 146 Summary of the Results ................................................................................ 148 Discussion of the Results .............................................................................. 155 Researcher Insights ....................................................................................... 157 Relationship to Prior Research...................................................................... 158 Theoretical Implications ............................................................................... 159 Implications for Practice ............................................................................... 160 Recommendations for Further Research ....................................................... 162 APPENDICES .......................................................................................................... 165 1. Census of India 2001 - Number of literates and literates by sex ............. 165 2. Literacy Survey - 10 ICT Schools in AP - October 2003 ........................ 166 3. T.C. 2004 Nationwide Literacy Survey Consolidated Report…………. 167 4. Literacy and Discipleship Survey ............................................................ 168 5. Urban and Rural Area Survey Snapshots................................................. 170 6. Rural and Urban Survey Responses ......................................................... 174 7. Multi-Vari Chart for Income and Giving ................................................. 186 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................... 188 VITA ......................................................................................................................... 198 vi ILLUSTRATIONS Tables Table 3.1: Contemporary Nations—3 aspects ............................................................ 91 Table 3.2: India and Sub-Saharan Africa: Selected Comparisons (1991) .................. 92 Table 3.3: Child Workers by Education, Urban and Rural ......................................... 97 Table 3.4: Percentage of Literacy learners making commitments to Christ. .............. 99 Table 4.1: Response to Survey Question 1 by Church Planters ............................... 109 Table 4.2: Response to Survey Question 2 by Church Planters ............................... 110 Table 4.3: Response to Survey Question 3 by Church Planters ............................... 112 Table 4.4: Response to Survey Question 6 by Church Planters ............................... 113 Table 4.5: Response to Question 1 by Transformation Congress Participants ......... 117 Table 4.6: Response to Question 2 by Transformation Congress Participants ......... 118 Table 4.7: Response to Question 3 by Transformation Congress Participants ......... 119 Table 4.8: Response to Question 4 by Transformation Congress Participants ......... 120 Table 4.9: Response to Question 6 by Transformation Congress Participants ......... 121 Table 4.10: Response to Question 6 by Transformation Congress Participants ....... 122 Table 4.11: Question 7 .............................................................................................. 123 Table 4.12: Question 8 .............................................................................................. 127 Table 5.1: Income Change Resulting from Literacy ................................................. 156 vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Living always involves community. Individual accomplishments can never be separated from the community the individual is a part of. God-given abilities, family upbringing and encouragement, friends, fellow workers, writers that have gone before, and educational relationships all are part of any one person’s achievements. It is with thankfulness that I respectfully acknowledge the community of relationships that have surrounded, challenged, and encouraged me through the process of completing this thesis. The Word was made flesh and lived among us. With gratefulness to the living Word I give thanks for the privilege of being able to read the written page and thus to know him and his will for my life. I thank Dr. Timothy Tennent of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary who guided me during the process of writing this thesis. I also thank Dr. Peter Kuzmic for participating in the review committee and his scholarly guidance during the Doctor of Ministry course work. I also acknowledge and thank Dr. John DeVries, the founder and now retired president of Mission India who encouraged me to pursue doctoral studies in missions. His love for the people of India and passion to see that nation become the crown jewel in our Savior’s throne captured my heart and mind over two decades ago. With encouragement from the board of directors and the new president, David Stravers, I was able to commit the necessary time to complete this project. I thank Dr. J. Chiranjeevi and Dr. Kamala Chiranjeevi, my friends and co-laborers, for their continued ministry and emotional support during this process. I also thank the literacy viii staff of Seva Bharat in Hyderabad, India, for the work done on the research portion of this project. I am grateful for the many friends that prayed with and for me during this time. Finally, I thank God for his gracious gift to me, my wife, Jan. She encouraged and patiently stood with me even while completing her own master’s thesis. I also thank my son Jake who assisted me in formulating and analyzing the research data. ix ABSTRACT The thesis of this project is that discipleship in the emerging church in India is hindered by illiteracy. In a positive sense, literacy is a useful tool in the discipling of the emerging church in India. The emerging church is growing rapidly among the poor oppressed communities in India. Most of these people are illiterate. Church and mission leaders across India have established a target of 20 percent of the Indian population being Christian by the year 2020. This is a net increase of 1000 percent in the next 15 years. The literacy rate in the emerging church currently is low, even among leadership. With the type of growth proposed, the lack of ability to read the Word of God will have crippling results on the sustainability of these new believers. The methodologies used in this research include a theological analysis, a comparison of the discipling strategies of the orality movement with a literate approach, a historical analysis of the problem of illiteracy, reflections on holistic transformational discipleship, and qualitative research among illiterate and literate believers in the emerging church in India. x