Gaining by Losing (Part 2): Attractional, Missional, and Transforming Audiences into Armies

If you missed Part 1 of this series, here’s a quick summary: I shared about meeting J.D. Greear at a Summit Church leadership conference where he handed me a copy of Gaining by Losing. The first four chapters of that book struck me deeply as they tied directly into Lutheran convictions about the priesthood of all believers, vocation, and sending leaders rather than just gathering them. If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, it sets the stage for what we’re talking about here.

Now in Part 2, we’re moving on to Chapter 5 and Chapter 6. These chapters deal with two big ideas: the false dichotomy of being “missional or attractional,” and how to transform an audience into an army.

Chapter 5 – Missional or Attractional? (Yes.)

In Chapter 5, Greear addresses a debate that has been going on for decades in Baptist and non-denominational churches: should the church be more missional or more attractional?

He defines the terms this way:

• Attractional: Ministries designed so that unbelievers will be drawn in to hear the gospel.

• Missional: Equipping Christians to carry the gospel and good works to people outside the church.

His answer to the debate? Yes. You need to be both.

“For nearly half a century now, church leaders have debated the question of which approach is more effective: attractional or missional. Just to clarify, by attractional, I mean ministries designed so that unbelievers will be drawn into them to hear the gospel; and by missional, I mean equipping Christians to carry the gospel (and its good works) to believers outside the church.”

Greear draws from the story of Leslie Newbigin, who coined the word “missional.” Newbigin observed that Indian believers had grown dependent on foreign missionaries. He believed that locals could spread the gospel far more effectively. Mission, he concluded, meant equipping locals to go out.

But Greear is quick to point out that there’s also a biblical “come and see” model. Jesus Himself told His followers to be a city on a hill—a light that others would see and be drawn to (Matthew 5:14-16). He talks about how the temple courts were supposed to be a space for Gentiles to come and observe, but by the time of Jesus, they had become clogged with vendors. When Jesus flipped over tables, it wasn’t just about corruption. It was about clearing the way so the nations could come and see.

One evidence of God’s Spirit at work in a church is when seasoned members begin to put their preferences aside to reach the next generation. I’ve recently been asking our staff this question: What would we be willing to sacrifice to reach the lost? Perhaps it’s a program that we care about very deeply. Perhaps it’s a program that I personally care about deeply. Would we be willing to sacrifice these things if it meant more people know and follow Jesus?

At the same time, Greear warns:

“Many churches today, lacking confidence in God's promise, substitute the gathering power of entertainment for the transforming power of the cross. Entertainment can engage a crowd. Only the power of the Spirit can transform them.”

This balanced perspective is powerful. Attraction is come and see. Mission is go and tell. The church must be both.

As a Lutheran, this chapter hits home. In the LCMS, our debate often takes a different form: missional vs. confessional. Missional is seen as willing to adapt to reach new people. Confessional is seen as emphasizing liturgy and doctrinal clarity. But this too is a false dichotomy. If you are deeply confessional, it should drive you to be missional. And if you’re deeply missional, you should be drawn to the rich clarity of the confessions. These two are not enemies. They belong together.

Depth and Width

Another point Greear raises: should churches focus on depth or width? His answer mirrors the earlier question. We should be both deep and wide.

For Lutherans, “depth” points to our confessional roots, Sacraments, and theology. But “width” matters just as much: reaching out, equipping, and sending. It’s not an either/or.

Equipping, Not Doing

Greear makes another critical point about leadership:

“In the New Testament, the balance of ministry shifts away decidedly from specialized leaders to ordinary people. Paul, in fact, said that God’s primary purpose for church leaders is equipping of the saints for the work of ministry. The saints, he said, do the work of the ministry. Pastors and leaders are only there to equip. As I said earlier, I tell our church, tongue only slightly in cheek, that according to Paul, when I became a pastor, I left the ministry. That means I should not be the first one from whom their neighbors hear the gospel, nor should I be the first one to visit one of our members during a time of suffering.”

That line hits hard. Pastors are equippers, not doers. Every baptized believer is called into the work of ministry.

Chapter 6 – From Audience to Army

Chapter 6 builds on this idea. The church isn’t a crowd gathered around a single leader—it’s a leadership factory.

“A church is not a group of people gathered around a leader, but a leadership factory.”

Greear shares the story of Mark, a businessman who left his career to work with a nonprofit in the 10/40 window—the least evangelized part of the world. Mark’s move allowed the gospel to spread in spaces a foreign missionary could never enter. Greear says Mark was “upgraded from paying consumer to enlisted soldier.”

This is what it means to turn an audience into an army. The win is not attendance. The win is deployment.

The Promise Behind the Power in Acts

Greear reminds us that Jesus promised His followers that they would do greater works than He did. Which is greater: healing a temporary body or saving an eternal soul? Jesus makes clear it is the latter, and His miracles were signposts pointing to that power. Now, because His Spirit dwells in every believer, His mission reaches farther than when He walked in the flesh.

He points out that Jesus spent far more time discipling twelve people than preaching to crowds. If that’s what excited Jesus, shouldn’t that excite us? Churches need to challenge their people to be leaders, empower them to become leaders, and have a clear process for developing leaders. Then comes the courage to send them out, even when it means losing strong people. When leaders are sent out, God multiplies them. That is the essence of gaining by losing.

Finally, Greear pushes for a new metric of success: not just attendance, but sending and planting. His church has committed to planting 1,000 churches by 2050. That kind of vision begs evaluation: Do we see our congregations as leadership factories? Are we equipping an army? Are we setting bold goals for planting churches and ministries? These questions challenge us to rethink what success looks like in our own context.

I am praying for a day when our LCMS brothers and sisters are seen by all as setting the gold standard for raising up missionaries, planting new churches, and reaching lost people.

uniteleadership.org

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Coming Next: Part 3 will continue exploring how churches manifest Christ in Community and develop culture discipleship reproduction.

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