150 Songs

Roland Allen and His Ideas

Roland Allen lived from 1868 until 1947. From 1895 until 1900 and again in 1902 (ages 27-34) he served as a missionary in China before illness forced his return to England. During his forced absence from the mission field in England, Allen’s reflections led him to an unorthodox theory of mission work. Allen came to believe that radical decentralization was needed in order for fledgling missionary churches to grow and thrive. Giving the young church as much responsibility and decision-making power as possible would enable the young Christians to grow more quickly and be used more effectively by the Holy Spirit. Allen further developed this theory during his later missionary work in India, Canada, and East Africa.

While studying the New Testament, Allen was struck by the Apostle Paul’s success as a missionary. Paul planted the church in four Roman provinces, and after 10 years of work, he was able to leave behind four independent, self-sustaining provincial churches. Allen did not observe this level of success in his day, although the missionaries had far more resources. Many of his contemporaries felt that this discrepancy was due to facing a more difficult mission field than Paul. Allen did not agree, he felt that the difference lay in their approach to missionary work and that implementing Paul’s style would bring great success.

Allen’s proposal would frighten the leadership of any organization. It required them to give up control and hand over the reigns of newly planted churches to their recently appointed leaders and converted members. What if they made bad decisions? The amount of doctrine taught to the young Christians would go down but the amount of decision-making entrusted to them would go up. They might—and probably would—do things differently than the church planters wished. Paul forced his church plants to take on a lot of responsibility even if it meant them making mistakes. He did not let the church advance in doctrine or infrastructure beyond the level it could understand and maintain. Paul provided the young Christians with inspiration, instruction, advice, and admonishment, but ultimately forced them to make their own decisions and take their own actions.

Parallels to Military Strategy

Allen’s ideas run parallel to the theory of Fourth Generational Warfare developed by a group of military theorists led by John Boyd and Bill Lind. Fourth Generational Warfare theory explains the collapse of the numerically and materially superior French army to Germany at the beginning of World War II. The success of the German army and poor performance of the French army were a result of their military philosophy which led to differing styles of training and fighting.

The French developed the idea of a tightly controlled battle during World War I. They had not been able to strike quickly through the enemy trench line, so they gave up on the idea as impossible and spent their time figuring out how to methodically grind their way through a defensive network. Their system was supposed to work like a finely tuned clock. Every unit had a task and was supposed to carry it out in a specific way by a specified time. The leaders at the top made the plan and the soldiers underneath carried it out in the manner prescribed. This was a top-down system of tight control.

The Germans developed a far different approach to combat during the First World War. They found that smaller units of highly trained men could strike deep into the trench system moving through weak points and avoiding strongholds to envelop the enemy. Decision making power was pushed to lower ranks. Soldiers were assigned high level objectives and given freedom in how to accomplish them. During training, soldiers would be put in situations where they would be expected to break the rules in order to achieve their objectives. Using this approach the German Army had been able to quickly strike all the way through the French defensive trench system by the end of World War I, but they could not break out due to logistical difficulties. Between the World Wars, the Germans worked on learning how to successfully break out. This was a system that allowed a high level of freedom to the lower-level men.

The German approach to combat allowed a unit to go through the Observe-Orient-Decide-Act cycle (OODA loop) far more quickly than the French system. The ability to move through this process rapidly leads to a fast tempo of operations and confuses the opponent (who sees his environment changing faster than he can comprehend). At the outbreak of World War I, the difference between these two styles of combat led to the quick collapse of the French army.

The books in William Lind’s Canon of Fourth Generational Warfare are listed at the end of this preface. Reading these and the supporting internet columns will give one an understanding of Fourth Generational Warfare.

Usefulness of Missionary Methods

This book was eye opening and enabled me to see the Apostle Paul in a new light. While you read pay attention to how the gospel was spread by the early church and think about how you can apply the same methods today.

This book brings into focus the setting of Acts and the Pauline Epistles. A bird’s eye view of the mission will make visible what would otherwise have escaped observation. Acts can then be read with an eye to understanding how everything fits into Paul’s battle strategy. The Pauline epistles can also be read with an understanding to how he was attempting to build up these new churches. I have also read Allen’s book The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church: and the Causes Which Hinder It, but liked Missionary Methods better because it dealt with Bible times as opposed to the late 19th/early 20th century.

This book will hopefully inspire you to be more effective in your mission field. It will give you a glimpse into Paul’s mind which can inform your own thinking. Paul pushed responsibility downward to those he was leading. He gave them difficult tasks which were not beyond their ability. He required them to take action and was fine if they sometimes failed. He gave them space so that they could do things without him looking over their shoulder. Are you taking the initiative? Are you encouraging others to take action?

Finally, are you in fellowship with a group of Christians who are pushing one other to grow? Are you waiting for someone to give you instructions and look over your shoulder? Are you willing to try to do things that will stretch you, things that will require the Holy Spirit’s aid for success? Paul’s experience showed that with the Holy Spirit’s help we can accomplish far more than would initially seem feasible.

Benjamin Leonard

June 2024

1. Lind, William S., 4GW Resources, accessed June 2024, https://www.traditionalright.com/4gw-resources.
2. White, Charles E., The Enlightened Soldier: Scharnhorst and the Militarische Gesellschaft in Berlin, 1801-1805, Praeger, 1988.
3. Doughty, Robert A., The Seeds of Disaster: The Development of French Army Doctrine, 1919–39, Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 1985.
4. Gudmundsson, Bruce I., Stormtroop Tactics: Innovation in the German Army, 1914-1918, New York: Praeger Publishers, 1989.
5. Samuels, Martin, Command or Control?: Command, Training and Tactics in the British and German Armies, 1888-1918, Portland: Frank Cass Publishers, 1995.
6. Doughty, Robert A., The Breaking Point: Sedan and the Fall of France, 1940, Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 1990.
7. van Creveld, Fighting Power: German and U.S. Army Performance, 1939-1945, Westport: Greenwood Press, 1982.
8. van Creveld, Martin, The Transformation of War, New York: MacMillian, 1991.
9. Gordon, Andrew, The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1996.