I think that the best way to understand the concept of “Organic Systems” in Hirsch’s mindset is to think about a spiderweb.  The whole web is connected to itself.  There are multiple nodes and lines.  The whole thing is interconnected.  This is what an organic system is all about.

Consider our body.  There are multiple little systems like the nervous system, skeletal system, or epidermal system, but each one by itself does not a body make.  They all come together and create a body. This is what the church ought to look like.

The church, Hirsch argues, is a living system.  This means that it is marked by certain elements that set it apart from a static system. A static system represents something solid.  Consider a chair or some other inanimate object.  It is assembled and when finished does not change. No matter what room it is in the chair remains exactly the same.

Now, consider a living system.  It is always growing, adapting, and changing.  Think of a plant.  If it is in a room where a window is to its left the plant will grow towards the light and have a bit of leftward orientation.  If you move the plant to the other side of the window then it will change its orientation to the light. It is liquid and not solid.

Hirsch makes a compelling argument that the church is to be like this plant.  It is to be liquid.  The church is to be ever changing as it pushes forward into new cultures and times and people groups.  The manifestation of the church must look different for each context within which it finds itself.

To achieve this it must have a system that is liquid and not static. This means that there must be a movement ethos within the church itself.  A movement ethos is that mindset of being on mission with Jesus towards the ends building his kingdom for his glory.

Leadership within this system is decentralized and spread out.  Hirsch points to Al Qaeda as a picture of how this works in reality.  Each individual cell has the DNA to reproduce the entire movement.  This is why all the armies of the first world cannot stomp it out.  This is why the persecuted church grows with such rapidity.  The leadership is not centralized in one person or in a group of persons.

The church must be constantly birthing new cells with their own leaders who can and do embed the mDNA.  This is very different from the way the institutional church plants.  Hirsch argues that the Christendom model is cloning as opposed to birthing.  In a clone the new church seeks to look just like the parent church.  In birthing there is a combination of different factors that bring about something new (not to mention the fact that making a baby is more fun than cloning one).

Hirsch uses the example of Willow Creek and Saddleback to paint this picture.  A church plant from these places will have difficulty in reproducing the level of programming and excellence that the original brings, because by its very nature it does not have the critical mass to do so.  However, if you birth a new church it will take the mDNA of the parent and combine it with a new context thus creating a whole new church that belongs in the family of the parent but is itself a unique embodiment of the mDNA.

This is what organic systems are all about.  He argues that organic systems grow by hyperbolic multiplication as opposed to linear addition.  The example he cites is Pay it Forward the film that protrayed the story of a boy who is assigned the task of changing the world.  He devises a plan where you don’t pay back someone for doing something good but you pay it forward. The effects were deep and lasting. The arrangement was that you pay forward two good deeds when someone does something good to you. This rippled to the other side of the country.

Hirsch argues that it is this hyperbolic growth that saw the Chinese church grow from 2,000,000 to 60,000,000 in forty years.  The picture is quite simple.  Each individual covenants to lead two people to trust Christ and disciple them sending them out to do the same.  Each church covenants to plant two churches and pushes them to do the same.  It would not take long to reach the whole world with the gospel.

This chapter is simple spiritual multiplication.  It is something that most of us have known about for years and years.  However, most of our churches have not embraced this.  We have moved into a fortress mentality where bigger is better and safer.  We pull people in and out of the world as opposed to discipling them and sending them out.

What would happen if our church, your church, grasped and applied this principle of hyperbolic growth?  Are we willing to change?  Are we willing to push leadership to the edges?  Are we willing to send, send, send?

To move our leadership beyond these offices is not something that can be taken lightly. However, this idea of function means quite simply that anyone, regardless of office, can lead. So, what are the functions of the apostolic leader?

1. The apostolic leader embeds mDNA through the taking of new ground for the gospel adn the church. The church is to be dynamic and ever growing, therefore, the leadership must transcend sitting at a desk, to actually engaging in the mission of the church. This means that the apostolic is building into others the mDNA.
2. The apostolic leader guards mDNA through the integration and application of apostolic theology. This means that the apostolic leader is not just pioneering new things but she is also making sure that the church stays on course as the dynamic people on a mission.
3. The apostolic leader creates the environment for even more ministry to emerge. The apostolic ministry is the one that is the touchstone for all other ministries. This means that a teacher can’t teach if he has no people. A pastor can’t shepherd an empty community. The apostolic ministry creates the environment that brings about the possibility for all the other ministries listed in Ephesians 4 to exist.

Apostolic ministry (this is the touchstone ministry) creates the environment for the prophetic ministry (without this ministry evangelism becomes hollow and God himself becomes an idol) which creates the environment for the evangelistic (it opens the hearer to the message of the evangelist) which creates the ministry for the pastoral (exposes the disciple to their need for understanding) which creates the environment for the teaching (teaching from the revealed will of God that brings understanding).

The apostolic leader is one who comes into leadership not through the appointment of a role but is a leader because of who he is. This Hirsch terms “greatness”. This greatness is organic, inspirational, and profoundly spiritual. The example of the apostolic leader is Jesus. Jesus led with an amazing humility and authority that drew people into not just a follower but a discipleship where they sought to become like him.

Hirsch argues that an apostolic leader is one who can create “webs of meaning”. This means that he is able to bring about the connections of many different people, groups, and agencies by creating the apostolic environment where meaning is brought about by focusing on the mission of Jesus.

There is so much more detail in the Hirsch’s chapter that I can’t possibly cover it all. I think that this is a decent synopsis of the Apostolic Environment. The impact of this is important to keep in mind. Too often the person who is wired for apostolic ministry is seen as a trouble maker. She is never satisfied with the status quo. He is frustrated with the lack of outward looking concern for the people on the fringes. The questions that are before us are simple, are we willing to embrace these people as opposed to shunning them? Are leaders willing to learn how to be apostolic? Are pastors willing to bring others into leadership?

In my tradition where there is a plurality of leadership there is great opportunity. The question is though are we willing to disciple new elders who fit in all five kinds of leaders: apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors, and teachers?