The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church, by Roland Allen.

Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock

Publishers, 1962. 158 pages. Reviewed by Jason M. Fletcher.

Roland Allen was born in 1868 in Bristol, England. He would become an Anglican

missionary to China between 1895 and 1903. After returning from the mission field he would

pastor a local church for a short time. His life’s work would consist mainly of writing in the area

of missiology. Later in life he would move to Kenya, where he would die in 1947. The present

work was originally published in 1927.

In his introduction, Allen clearly sets forth his thesis. This book would be about the

spontaneous expansion of the church and the dangers of restraining it from occurring (5).

He first writes of the disconnect between the contemporary situation of missions in his

day and what is described in the New Testament. He argues that Paul was less concerned with

raising more funds for missions than he was knowing and practicing the gospel (6). This is a

helpful assessment that could be used today. Is what the church practicing today measure up to

the example given in the New Testament? Could it be argued that within our own denomination,

that the Southern Baptist Convention is more vocal with the raising of funds for missions than

the actual accomplishment of that mission?

At its core, spontaneous expansion begins when a Christian shares the gospel with his

fellow-man (10). Allen goes to lengths to show that this irresistible urge is something that is

common to humanity, hence, why it is hard to keep a secret. Unfortunately, too many Christians

are content to keep the secret of the gospel hidden.

He explains the very reason that churches have resisted the spontaneous expansion of the

church is because it is something that we cannot control (12). A great illustration is that of an

engineer and a river. The engineer desires a little water to fill his river, but not enough to cause a

flood. A missionary may desire for a little wind of the Spirit, but not for a rushing mighty wind,

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because things might get out of control. Allen states boldly, “I am writing because I believe in a

rushing mighty wind, and desire its presence at all costs to our restrictions” (12). One may be

able to sense the passion and desperation as he writes those words. He writes on the next page

that we should not fear the work of God because “The great things of God are beyond our

control” (13).

Allen argues in chapter three that the size of the task to evangelize the world and the size

of the method to perform that task are not in agreement (19). His argument is that there are not

enough resources to send paid missionaries to every nation and village in order to fulfill the great

commission. He is so bold to state that even if the mission boards had unlimited funds and

missionaries it still would not be able to complete the task because the presence of foreign

missionaries across the world “would inevitably alienate the native populations, who would see

in it the growth of the domination of a foreign people” (19). This, again, is a helpful assessment

of our day. Denominationally, is the way we have structured the International Mission Board

and the North American Mission Board line up with the size of the task for fulfilling the great

commission? On a local church level, are we dependent upon paid ministers to do the

evangelism and ministry within our community?

If the first fear on the spontaneous expansion of the church was the lack of control,

chapter four highlights the second fear. This is the fear over doctrinal purity. He first sets up the

traditional setting, that before a convert is allowed to teach, he must spend many years in

preparation through formal education. When the convert has completed this, he is typically

placed in a small church where there is little chance of growth (46-47). Because of this, he

argues, converts should be allowed to teach immediately and on their own without fear of the

spread of heretical teaching. This might be Allen’s weakest chapter to this point. Doctrinal
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purity is foundational to the growth and development of the church. He falters when he states

that experience is more important that correct doctrine (56). When experience holds greater

weight that the truth, there is an open door to heresy. He might overcorrect here by dismissing

doctrinal purity as a valid fear. However, he does rightly point out that many times the organic

spread of the gospel is restricted many times by our insistence on a certain educational

attainment or the existence of professional clergy. He makes his strongest statement when he

writes that “the great heresies in the early Church arose not from the rapid expansion. . . but in

those churches which were long established, and where the Christians were not so busily

engaged in converting the heathen around them” (48).

Closely related to this fear is the fear that spontaneous expansion might endanger the

moral standard of the expanding church. It is my estimation that this chapter would have been

the most scandalous to Allen’s original readers. In this chapter he questions whether

missionaries have imposed a Western morality upon tribal peoples that is extra-biblical. The

example that he gives throughout this chapter is questioning the wisdom of the established

church in forcing and African man to divorce all but one of his wives before he would be

allowed to join the church (61-63). He argues that polygamy should have been overlooked in

Africa and that just as monogamy became the accepted norm in the West, it would gradually

become the accepted norm in foreign lands (67). He argues that beginning with an established

moral code that is a prerequisite to admission into the church we have put the external before the

internal (70). The only moral standard in the Bible according to Allen is to “love the Lord thy

God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy strength, and

thy neighbor as thyself” (68). While I can sympathize with his emphasis on grace and the

gospel, one must be careful here. While there is much freedom in Christ, there is an expectation
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that his followers would strive to be holy. Taking an example from the moment, would it be

permissible to allow a practicing homosexual to join the church with the expectation that at some

point a holier understanding of that practice might emerge?

Chapter six really speaks to the use by missions agencies of the establishment of schools,

hospitals, and social ministries in order to spread the gospel. What Allen is against is not the use

of these, per se, but the fact that they have been used primarily. He cautions that the emphasis on

social ministry first, i.e., raising the standard of living in the under-developed countries, has

brought with it the misunderstanding that living a civilized life was a requirement for living the

Christian life (82). If social advancement occurred before spiritual advancement, it would give

the impression that the very foundation of the social advancement was something other than

Christ (83). As there is an increased call for “social justice” in our time, Allen sounds out a

needed call of warning to not cede the pre-eminence of the gospel to any other cause, however

worthy it may be.

In closing his book, Allen gives five charges to the missionary who has just baptized his

first converts. First, he should deliver to them the Apostles’ Creed. Once delivered, it would

then “belong to them as much as it belongs to us” (147). Second, he should deliver to them the

Gospel. Upon doing so it “is theirs as much as it is ours” (148). Third, he should deliver the

sacraments to this new group of converts (148-149). Fourth, he should ordain ministers for them

based upon the teaching of the New Testament (149). Finally, he should instruct them that they

should do the same when they have shared the gospel beyond their borders (150). At this point

the missionary should leave this duly constituted church to figure out what it means to be a

church on their own. Not that he should abandon them, but allow them to learn and grow on
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their own, to be able to develop their own identity (150). Could these principles apply to our

own time and culture in the spread of the gospel and the planting of churches?

While written over eighty years ago, this book reads as if it had been written today.

When the principles are applied locally, not just the foreign mission field, this work would sit

right next to other contemporary works on the missional and organic nature of the church.

The existence of this book is proof that sometimes the timeliest works are not necessarily

written most recently. It is an indictment on our cultural tendency at present to reject or

denigrate anything that is not the most recent. Were he to be alive today, Allen would be highly

sought after as a leader and teacher in missiology. It is with great thanksgiving that his works

survived well past his earthly life.

One aspect this book that historically seems quite ominous is his discussion of the spread

of Islam in Africa and Asia. Allen seems to be quite the prophet in pointing out that if the

church continues to poor resources into building organizations, buildings, and social structures in

these foreign lands that Islam will spread more rapidly. It is as if he could foresee with great

insight the challenges that are faced today in those regions by the stranglehold of Islam. One

wonders if he could have foreseen the spread of Islam so greatly to places like Great Britain and

the United States.

I also found that Allen is very congregational in his outlook with his emphasis on

allowing the local church to select its own leadership. There is no doubt that in the early

twentieth century among his own denomination his writing would have been considered

scandalous, if not heretical.

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The only weaknesses in this book are minor in nature. The language is definitely from an

earlier era, and the force of his statistics and data are woefully out of date. However, that should

not discount in any way the measure and value of its content.

In conclusion, I would highly recommend this work for any pastor, missionary, or church

leader as it is a reminder and a challenge to see the kingdom of God grow unchecked by human

means.