One of the most critical parts of both of these points is the heart and vision of the pastor.  Many times, we complain because people are not going out and winning others to Christ and bringing them into the church.

But the first issue is how the pastor is fulfilling the Great Commission.  If I do not see a world in need, the members of my church will never see that world.

The Great Commission in Matthew is literally translated, “As you are going, make disciples...” The difficulty in many of our churches is what Elmer Towns called the Law of Diminishing Returns.  The longer we are saved, the farther away from the unsaved we get.  As we mature, we tend to have our social, spiritual, work and cultural worlds revolving around the church and church members, thus losing sight of the lostness in our society.

“Lord, give me a vision of those I come into contact with who need You.”

I agree that a church without a vision is a lost and ineffective church, but whose vision should a church have?  I often have seen a new pastor come into a chruch with a vision.  How can you know where the church is and what it’s vision should be when you are new?  Any new pastor that comes with a vision for the church is bringing his vision, and not the church’s vision.  It may or may not work.  You must spend time within a church body to discover the strengths, weaknesses, and needs of the church and it’s surrounding community.  When the vision is from within the church, you do not struggle to find leaders and followers.  Be sure the vision is not your own, but a vision from God for the church you are in.

Boy, Ricky… you make a growing church sound like something that should be avoided at all costs.

The new testament is silent on a lot of things to be true.

OK… let’s say that there is a church that IS fellowshiping, breaking bread, praying and following the proper teaching and the Lord does see fit to add people?  Is that a bad thing?  Of course not.

And why do you automatically assume that every pastor wants to become a mega church pastor?  Barriers are true in just about every church setting I’ve been a part of; and I offer the articles and resources here to help those pastors who are struggling with these issues.

I’m not a fan of all the ‘church growth’ stuff out there.  And quite frankly, for as much of an emphasis as there has been on church growth, the church as a whole is still mostly in decline here in the states. 

I know you’re a big ‘house church movement’ guy, but I wonder why you hang around here much… many of the people here are average pastors who want to have a healthy, and yes, growing church… most people here aren’t involved in the house church movement, they’re just trying to serve God where He has put them; and that is in the American institutional ‘church’.  Most just want to have a little help here and there to assist in carrying out what they feel God wants them to do.  And in that goal, I hope this forum helps.

All I’m saying is that while it might not help you, and maybe it’s not where you’re at… don’t dis everyone who will benefit from the ideas presented.

Respectfully,

Todd

Todd said:

“And why do you automatically assume that every pastor wants to become a mega church pastor? Barriers are true in just about every church setting I’ve been a part of; and I offer the articles and resources here to help those pastors who are struggling with these issues.”

And I believe that your heart is well-intentioned by doing so and it’s not my intention to dis you or anyone here but to hopefully strike a chord that I believe needs to be struck in American Christendom today: STOP trying to build something that a man or men cannot build, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This preoccupation with “growth” has led to untold numbers of people being hurt as pastors push their members into their “vision” of what a “church” should be, instead of unleashing those precious souls into the gifts and ministries that God has called THEM to do.  In other words, too much is demanded from people in that they are “encouraged” (rather required) to surrender their individual ministries for the sake of the pastor’s vision.  This idea of “ministry” is foreign to the New Testament.

We should be teaching people that the biblical understanding of church is simply God’s people coming together for the purpose of caring for one another and NOT for evangelism.  The evangelism “naturally” occurs when the lost sees the genuine love among the followers of Christ and thus behold Christ incarnate.  However, instead of helping to develop such an atmosphere, organiztions choke the life by rigidly sticking to a strategy of growth that is more compatible with a Fortune 500 corporation than with the Body of Christ.

Additionally, while most pastors may not have dreams of becoming a mega-"church" pastor, the American “church” scheme is to compare the smallest to the largest in a diabolical attempt to establish certain classes of “success.” The pressure to grow is immense and will continue.  Why?  Because it’s “un-American” not to grow.

“I’m not a fan of all the ‘church growth’ stuff out there. And quite frankly, for as much of an emphasis as there has been on church growth, the church as a whole is still mostly in decline here in the states.”

And why do you think that is?  Could it be that the world sees little difference between the corporations that demand their allegiance in the form of countless hours Monday through Friday and the organization that we wrongly call “church” that equally demands countless hours from families for the sake of their programs?

You’ve proven my point exactly in that the church growth movement has been around for years and yet there is still measurable decline in religious organizations.  This is because, I think, that the unchurched/lost are looking for something real and very different than what they’ve been getting for generations.

“I know you’re a big ‘house church movement’ guy, but I wonder why you hang around here much… many of the people here are average pastors who want to have a healthy, and yes, growing church… most people here aren’t involved in the house church movement, they’re just trying to serve God where He has put them; and that is in the American institutional ‘church’. Most just want to have a little help here and there to assist in carrying out what they feel God wants them to do. And in that goal, I hope this forum helps.”

But what does it profit to grow a mile wide but remain an inch deep?  I’ll tell you what happens by comparing the church growth movement to the pouring of cement.

When cement is allowed to spread without a corresponding depth, it become fragile and easily cracks under the weight of pressure.  That describes the American “church” experience for many.  They are told to “reach out” more than they are told to “reach up” which results in a shallowness that leads to stress fractures and ultimate failure.

“All I’m saying is that while it might not help you, and maybe it’s not where you’re at… don’t dis everyone who will benefit from the ideas presented.”

Again, it’s not my intention to rain on anyone’s parade but to hopefully inject a little simplicity into the process by directing ourselves back to Scripture in hopes that we all learn that the Church was conceived by, borne(?sp) by, birthed by, bathed by Christ alone and we must stop tinkering with His Body, thinking that we can utilze worldly schemes of growth in a spiritual organism.

By the way, I, too, am currently a member (one what say a “pastor") of an organization who is desperately trying to change the hearts and minds of the precious souls that I have the privilege of ministering with.  We are slowly moving to a more simplified understanding of what the Church is to be and, hopefully, will end up more frequently where the lost are, in the homes of our neighborhoods.

I agree with a lot of the principles you are talking about Ricky.  Right now in our church I’m talking through the notion with everyone here that, while I have a vision, the vision isn’t really complete until everyone brings their own unique gifts and calling to the table.

Unquestionably, as pastors, we have told people we need people to fill certain slots and if they can’t fill one of those then fill a seat and give us money and wait ‘til a slot opens up you can fill.

That’s all backwards isn’t it?

However, I think being a growing church is important to God.  Living things grow, it’s that or die.  And contrary to what you’ve said, Jesus didn’t say, “Sit here, love well and I’ll bring the world to you.” I don’t think you believe he did.  But in emphasising what we lack you’ve ignored the fact that ‘church growth’ at it’s heart, is exactly why Jesus came and it’s the commission he’s left for us to fulfill (among other things).  And I think sometimes the “hanging out for/with Jesus” idea, though beautiful, is just as flawed in it’s own myopic way.

You’ve got good reason to be ticked at the church leaders who’ve sought to build their kingdom instead of the kingdom.  But just because someone wants to see people come to Jesus (church growth) doesn’t mean they’ve missed the point and some how sold out.

I think the heart of your reply is some truth we all need to hold on to.  It’d just be easier to receive it if you didn’t come across like you think the rest of us are all jerks.

Which we sometimes are.

Wayne said:

“Numerical growth is a by-product of God’s blessing and our faithfulness.”

Not necessarily so.  When Jesus told the multitudes who were following Him that unless they ate of His flesh and drank His blood, nearly all of those following Him left Him.  By our standard of “growth” it would appear that Jesus would be a failure as a pastor!

Did the church grow after Jesus’ words?  I believe it did because those who remained were more interested in the words of the Master than any personal benefit they might have received (i.e., physical bread).  However, prior to Jesus’ words many church growth “experts” today would have said that Jesus was doing all the right things and adhering to all the right formulas for “growth.”

But I honestly don’t believe that God’s definition of “growth” is the same as ours, which is filtered through the American mindset that bigger is always better.

My deep concern is that we equate filled pews in a building of an organization as “growth.” Sure, the organization may have grown, as for as attendance, money, prestige, but has THE Church grown?  Not necessarily, and that is the deception of the church growth movement: a mechanical view of God’s kingdom instead of a biological (spiritually speaking) view that says that health is the impetous for growth not fabricated methods.

God is NOT concerned about the size of an organization.  He chose to show forth His glory to the world through one of the tiniest of all nations, Israel.  And the blessing that God pronounced for Abraham, that he would be a blessing to all the world, came with the caveat that Israel would not receive the numerical increase in its numbers, but the Kingdom would.

So how do we define the growth of the Church?  In God’s view or our own?

Interesting comments.  I agree with Wayne that growth is a by-product of God’s blessings and our faithfulness.  That is faithfulness to the foundations upon which the early church was based, that is, evangelism, discipleship, worship, and fellowship.  Examine churches that are growing and you will find those elements always there.  If a church is doing what it is supposed to be doing it will grow.
I also believe that while evangelism can be a natural by-product of lost people seeing our love for each other, we are still commanded by scripture to share, preach, voice the gospel to them.  No one comes to salvation just by watching us.  There has to be an underanding of salvation.
Also, when the multitudes no longer followed Jesus after He said that they “must eat his flesh and drink his blood”, he was speaking of salvation and not church growth.
Finally, over the years, I have found that people who want nothing to do with church growth, are people who either tried to build a church and it did not work or they had a very negative experience with a church or pastor and now in response they become the critic of the growing church.  If I cannot achieve it then it must be wrong.  Just a thought.

Enjoying all the comments and dialogue.  FYI, the numbers I was quoting are average attendance...most people who look at churches look at attendance because membership varies so much by church.

Also....for what it is worth, I agree that health is more important than growth...HOWEVER, I do assume, and I think Biblically so, that healthy branches bear fruit (think John 15), that healthy people reproduce, and healthy churches reach more people for Christ (Acts 2)...reaching more AND growing deeper are not antithetical to one another.

Blessings!

OK… everyone… Todd here.

I think we’ve taken the discussion of whether or not ‘church growth’ is biblical far enough.  I really wanted to have a discussion here on the article; and I think we’ve gotten off on a tangent.  Most of us here, while we might not necessarily like everything the ‘church growth’ movement has to offer, would still like to have a nice healthy, growing church.  (I said most).

The topic is on barriers to that growth.  John mentioned in the articles two factors:  clarity of vision and unity of leadership.  Anybody out there struggling with either of these barriers?  How have you broken through them?

Todd

In the medical field a straight line function with respect to the pulse of a patient means one of two things - either you are dead or dying.  I wonder what it means when the growth of a Church has been a straight line function year after year?
Without a vision the people fine another parish???

Great article, John. I recently ran into a situation in a church I was consulting with that illustrates your point:

This church has had three opportunities to purchase properties adjacent to them that would allow them to literally break some barriers to their growth.

Three times they have said “no” to the opporunity because the price was too high.

Three times they have regretted that decision because they are locked into facilities that are awkward, disjointed, and unattractive.

Once again they now have such an opportunity to avoid this self-distructive pattern and purchase some property. It seems so obvious to me as an outsider the right thing to do! I am praying they will catch a vision for the future. That they will see beyond the immediate expendature to the future reality that can be if they operate out of faith and not fear.

It’s a hard habit to break, short-sightedness. Part of the root of it is bitterness over denominatioinal differences.

The only way for them to overcome this is to hope God can break through to them and show them His love, His purpose and His vision for the church. When they begin to love people deeply as Christ loves, they will be willing to pay the price required not just to buy the property, but to love the lost, nurture them and serve them so they will accept the gift of Jesus Christ.

In this case, a small town in Mississippi, I believe part of this means preparing a place for them in the local church facility. (sorry, home-church folks. Not everyone will be reached with your strategy - it takes lots of strategies to reach lots of diverse people)

Breaking a barrier such as this disfuntional way of thinking is not only difficult, but critical to the health and growth of this church.

The barrier is not the property, the barrier is a way of thinking that is full of pride, fails to take into account God’s viewpoint, and fails to love others enough to pay a little more than market value for a piece of land.