Healthy, faithful church growth is a result of God's power and authority. In Acts chapter 2 we read that "the LORD added to their numbers daily those who were being saved." God is the author and finisher of our faith. It is true for the church as a whole as well - he is the creator and sustainer of his future bride. Many books and articles have explored the concept of church growth, but I believe true growth must be both numerical and spiritual. Gary McIntosh addresses this issue in his book Biblical Church Growth. He begins with the premise that since the church is the embodiment of Christ here on earth, and given that Jesus is a life-giving savior, then his body (the church) should be life giving as well.
What makes a church a life-giving church? McIntosh present nine fundamental principles to use as evaluation of a healthy life-giving church.
God reveals himself in all of nature. Psalm 19:1 confirms that "all the heavens tell of the glory of God." But this glory is corrupted by the corruption of all creation by sin. Man needed further instruction, and so God provided it by His Word - the Bible. The bible is "God breathed" and good for teaching and training (1 Timothy 3:16,17). It must be the cornerstone of a successful church growth.
In John 15;8, Jesus tells us that his father "is glorified by this: that you bear much fruit and prove that you are my disciples." We glorify God by being loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlling (Galatians 5:22,23). It is the chief and highest goal for man - to glorify God (Westminster Confession, 1647).
The church is committed to the Great Commission - teaching people about Christ so that they know, then teaching them about him so that they can go out and share with others. Discipleship is key to growing a faithful healthy church.
We can be compared to a rechargeable battery - we can be vessels of power of certain situation, but we need an external source of power to keep us charged. The Holy Spirit is available to us as a power cord to "plug into" God's inexhaustible power. If we are to have the energy to see real church growth and development, then we must be drawing energy from an unlimited source, not ourselves or risk failing to complete task of bringing glory to God.
The purpose of the shepherd is to lead, protect, train, nurture the sheep so that they grow to maturity. Mature sheep are productive, and lead to having other sheep. A good shepherd "leads the flock among them" (1 Peter 5:2). The shepherd is found in and among the sheep. They are a servant leader, not a celebrity, authoritarian, or privileged pontiff.
The church is comprised of individuals. These individuals are the ministers of the church. They are the ambassadors into the community - sharing God as they go about their daily lives. They must be effective ministers.
Jesus is the perfect example. In John 1:14 we discover that Jesus put aside his culture (heavenly perfection and riches) and exchanged them for flesh and came to live among us. He met us where we were. He became a shepherd among the sheep. He did this so that his message would be better understood, but he did not compromise his principles. Effective message delivery may look different in various parts of the world, but the message of God's love and forgiveness does not.
When you read this you may be thinking of a personal experience or story of local churches who seek a specific target as detailed in their mission statements. It may read something like "we are a church who seeks millennials" or "we are a church who welcomes everyone who loves lights out loud praise between the ages of 18 to 35" or "we are reaching baby boomers with the rock steady traditions of our beloved church reaching back two thousand years." The tag lines may change, but the message is clear: "We want a church that looks,acts, sounds like us." This is NOT God's idea of targeted focus.
His plan has been the same in both Old and New Testaments - start with one (Abraham in OT, Jesus in NT) - grow into a large group (Jewish nation in OT, the Church in NT) - then impact and bless the world through this group. Or as Jesus put it in Acts 1:8 - go into Jerusalem (local), expand into Judea (region), and into the world! A healthy church growth plan has a target of everyone everywhere, one soul at a time regardless of age, culture, or preferences.
God has always been about order and structure. He existed prior to time and creation as Father, Son, and Spirit. He appointed leaders throughout the bible, and in the New Testament entrusted his venue of change (the church) in the hands of men. There are clear guidelines for leaders (Titus 1, 1 Timothy 3, 1 Peter 5) and there are clearly more requirements on leaders (Hebrews 13:17, James 3:1), but leadership is vital to a growing church. there is organization in God's plan.
The effectiveness of a growing life-giving church is its members. Next week we will explore how we can become effective life-giving members of the body of Christ!
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