Speaking to the Architect

Jeremy Myers

I wonder if this is how God feels about the way we handle His church? We blindly ignore His most careful instructions on how to design, run and grow His church, and only after our church is in shambles do we come to Him for help. But by then, the correction process is painful, slow and costly. It involves some walls being knocked down. It causes a setback in our plans and our schedule. Whether we are correcting a problem, or starting from scratch, if we want the church to be built right, it needs to be done according to the Architect's Plans. It is these plans which we will be looking at during the next several weeks and applying to this church. If we want our church to grow, we need to do things God's way.

Now, I have read many books on church growth. Many of the available books on church growth contain great ideas and great principles. Most of them relate the story and principles that led to phenomenal numerical growth in a specific church. It is inferred in all of the books that if other churches copy these principles, they too will experience this kind of growth. One of the main problems with this is that no two churches are identical. While some principles from these "successful" churches might be applicable and adaptable to our setting, what works in one church might not work in another. And none of these previously published strategies work in every church of every size and in all locations.

Obviously, they all worked somewhere, or else we would not have heard about them. But reason and experience tell us that not one of them works everywhere. So most pastors today who want to grow their church either try a blended approach from several different strategies, or they randomly pick one of the strategies and hope it works for them. All too often, both approaches end in failure and frustration. As a pastor, and having watched many pastors flounder through program after program, book after book, with little or no "results", I have to ask, "Are we doing it wrong, or were the ones who wrote the books just lucky?". . .

So who are we to believe? Who do we trust? Do we try one method after another until one of them clicks with our church? Do we flit from model to model hoping that we find something to stand on before our people get burnt out? There must be another way! The must be some objective pattern to know who is right and what will work! Isn't there some standard by which we can judge them?
Well, to the surprise of many, there is. While reading all of these books on church growth during the last eight years or so, trying to find the "secret" to church growth, I came across one book which laid it all out so clearly and so simply, I could hardly believe what I was reading.
This book explained the church's origin, builder, durability, purpose and function. It challenged almost everything the modern church growth movement encourages and promotes. Instead of making the unchurched and unsaved feel comfortable, this book tells us not to conform to the world. Instead of meeting for primarily evangelistic purposes, this book tells us to meet for the edification of the saints. Instead of marketing the church via worldly methods, this book tells us to neither love the world nor the things in the world. Instead of giving people what they want to hear, this book tells us to teach what God wants people to hear. Instead of being program oriented, this book tells us to be people and ministry oriented.

What was this book? You guessed it. The Bible. The Holy Scriptures. The Word of God.

I have found very few church growth books on the market today which actually base their principles on the Word of God. Most of them are based on experiences and worldly marketing techniques, opinion surveys and the like. But if we are going to grow God's church in God's way, we must do things according to God's Word. He is the Architect of the church, and has laid out clear plans for how the church is to grow. All of us, I hope, would agree that we can fully trust and rely on the principles laid out for us in Scripture. If Scripture gives us principles for church growth, shouldn't we try them before we turn elsewhere? Other principles may work in certain areas, and with certain pastors who lead certain churches. But the Scriptural principles of God will work in upper class suburban churches, government housing project churches, rural churches and inner city churches. These principles will work in rich countries and third world countries. They will work in areas where there is a Western mindset, and where there is an Eastern mindset. They will work in large churches and small churches. They will work in thriving communities and dying communities. These principles will work in our church.

But before we can look at them, before we can start building, the ground must be cleared of all obstacles. So let's begin with defining some very important terms.

Therefore, church growth happens, not when numbers increase, but when believers mature in the faith. Church growth is about growing people:

Church growth is teaching and training the people who are in the church to become what God wants them to be so they can do what God wants them to do.

To put it more simply, church growth happens when Christians grow into spiritual maturity. The amazing thing about this kind of growth is that every church can accomplish this, no matter how large or small the church is. If the church has ten people, and one year, the pastor is doing all of the ministry, but a year later, it is the pastor and one other person that is doing all of the ministry, that church has experienced 100% church growth, even if there are still only 10 people. If another year passes, and two more people get involved in the ministries of the church, then that church has just doubled again, even if there are still only 10 people in church. This is true and Biblical church growth. It's not about numbers. It's about maturity and ministry involvement. Growth is not adding numbers to your church, it is helping those who come to the church become more like Christ and live more obediently to Christ.
Understandably, this kind of growth is more elusive, relative and subjective than numerical growth. But just as any kind of growth is measurable, we can measure this kind of growth as well. If church really wants to know if their church is growing, here are some questions they can ask:
• Do the people love God more today than they did last year (1 Cor. 8:1; Php. 1:9)?
• Are they growing in faith (2 Cor. 10:15; 2 Thess. 1:3)?
• Are they more faithful to God this year than last?
• Are they growing in love (Eph. 4:16; 2 Thess. 1:3) and grace toward each other (2 Peter 3:18)? Are they willing to serve within and without the church more?
• Are they growing in the knowledge of God (Col. 1:10; 2 Peter 3:18) and their salvation (2 Peter 2:2)? Have they learned more about God, His Word and His ways?
• Are they more obedient to what they have learned (Jas. 1:22-23)?
• Do they have an increasing desire to study and apply God's Word (2 Tim. 2:15)?
• Are they praying more and building each other up through prayer (Jude 20)?
• Are they growing in the power of the gospel (Col. 1:6)?
• Are they bringing Christ into their homes and workplaces more?

These questions can be applied to any church whether there are 20 or 20,000 in attendance. Even a church that is decreasing in attendance can "grow" under these guidelines.Now don't misunderstand. When these things happen – when a church grows according to this definition – very often numerical growth will result. Sometimes the budget will increase. Occasionally, the number of programs will multiply. These things may very well happen when a church is growing, but they are not in any way indicators of Biblical growth or the lack thereof.

This conception of church growth is surprisingly revolutionary. The number one motive in most church growth strategies today is more people. We must fill the pews, the parking lot and the offering plate. But these are not Biblical motives. Yes, we are to go into all the world, and yes, we see the church in Acts adding 3000 members to their church in one day, but this was never the motive, this was never the goal. The goal is making disciples (Matt. 28:19-20).

Disciples are not made simply by getting more of them. Sometimes, disciple making is best when there are fewer to work with. Jesus took thousands of followers and narrowed them down to twelve. And among the twelve, He focused on three, and of those three, only one was "The Beloved Disciple." Jesus could have had a following of 20,000. Instead, He focused on growth. He knew it was better to fill a person's soul and mind and heart with the words of Scripture than to fill the hillsides with followers. He knew it was better to help a few fulfil their God given purpose than try to get thousands to simply understand what their purpose was. Jesus knew it was easier and more effective to model servant leadership to twelve, than it was to 12,000.

You know what this means? A church can grow even if it is shrinking in size. I don't know if Jesus would have a large church today or not. If He did, He would hand pick a few individuals to invest His time in. But if He didn't have a large church, we can be sure He wouldn’t be trying to get one. Jesus, if He were pastoring today, would do the same thing He did 2000 years ago. Wherever He was, He would use the God given opportunities to invest in the lives of the few people who were in front of Him. This is true growth – and in today's world, it is revolutionary.