Church Growth

The ABC's of church growth are:

Attendance
Building
Cash

I didn't learn this in seminary, but I have come to know it to be the strategy that many churches use. If you don't believe me listen to a pastor speak about the growth they have experienced. You will certainly hear the recitation of the ABC's.

Attendance, building, and cash, are important, but I think history has proven that having these as primary does not lead to any meaningful growth. Look at the history of the church in the West the last 100 years. We have focused on getting more people, building bigger and better buildings, and expanding our monetary intake for the sake of "doing more for the kingdom.

We have not only done this, but have mastered it. But still, in spite of this success, professing Christians, by and large, are no different than their non-believing counterparts in terms of overall character and disposition. Communities surrounding churches feel little to no impact by the presence of the church. Church growth, if anything, has resembled a bubble. When it's there you see it, when it pops their is virtually no impact. This is what would happen if many churches left their communities. No impact, no change, no notice.

Perhaps what we've been trying to grow ought not be the main focus of our growth for our churches. It certainly wasn't that of Jesus. From time to time Jesus would actually say things to bring his thousands down to few (John 6:66-68). He was known to have no building, and cash flow never determined the extent, or reach, of his ministry for that year.

Instead Jesus aimed at growing people. In much of his preaching and teaching he aimed at announcing the availability of the kingdom of the Heavens. This was an exciting announcement that people could enter a new life, right now.

While he announced the kingdom to all who would hear, he never focused his attention of how many stayed; he didn't have his clicker, as it were, to determine his success. He never even went out of his way to convince someone, who was leaving, to stay. No, his plan was to help those who freely chose to stay become people who lived fully within the kingdom.

He had a crazy idea that those who were transformed would go out into their daily existence, and their shining lives would attract other people. That's it!

His strategy, which can be found at the end of Matthew 28, should be our strategy, too. We should aim at growing people primarily. If we do that we can count on Jesus helping us to that end. The numbers, places for those who come, and resources, will simply be something provided for by the God who delights in meeting and transforming lives.

So, in the words of Dallas Willard, "Instead of counting Christians, we need to weigh them." In other words, not more people, but bigger/fuller/larger people. This is the way to grow a church.