What is Church Growth?

What is church growth? What constitutes the growth of the church?

Jesus said, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Matthew 16:18.

We understand Jesus was not going to build His Church on a human, but upon the rock of the confession Peter made: “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16

The church is built upon Jesus Christ; and not people, not government, not even hell can prevail against it. Jesus’ church continually grows. The church of Jesus Christ has been growing since it began at Pentecost and has not slowed down since.

So why don’t we experience this growth in our church?
That is the problem. Did you see it? Look at the question again because therein is the answer. The question asks why we do not experience growth in our church. In OUR church. That’s the problem.

We have taken possession of the church and made it our church. It is not ours. We belong to the church, the church does not belong to us. Jesus is the owner and the leader, we are members and followers. The church is not a club for the advancement of good feelings. The church is a spiritual place of evangelism, growth, and healing.

What if we really took the Great Commission as an order from our Commanding Officer?

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:18-20

What if at the beginning of the year each church member deposited $100.00 into an account with the church. And what if, at the end of the year, you could get back your money by proving you went, taught, and baptized people into the church in obedience to the Great Commission. How many of our people would qualify to get their money back? Would you?

Is it your church, or do you belong to His Church? Have you been overcome by the eight myths of church membership? John S. Powers while the Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Norfolk, VA wrote what he saw as eight myths of church membership. Let’s take a close look at each one and see if you have been fooled by any of them.

Myth One: The church is a volunteer organization.
The average church member has been led to believe that activity within a local church is strictly voluntary, meaning members can come, give, share and participate as they please. Church rolls have too long carried the weight of inactive and spiritually immature people who wrongly believe they may do as little as possible and still remain part of the local church.

Myth Two: We should use guilt to enlist people.
How many people have been recruited to serve by means of guilt-ridden phrases such as "If you love Jesus, you will serve in our preschool"? Any person who serves the Lord out of a sense of guilt loses the joy of ministry.

Myth Three: Membership cannot have expectations placed on it.
Expectations of involvement are regularly placed on church members through civic organizations, sports, etc. The work of the local church carries much more weight than worldly pursuits such as these! The lack of impact in our world is evident because there are little or no expectations placed on church members.

Myth Four: Discipleship and evangelism are two separate things.
This issue has yielded two extremes: the church that wins people to Christ without commitment to help them mature and the church that believes evangelism is a spiritual gift.

Myth Five: It is impossible to get people to serve today.
The truth is that members will give their efforts to exciting ministries with effective leaders. They'll commit to work that makes a difference in others and in them.

Myth Six: Programs outweigh purpose.
The calendar of a typical church reflects attitude toward ministry. If a program rolls into next year's planning without proper evaluation, people become loyal to a program at the expense of the purpose of the church. As a result, churches sacrifice the best ministries to do good ministries.

Myth Seven: The "80-20 Rule"
A common saying in churches is, "Eighty percent of the money and effort are given by 20 percent of the people." The church has long accepted actions and attitudes that allow the minority to sacrificially give in doing the work of ministry to support the majority. But this kind of behavior was not part of the first church, as seen in Acts 2:41-45. The early church was filled with involved, generous, servant-hearted, unified people.

Myth Eight: Belonging to a local church is irrelevant.
Apparently, many local church members feel this way. Every believer should participate in a local fellowship because Jesus died for the church. Should we not be willing to give ourselves to that for which Jesus sacrificed? Many inactive and nonresident members could find church membership irrelevant because we do not assimilate them properly. Statistics point to a glaring problem with how members are received into the life of a church.

Were you a believer of any or all of these myths? Do you understand the real issue? The real issue with church growth, or the lack of it, is disobedience of the church members. In the book of Acts, every Christian evangelized his family and neighbors, the Deacons and Pastors lead the church by the Word of God in doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) The church building is not to be our house of entertainment and activity, but the community center for evangelism, training, and love.