The pastor who picked me up at the San Francisco airport had recently returned from a church growth conference led by the pastor of one of the “fastest growing churches in America.” Never mind that there are a dozen churches that claim to be the “fastest growing church in America.”
As we left the airport, my friend was sharing with me the latest technology from this church-growth guru. The whole seminar essentially came down to this simple formula: “Nursery facilities and parking lots are the keys to church growth in the 90’s.”
Was I hearing this guy right? Nursery facilities and parking lots. You’ve got to be kidding! What about discipleship and evangelism? What about faith and prayer? What about miracles and the sovereign outpouring of the Holy Spirit?
I must say at this point that my friend didn’t buy into the parking lot theory of church-growth. He said that his church still believes the two keys are prayer and evangelism. Praise God.
I’ve planted and pastored four churches in the past twenty years. (My wife says that I get bored every few years and that’s why I keep planting new churches. Actually, I think it’s the people who get bored with me after a couple of years.) Each church I’ve planted has experienced growth. Some have grown fast, some not so fast, but they have all grown and continue to grow today. They’ve grown without adequate nursery facilities or parking lots.
We’ve grown because we’ve made disciples. It’s that simple. Fast growth has never been a goal for us. Growth has been the unavoidable by-product of making disciples. Any church that makes disciples will grow. It is impossible to properly make disciples and not grow. If pastors will be consumed with fulfilling the Great Commission, their churches will grow eventually.
Unfortunately, it is possible to grow a church without making disciples at all. If we simply “do church” better than the guy down the road, if we get a good location, if we have bigger parking lot and a better nursery, then it is possible to grow without actually making disciples. We can grow by attracting all the “tumbleweed” (rootless) Christians who are constantly looking for a better meeting and a new experience.
Paul often spoke of church-growth, but not in the same way we do today. He said the church should grow up into Him who is the head and that the church naturally grows and builds itself up when all the spectators become participants. (See Eph. 4:15, 16)
Paul reveals three prerequisites to church-growth.
Leadership.The church will grow when the leaders (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers) lead and the people minister. The problem is that in many churches, the people do all of the leading and the pastor does all the ministering. In the early church, the “pastors” did the leading and equipping and the people did the ministry.
Discipleship. The main job of a pastor (or teacher, apostle, prophet, evangelist) is to prepare God’s people for works of service, not to do all the works of ministry himself. His job is to teach God’s people how to minister to one another. In other words, the job of the pastor is to make disciples.
Fellowship. The body will grow as it is joined and held together by every supporting ligament. This is a picture of fellowship. Our churches will grow stronger and larger as we allow the Holy Spirit to join us together in healthy relationships.
It would be nice to have more parking space. It would be nice to have better nursery facilities. It would be great to have a better sound system and an air-conditioned building with comfortable seats. But these are not essential for real church growth. Godly leadership, biblical discipleship, and genuine fellowship are what we really need.
