Principled Growth
Fred Colvin
The Church Growth Movement is ”one
of the most stimulating, yet controversial developments in today's
church”[1] according to a special report quoted by Dr. C Peter
Wagner, a leading movement spokesman. This movement is making significant
inroads into assemblies of Christians, which have traditionally been known for
their emphasis of New Testament church principles. Being true to its
reputation, this new influence has proved to be both stimulating and controversial.
We do need stimulation. The growth
and multiplication of churches is as biblical (Acts 9:31; 16:5; 1 Corinthians
3:6; Ephesians 4:11-16) as it is vitally important to our Lord. If our children
stopped growing, we would become desperate. Nothing short of an accurate explanation
of the hindrances to healthy growth and an adequate and effective treatment of
the malady would alleviate our concern. As the Lord's people we should share
His concern for spread of the word and the growth of the churches.
We do need the stimulation. We
don't need the controversy. Controversy has arisen. Some advocates of church
growth seem to identify adherence to New Testament church principles (sometimes
termed ”assembly distinctives” or ”Brethren traditions”) as hindrances to
growth. Our Brethren propose some changes, which prove no small cause of
concern to those of us committed to gathering according to the simplicity
enunciated in the New Testament.
The present writer left a
denominational church adopting convictions about the New Testament principles
of gathering as an adult. My food and drink is church planting. Concern for
church growth on the one hand and commitment to assembly principles on the
other have forced me to do some hard thinking about these issues. I've often
been reminded of my parent's warning concerning unprincipled men, whose actions
were not governed by commitment to principle, but by the ends they were intent
on pursuing. Their end justifies and sanctifies the means. Admittedly church
growth is a lofty biblical principle, but it is not the only principle under
consideration. Our commitment is to the whole counsel of God. When a church
growth strategy impairs the application of other biblical principles, the
result could be termed ”unprincipled
growth”.
Not every expression of growth is
healthy and desirable. As a matter of fact unprincipled growth in the human
body can be lethal. Cancerous growth could be termed ”growth for growth's own
sake at the expense of the principle of health”. Putting on weight may be a
growth of sorts, but it could hardly be deemed desirable. Healthy growth, be it
in a physical or in a spiritual body, will not only be quantitative but also
qualitative.
The advent of the Church Growth Movement
polarizes and prods us toward one of two unsatisfactory options. Some will get
on the Church Growth bandwagon. Others may resist even healthy change,
reemphasizing instead principles held by an ever-diminishing number of
churches. The former option we'll call
growth at the expense of principle.
The latter has been derisively dubbed ”faithfulness without fruitfulness”.
Neither scenario stands up under the scrutiny of scripture.
We may begin by planning our
”marketing strategy”. Dr. Wagner calls
it ”Philosophy of Ministry” (POM).
Case studies of successful mega-churches may play a key role in our strategy
sessions. After all if it worked at Willow Creek or at Saddleback, it can work
for us too. Demographic studies will show us, who the prospective buyers out
there in our target area are, and what their needs and their ”likes and
dislikes” are. This data will prove to be invaluable as we tailor our marketing
program, catering to the needs and wants of the buyers.
The studies show that many are
willing to visit the church meeting on the Lord's Day. Furthermore a certain percentage
will return for more, if we make a good first impression. Visitor retention is a proven method of church growth. If the folks
are happy and keep on coming back, the percentages are on our side. And in
these days of waning loyalty to principle, Christians are ”bunny hopping” all
over the place. If our programs are to their liking, maybe we could provide
them with a new church home.
The consumer is King. The Lord's Day
can become the People's Day. We may unknowingly adopted the motto ”vox populi”
or ”the voice of the people” rules. Studies show that as of this year more
college-educated women than men will enter the work force. There are a lot of
feminist out there, who need Jesus too. We don't want to scar them away. It's
high time we re-think the woman's role in the assembly. Studies show that 56%
of adult Americans like rock music. We'll give them music with a beat. Drama is
”in”, and we've made time for it. We shortened the sermon, due to attention
spans. Studies show that people don't come back, when the preacher's a bore. So
we hand off to our best ball carrier every down. We decided not to call it ”one
man ministry”. But our man had better be relevant! We find out what topic the
people want to hear, and we preach it. That's relevant! The competition is
tough, and the stakes are high. We'd better rehearse the whole production
again! Let's take it again from the top!
What if the church folks don't like
all these innovations? They had better read 1 Corinthians 9. We have ”become
all things to all men, so that we might by all means save some”. Call that
contextualisation. Call it marketing. Call it what you will. We are on the
grow! If we can't find consensus on our POM, we may form a church-planting team
and go elsewhere.
Let us take time to pose some
critical questions before proceeding to the other untenable alternative.
First of all, is the concept of visitor retention scripturally sound?
The Lord Jesus certainly seems to have ignored it. He generally avoided
publicity and wooed people, not with ”relevant” sermon topics, but with a
ministry of love and the gospel of grace. At the same time He winnowed them
with His stringent terms of discipleship. The Lord wasn't distraught, when
people quit coming due to His ”hard sayings” (John 6:60-f; Luke 16:16-23).
Commitment to the truth would hold people like Peter in its grip (John
6:66-69). In his instruction to the young preacher Timothy Paul even contrasts
the practice of preaching topics agreeable with the people to the faithful
ministry of the Word (2 Timothy 4:1-4). The sermons of Peter, Stephen and Paul
reveal a clear understanding of their hearers, but apostolic preaching coupled
with the primitive church's holy standards tended to repel, rather than attract
the uncommitted.
During a time of unprecedented
church growth, unchurched ”dared not associate with them; however the people
held them in high esteem” (Acts 5:12-14). It was conceivable that unbelievers
might wander into the assembly ministry meeting in Corinth (1 Corinthians
14:23-25). But one searches the scriptures in vain to find a reference to the
assembly's gathering to evangelize. They scattered to do that! The Bible leaves
no doubt as to the goal of the church's gathering. They came together for
edification, fellowship, remembrance and prayers (Acts 2:42; 20:7; 1 Corinthians
11:17-f; 14:23-26). Scripture militates against the visitor retention marketing
strategy.
Growth through the visitor
retention scheme brings other disadvantages. It is all too easy for a
non-Christian to become gradually assimilated into the church fellowship, when
his contact with the assembly is designed to make him feel so much a part of
things. The line of demarcation fades when ”going to church” comes before
conversion. Not-very-well-converted church members are in great danger
themselves and can pose a danger for the church fellowship at a later date.
An added disadvantage of the
visitor retention marketing strategy is the illusive nature of the resultant
growth. Catering to religious consumers will attract not only the un-churched,
but also dissatisfied Christians and members of other local churches. I was encouraged
to read of one North American assembly, that grew from fifty to four hundred in
just two years. One of the elders later told me that they had seen twenty
conversions during this time. Simple
mental arithmetic revealed 330 transfers. Real church growth means addition
through genuine conversion (Acts 2:47; 4:14), not through transfer growth at
the expense of other fellowships.
Transfer growth breeds more
pluralism, which in turn further weakens a fellowship's commitment to New Testament
principles of gathering. Assembly distinctives don't seem to be fairing very
well in tandem with current philosophies of ministry. Those who would continue
to pay lip service to principles tend to be reductionist, who have broadened or
redefined our distinctives to the point of non-distinctiveness. The great
Czechish Statesman, Thomas Masaryk, said, ”Nations live from the ideals, which
stood at their inception.” Dutiful reference made to our ”Brethren roots” won't
cut it. New Testament church principles should form our POM and not vice versa.
Is ”one man ministry” simply a
matter of re-definition? Is the order of service strictly a question of POM?
Does the scripture have nothing to say about the matter? Paul writes of the
orderly ministry of the Word through the multiple participation of various
gifted brethren under the leadership of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians
14:26-34; Ephesians 5:18-21).
And those studies? Studies show us
a lot of things. They can be very useful, as we seek more effective ways and
means to reach various segments of our society. However founding a church on
the sands of convention is risky business. If the studies lead to revision of
our practice of New Testament principles, they are misleading. Today one misses
the clarion call, ”the Word of God says...” in the clamor pollsters.
Is it scriptural to quote 1
Corinthians 9 as one's authority for changing the order and function of the
assembly ministry meeting? Is it fair to refer to this verse, when talking
about ”the church gathered”? Have we forgotten, that Paul is defining the
limits of the necessary spiritual freedom and cultural flexibility accorded an
individual evangelizing among different ethnic groups in the world? The apostle
isn't talking about introducing elements familiar in the heathen or Jewish
world into the assembly meeting at all. The world doesn't make itself at home
in the church! The Greeks were the world experts at drama. For all their worldliness
the Corinthians didn't introduce drama into the meeting (1 Corinthians 14).
Paul is writing about what to order for dinner after a heated discussion in the
synagogue, or how to behave at a heathen dinner table. Inward restrains of the
”law of Christ” (the Lordship of the Lord Jesus) determine our life and culturally
sensitive witness in the world! Other principles also enunciated in this same
Corinthian epistle govern our behavior in the assembly gatherings.
Little is said of genuine
repentance, of true brokenness, of the crucified life, of doing the first
works, or of waiting on God for revival in church growth circles. It would seem
that marketing strategies threaten to replace the time-tested concept of the
blessing of God. One leading expert told his seminar group that the principles
and methods taught in his church growth seminar are equally applicable in various
organizations. He went on to say that they would work for the Mormons or for
the Kawanis Club, and they will work for the church. But our real problems are
spiritual in nature, and real renewal of our assemblies hinges on our spiritual
condition, not on the application of various tools, methods and gimmickry. Even
valid methodologies and insights become an arsenal of carnal weapons if overemphasized
or relied upon.
Juan Carlos Ortiz tells of a lesson
he learned from the Lord after two years of organizing and outreach:
The first thing He said was, ”You
are promoting the gospel the same way Coca-Cola sells Coke, the same way
Reader's Digest sells books and magazines.
You are using all the human tricks you learned in school. But where is
my finger in all of this?”
I didn't know what to say.
Then the Lord told me a second
thing, ”You are not growing,” He said.
”You think you are, because you've gone from 200 to 600. But you're not
growing – you're just getting fat.”[2]
The incongruence of this strain of
”faithfulness” rattled me during an early encounter with Christians committed
to assembly principles. A well-meaning brother praised an assembly, which had
dwindled down to a couch-full. Apparently there was no pastor sitting on the
couch. The group gathered weekly to break bread in a manner, which many of us
still appreciate. Our brother said, ”They are just being faithful.” I remember
making a mental note to think about that one. Faithfulness and barrenness? What strange bedfellows!
While allowing for varying conditions
in various fields, one is none-the-less forced to note the connection between
faithfulness and fruitfulness in other quarters. Certainly the Bible links the
two. Becoming fishers of men is a function of following Christ (Mark 1:17).
Fruit bearing is the proof of true discipleship (John 15:8). Harvesting is the
promise to those who faithfully persevere in doing good (Galatians 6:9).
An excerpt from a letter from a
leading brother in North America sums up this modern anomaly nicely:
”We hear many saying today that
‘assemblies are dying’ or ‘without
change we are passe.’ But the fact is
the assemblies that are dying have abandoned
‘first principles’. They have
forgotten about evangelism and bemoan the lack of growth.”
What then is the problem? Lack of
faithfulness! How can the neglect of ”first principles” of evangelism, both personal
and corporate, of effective shepherding and of the training of leadership be
termed ”faithfulness”? Our real problem is not so much our barrenness as our
unfaithfulness to ”first principles”.
The prevailing stance might be more
accurately described as selective faithfulness. We have remained faithful to
important biblical principles, which have been neglected in other quarters, and
which to our chagrin are presently being cast aside by some assemblies. As a
result we redouble our efforts to maintain our distinctive faithfulness. But
attention to and the cultivation of these distinctives does not liberate us
from faithfulness in other weighty matters. ”Faithfulness without fruitfulness”
means tripping over our own principles.
The expression ”truth without growth” is another variation on the same theme. If faithfulness and barrenness are strange
bedfellows, truth without growth is a sadly unnecessary divorce, a divorce
often caused by a lack of love. Paul associated truth with church growth in the
Ephesian epistle. It is by ”speaking the truth in love” that ”we are to grow”
as an assembly (Ephesians 4:15-16). If the holiness of the early church
repelled unbelievers, it was their love and unity of the assembly, which
attracted them (Acts 4:32-5:14). When church growth analysts tell us that
friendliness and warmth are among the most important factors for a growing
church, they are only reporting the obvious. Some of my friends have visited
certain assemblies, only to be frozen out!
Survival without vision is
impossible. People and churches perish for want of vision (Proverbs 29:18). I
once asked the dominant elder of a declining assembly, what he would prefer.
Would he rather see some new families added, so they could continue to meet, or
the mobilization of the assembly's resources to evangelize the lost and train a
new generation of leadership? I was shock by his preference for the former
option. I'm not shocked by the news that the chapel is up for sale. Apathy
toward growth, low expectations or unbelief and satisfaction with the
substandard status quo are the deathknell for many churches.
There need be no doubting and
despair at our plight. There is a more excellent way! New Testament principles do work! They are at work in a number of
exemplary churches across North America. Missionaries and nationals on various
fields are proving that they work today. We have been laboring in an affluent
Western European country known for its resistance to the gospel for ten short
years. Working together with one other missionary couple and Austrians we
trained, we've witnessed the birth and growth of more than a dozen assemblies
in our area. The growth rate of the work over the past ten years has astonished
us. God is blessing! We are more convinced of the timelessness of New Testament
principles than ever before, and would like to state briefly some practical
suggestions for those interested in ”principled growth”. Some suggestions will
coincide with the stimulating counsel of some church growth experts.
The church leadership could begin
by taking stock of their own lives and ministries. Do we as a group lack vision?
Are we too busy with secular concerns? Are we deeply consecrated to the Lord
and committed to the upbuilding of His church? Are we resistant to change? Are
we actively involved in shepherding the flock?
New Testament churches are made up
of New Testament Christians. How would we describe the spiritual condition of
the flock? What are the biggest difficulties we face as a church? Which major
hindrances to growth can we identify? Does our assembly have clear-cut goals,
which are known and shared by the majority of those in fellowship? Are we
really practicing the ”first principles?” Is our meeting characterized by
love? criticism?
Are we experiencing adult
conversions with any regularity? Are they being integrated in the church? How
many in the past two years? Which means of evangelism have we tried? What has
proved effective?
A loving realistic self-appraisal
may unmask negligence and sins of omission, giving occasion for repentance and
confession of sin. Weaknesses discovered should culminate in clear cut
decisions and planning for change.
The church is a spiritual organism
and the majority of the hindrances to our growth are spiritual in nature. The
mighty weapon of prayer all too often neglect by those who know better.
Existing prayer meetings often lack vitality. Someone described a typical
prayer meeting, as a place where you go to hear who is sick or out of work. Our
assembly goals and especially that of evangelizing should play a central role
here. We leaders meet Tuesdays at 6 a.m. for prayer. We are accountable to one
another. It keeps us sharp spiritually.
Many elders act primarily as
managers and decision-makers rather than shepherds. Many assemblies have no
visitation program. We need to do something about this.
Evangelist, shepherds and teachers
are not only given to the church as ministers to her need, but as equipers and
trainers of the saints for the work of the ministry. God's plan for the
principled church growth is an ever-growing number of workers, who have found
their function in the body and have been equipped to minister there (Ephesians
4:11-16). New Testament assemblies are structured for such function, but
training and encouragement is often sadly lacking.
Our training includes personal time
with a few, and group training for a wider circle. Personal evangelism, visitation
training, discipleship training, teacher training, Bible study methods, shepherding,
New Testament survey, preaching, the life of a leader are major subjects, which
we have tackled in Austria in the past nine years. Our long-term investment is
paying dividends. We do our ”staffing” with homegrown men and women. BILD
International[3] offers an excellent curriculum for those who don't
have time for course development.
We found upon review of the adult
believers in fellowship in the Salzburg assembly, that a number of very positive
willing believers weren't active in the ministry. They were waiting on us to
take initiative. We have in many cases. We don't ask ourselves, ”Who's the
right man for the job?” We ask instead, ”What is the right job for this believer?”
Ideally we should cultivate an atmosphere, where the saints feel free to take
initiative in the work of the Lord.
All should be taught the
fundamentals of the Gospel message, the principles building relationships to
those around them and at least some simple gospel presentation. Many helpful
books on the subject are available.
Each believer relates to a whole
network or web of unbelievers. We need to help the saints identify these networks,
and to use these natural opportunities for the gospel.
We should provide ”harvest
vehicles” for who those contacted by our believers. Every baby Christians can
say, ”Come and see!” Evangelistic bible studies, Gospel courses and specially
planned Gospel meetings with special speakers are but a few of the many
opportunities available. A large percentage
of the believers in Land Salzburg were converted through a combination of
personal witness, Gospel meetings in a living room or in a local hotel and
evangelistic visitation on the part of the believer with the contact and the
evangelistic speaker.
Many of us were initially convinced
of the relevance of the Gospel message, not by rhetoric or even by preaching,
but through the visible love and unity of the saints. This is an oft neglected
New Testament principle.
I have encountered much gratitude
in North America for talks I gave and for personal discussions I participated
about New Testament principles of gathering. We take too much for granted. Many raised in assemblies don't seem to be
well taught concerning our principles. When we should emphasize meaning and
content. Our concern in Austria led us to write a 150-page course with 14
homework assignments.
When we talk to believers about
reception into fellowship we present them with an article about the goals and
convictions of our assembly. We explain our distinctive convictions as well.
This has never been difficult with someone converted from the world, only with
the transfers. One freshly converted woman whispered, ”Why are the women
veiled?” Her neighbor whispered, ”First Corinthians eleven.” ”Oh, thanks, I've
only gotten as far as Luke!” A former feminist and chairwoman of the socialist
teachers said much the same.
New Testament church principles
didn't hinder church growth in the first century. They certainly didn't hinder
growth in the last century either. Properly applied they won't hinder healthy
church growth today. It's high time we reexamined our de facto philosophy of
ministry in the light of the New Testament. We can best profit from the suggestions
and the examples of our apparently successful brethren by testing every thing
we hear and read, holding fast only that, which holds up under the scrutiny of
the scriptures. We need not apologize for our adherence to assembly principles.
In fact we must return to the ”first Principles” if we want to experience
”principled Growth”.
Internet:
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