Pastor's blog

Church growth seems to be all the rage these days. I guess it's always been a big deal, but it's just taken on different forms. There were new church starts to keep up with population growth, foreign missions, the mega-church movement. All of these have been good. And, now we have church planting again; not to keep up with population growth, but to reach the disenchanted. Also good. In the RCA it's called Church Multiplication and it's everywhere. In fact, it gets so much air time that established churches are left to wonder if the only churches considered successful are those that are growing and multiplying.

People who might say "yes" to that often use metaphors from biology to illustrate their point. "All living things grow," they might say. Or you even might here, "All living things reproduce." To an extent all of that is true. Growth is a sign of health, but it's not the only one. Trees, whether they are reproducing or not, always produce oxygen. That's valuable in and of itself. Marriages, whether they result in multiplication or not, are valuable for the love and nurture it offers two people. Women are healthy and whole even if they don't have children.

Besides all that not everything that grows is good. Cancer is an example. Cancer grows. Cancer multiplies. No one I know lauds cancer for it's great capacity for growth. The same is true of weeds. Any gardener knows that they are frustratingly persistent in their growth. It seems to me that growth isn't the only valuable thing about living organisms and not all growth is good.

For the sermon on Sunday, we looked at Matthew 13:24-43 where Jesus uses parables to talk about the growth of his kingdom. Certainly, Jesus isn't shy about talking about growth. He compares his kingdom to a mustard seed (which really is very small) that grows into the largest of all the shrubs in the garden. He also compares it to yeast; a small amount of which will infuse a large amount of flour. What's missing from both of these parables is the notion of multiplication. Jesus values the tree, not because it will multiply, but because it will give refuge to birds who need a place to nest. Neither does the yeast turn the flour into more yeast. Rather it leavens the flour. The first parable in this list seems to show that not everything that grows is good. Weeds grow just like the wheat, but clearly there is a difference between the two. You know them by their fruits.

That brings us to Paul. Paul is not shy talking about growth either. However, I have yet to find a place where Paul associates growth with the church. In most of his letters he applauds the church when it grows in faith and love. Here's an example from Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians, "We must always give thanks to God for you...because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing." Likewise, when Paul used the body as a metaphor for the church, he's not talking about growth or reproduction. Instead, he is trying to illustrate the need for unity within the church. It seems to me that our current focus on growth and multiplication is misguided and borderline idolatrous as Jesus and Paul rarely if ever talk about growing the church.

That said, the church does grow. The book of Acts begins with 120 people. In the next chapter there are 3000 believers and two chapters later over 5000. Today there are over 2 billion people who consider themselves part of the body of Christ. So, the church does grow and growth has a place in our conversation about church. It just needs to be put in it's proper place. Simply put, growth is from God. A tree is not planted so that we marvel at it's growth. A tree is planted to give life and God grows it so that it can give more life. In the same way, the goal of church is not growth. It is to give life and God grows it so that it can give more life.

In Acts "the Lord added to their number everyday." In Corinthians Paul writes how he planted, others watered, but God gives the growth. In Colossians, Paul writes about the "growth that is from God." Considering these words, our own pursuit of growth seems idolatrous. Our pursuit is of more faith and more love. Our work is not growth, but to plant the seeds of faith with God's Words and water them with love in God's Spirit. At the same time, if a church is not growing, one is left to wonder if something is missing in that church. It could be that not all growth is from God.

I would hate to see our church grow simply because our worship is more entertaining. Or because our programs are more flashy and fun. I would hope that our church could grow because we are becoming more faithful in our love for family and strangers, friends and enemies alike. The Bible is quite clear that the only way to grow, paradoxically, is to die, to let go of those things we cling to for control and gratification and let Jesus Christ take their place. That's not entertaining. It's rarely flashy or fun, but it is faithful.

Just recently, the population in America went up while the attendance in our churches went down. That's not good. Faithful growth requires sacrifice, it requires love. But God’s Word promises this good news to those who are faithful: “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share it abundantly in every good work…The same God who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"