Tags
Related Posts
Share This
To Build Or Grow… Or Both?
After logging 23 years of being in full-time ministry, I’ve done my time taking in conferences and reading the latest and greatest church leadership books on how to grow a church. I’ve employed and abused many of the growth concepts I somewhat naively soaked in. Church marketing, program after exhausting program, and topical sermon series with cheesy titles were all a part of my arsenal to help grow a church.
What’s even more striking is how the churches actually did grow. Numerically, there was church growth. People came in the doors, and others patted me on the back… but a nagging question continues to stick in my crawl (wherever and whatever that is).
Was the body of Christ built up?
Seems many have figured out formulas and strategies to grow a church, but have we focused enough time and effort on building up the body of Christ?
Is there a difference between growing a church and building up the body of Christ?
I think so.
Growing a church is driven by success and numbers. Building up the body of Christ is about maturity. Right?
The Apostle Paul, In Ephesians 4, makes a very straightforward point concerning Jesus followers using their gifts. Serving. And when the body works as a body… useful, purposeful, exercised, and gifted… the body is built up. Serving builds the body up. Serving exercises the spiritual muscles. Serving, beyond classes and sermons and books, may be one of the best ways Jesus builds up his body.
Amazingly and interestingly, guess what happens when the body of Christ is built up? Growth. Everything a pastor longs for. Everything a church member hopes to happen within their church. Growth. Maturity. Even numerical growth.
So it seems, we should work on building up the body of Christ, and the growth of our church will follow.
God is amazing that He wants us to be a part of kingdom building. He wants us to mature. He has given us gifts, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,” to help us grow. When I look back over the years of walking with Christ in my life I see when I used my gift I would grow. when I didn’t I withered. I would not claim maturity but I would say I am more mature today than yesterday, than last week, than last year. How about you are you growing?
I agree….there is a BIG difference between growing a church and building up the body of Christ. Often I see churches get so focused on numbers and the point of the growth is missed completely. For me, it’s pretty simple: keep your eye on the prize. Make growing Christ in the church the focus and the church will grow. (Pretty much EXACTLY what you already said, Alan
)
Growth simply for the sake of growth is rarely a good thing. You are absolutely right, Alan, if we focus on doing the things that fulfill God’s purpose for us at CCC, in our community and beyond, growth will come for all of the right reasons, and it will be a blessing to everyone involved.
Alan,
I’m very proud of our leaders at CCC. Everyone wants to see the church grow and be prosperous. That is what our culture instills in us. But what makes me so glad is to hear our leaders say that our success is in how Jesus grows in Smyrna, not how our building grows at CCC.
I love Jesus, I love Smyrna, and there are a lot of people that need the love of Jesus in Smyrna. They don’t need Cumberland Community Church, they need Jesus.
I agree, Alan. I love how you are teaching all of us to “be the church” rather than “go to church”. That is how we grow as a body. Not building funds and working on building an empire with large numbers. What a breath of fresh air it has been to experience this at CCC. I am so thankful for the way God is teaching you and using you to “grow” our body.
Thanks!
MA
From the very first day that Jennifer and I walked in to CCC, we realized that there was an emphasis on people, loving and feeding one another. We knew that God’s kingdom was doing great things here and we wouldn’t just be a number that someone in the balcony writes down. The teachings, the small groups and especially going out and “Being the Church” are all examples of how we are building up his kingdom. We have been “Marketing” our church by simply going out and showing our community what real God loving people should be doing. And we all know that the best type of marketing is word of mouth and the community is talking!!! Good stuff Alan, we are proud to be growing with everyone at CCC.
I wonder if, in Paul’s mind, there was a difference between building up the body and growing the church? Clearly the modern church in America views church growth primarily as a numerical thing. Except for the numbers mentioned in Acts as Peter and the other young preachers preached the gospel, I don’t see head-count mentioned anywhere. And in those instances I get the sense that they are not mentioned for us to duplicate, but rather to stand amazed at the power of the gospel and give thanks. For me, the growth of the body is always qualitative – not quantitative.
Thanks for consistently banging of this drum Alan.
Alan,
We’re looking forward to Leadership Conference Friday and Saturday, too. Every member a minister and every member a leader too, or we should be. “Power of One,” like you talked about Sunday.
What has happened to the people in our church over the past three plus years would be unbelievable if we thought it came about by our efforts, without GOD in the lead, giving us a vision and then growing us to fulfill it. And we’re just beginning.
Thanks for what you do. I cannot imagine anyone better suited than you are for us.