You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Church Growth' category.
“We have got to realize and understand that God will never give you a vision that He also doesn’t give you what it takes to pull it off. That God will never put something on your heart that he also doesn’t give you what it takes to see it through.”
Jonathan Falwell, from his message “Don’t Let the Vision Become the Victim”, preached at Innovate Church 2009 May 18, 2009
The other day, our youth director expressed his disgust with the fact that there seems to be a trend where pastors are trying to look hip. He said “they dress alike. Their churches look alike. The websites are the same. They use the same jargon. They are all trying to compete with Starbucks. There is no uniqueness in their ministries.”
This caused me to think about what God is calling our church to be. What is he calling me to be? Do I need to grow a “soul patch” and give up the “classic look” in order to reach people with the gospel? Or is he calling me and our church to be the unique creation that He called into existence?
A.W. Tozer has a great perspective on this issue. Consider what he wrote 60 years ago concerning the issue of Christian literature. It will provide some thought concerning the call to be you and the issue of the “party line.”
“Christian literature, to be accepted and approved by evangelical leaders of our times, must follow very closely the same train of thought, a kind of “party line” from which it is scarcely safe to depart. A half-century of this in America has made us smug and content. We imitate each other with slavish devotion. Our most strenuous efforts are put forth to try to say the same thing that everyone around us is saying-and yet to find an excuse for saying it, some little safe variation on the approved theme or, if no more, at least a new illustration.” A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, Christian Publications
Thanks Tozer. You have helped me think through the “party line” and make the decision to not grow a “soul patch.”
Here are some great quotes concerning vision from Jerry Falwell:
“Do not try to implement God’s vision. God is always right on time. There are no panic buttons near the throne. The Holy Trinity has never gone into emergency session. Everything is under control and going according to plan.”
“Vision never allows you the luxury of discouragement.”
I recently watch Ed Young (Fellowship Church, Grapevine TX) make some comments concerning a serious issue that he called “Church Pirates.” I found his videotaped discussion with his staff and the resulting comments on the blogosphere intriguing. According to Ed, church pirates are individuals who get involved in a church, as leadership or staff. They build a kingdom within the church and at some point go down the street and start a new church. These pirates then suck people and resources from the first church to their new church. When these pirates are confronted, they play the “God card” by stating that God had told them to do it. Ed’s confrontation of this issue has opened a closet to the dark side of the North American church. Consider the points that Ed Young and others have made concerning Church Pirates.
Ed’s main Points
- Church pirates disguise themselves as church planters.
- How many church plants are legitimate church transplants or simply just church splits?
- Most churches that have experienced tremendous growth (2,000 to 3,000) in a short period of time are church splits.
- Laymen always believe the victim not the pastor.
- I am not into moving sheep from place to place or stealing sheep.
- He is seeing more and more of this behavior today.
- He points out that this behavior is unethical and illegal in the world.
- Why are church plants always called to the elite?
- Church planting should always take place in an area with a vacuum or need.
- Super specific ministries suck people away from the church.
- Is it church planting or church transplanting?
The Counter Points from the blogosphere
- We worry about that stuff too much.
- A lot of times it’s God’s way of building the Kingdom. Kind of like the Diaspora. It might not of seemed right at the time, but look at how God used it!
- It’s hard to hear from a guy with a church as big as his.
- Maybe if pastors were able to see more of the need around them and the fact that we don’t need to limit the number of churches in area, since we’re really not in competition (this isn’t the corporate world in many ways) then they would bless these people and send them out.
- It’s hard for me to watch this video because I think it speaks more to pettiness and worldliness than anything else.
- He just really sounds insecure about something that is God’s to begin with.
- He sounds like he is whining over a situation.
- I really think Ed is being sincere, but this problem is perpetuated by the attractional model that Fellowship practices. I would’ve been even more impressed if he had ended by apologizing for the churches that they helped close on their way to huge growth.
Ed’s comments and the counterpoints of others point to deeper issues in the North American church. Here are some thoughts that I have as I digest Ed’s video and the reaction of others.
1. The “ends justify the means” mentality
There is a subtle mentality that embraces pastors today. As they are seeking to build their ministries, many have adopted an “ends justify the means” ethic. This has even been espoused in literature where small churches are viewed as feeders to growing churches.
2. The negative side of church growth
This issue definitely reveals the dark side of the church growth movement. Whereas the movement began with a focus on reaching the lost with the gospel, the reality has been a shift to an emphasis on transfer growth. Statistics reflect that while many churches are experiencing growth, the number of born again believers in North America has not grown in the last ten years.
3. Superstar mentality
This issue is a direct result of the superstar mentality that has engulfed the North American church. Let’s face the facts; the size of your church gives you significance in our church culture. Have you noticed that pastors of smaller ministries are not given national platforms from which to speak? The result is a subtle pressure to succeed so that we will be recognized by our peers.
4. A shallow view of church
Finally this issue reflects a shallow theology concerning the church. Lets be honest, much of the material that is available to pastors today concerning the church is shallow and pragmatic. Church pirates are simply a consequence of a shallow understanding of the church.
A great book to read concerning the issue of transfer growth is William Chadwick’s Stealing Sheep: The Church’s Hidden Problems with Transfer Growth, published by InterVarsity Press.
Last night I was reminded of the most important class that I ever took in seminary, World Missions. I took the family to State College to take part in the First Night Celebrations. State College is the home of Penn State University. It was a wonderful night of watching a parade, looking at ice sculptures and general fun with the family.
It was the parade that got me thinking about my seminary missions class. It was a very small parade made up of freeze-dried hippies beating drums, and college kids wearing festive costumes. How does a parade of freeze-dried hippies get me thinking about missions? Well, fifty miles away in the town where I pastor, a typical parade is made up of fire engines from thirty different local fire companies, ten different high school bands, and countless baton-twirling classes. Fifty miles transported me from one culture to another.
There is an assumption that pastoring in America is a “one education fits all” thing. The reality is that is not true. In our church we have had pastors come from California, the city and the South, only to leave in a short period of time in failure. Why? They did not recognize that they were entering a different culture which required them to adapt their methodology. They needed to grasp cross-cultural ministry. They did not know how to study the culture and find ways to contextualize the gospel.
They needed to pay attention in “World Missions” class.
I recently returned from a 8 day trip to Haiti, where I had the privilege of teaching a group of Haitian pastors. It was a rather humbling experience since most of these men are pastoring churches that are 2, 3 and even 4 times that size of the church that I pastor.
As I spent time with these men, I believe that I have found the key to church growth in the Haitian context. So the following are some church growth lessons that I gleaned from them.
1. Minister in obscurity. No one will ever know your name. Books will never be written by you or about you.
2. Live in extreme poverty. You literally have to pray for the next meal. Death is a constant reality. (Note: One of the pastors had to leave the 6 week school and return home because he received word that one of his children had died.)
3. Live by simple faith. All you have is God
4. Expect hardship. Each day holds its trials. (One of the pastors received word that his cow fell in a hole and died. This was a major financial loss to this pastor.)
5. Deal with constant opposition from evil. You have to deal with the threats of the enemy daily as he threatens your life (literally) and your reputation.
6. Proclaim the gospel only. You simply give the message of Jesus’ death and nothing else and watch the spiritually hungry come to Christ.
As I listened and spent time with these men, it occurred to me that we have a lot to learn in the America about true Christianity.
