I have been in church leadership discussions for a number of years. My father was an associate pastor and music pastor in my youth, allowing me at a young age a front row seat to the inner working of a church. In one church of about 2000, where I spend much of my energy for 10 years, I was involved in many discussions about how to make the church successful. I was also a deacon there for a couple of years. I was not on the leadership committee, but I regularly had the ear of one or more of the pastors. I was even in a reading group with one of the pastors where we discussed classics like Resident Aliens. In addition, on my own, read a fair amount on the topic of church and spirituality.
I have read or discussed many “best practices.” I have heard many say that if we want to grow and reach people we have to do this or that. There were discussions of quasi Social Sciences, surveys and marketing plans. Oddly enough, there was not always the asking what God wanted. Had we properly entertained the idea that God may want to buck the system? Whose responsibility is it anyway to build a church? Ours or God’s?
The other day, a friend of mine commented that there is some truth in the claims of the church growth gurus, yet there is something that falls short in it also. It is my opinion that churches can often grow some by getting larger parking lots, or relocating to another part of town and totally leave God out of the loop. Many ideas can help some, but we do not rise or fall by this or that survey. A frightening warning is that Jesus said, “Behold I stand at the door and knock” to a church.
Let’s be biblical about this. It is not by our might or by our power, but by the Spirit of God that a church prospers. Prospering means not only growing in numbers, but growing deep spiritual roots and maturity. A church grows from its knees. A church grows as it grows in likeness to the one it worships. A church should grow not because it has what others want, but it has what they need. Social Science can help some, but as Os Guinness has taught us, they should be used with caution, and never as a solution.
I find it amazing that, believing in a miracle-working God, we almost expect him not to get too involved with the health of our churches. We think that it is all on us to read the signs interpret and apply the right principles. We give him a nod now and then and tell how God has blessed us, but it all pretty much went as planned. If it failed, then it was because we had not tapped into the right system.
What if the world looked at our churches and said, “Wow, how did that happen?” What if God was so central to the growth of our churches in such an unexpected way that others had to admit a miracle had happened? It can happen, and I hope it will.
