Skip to main content

Health over Growth

Having grown up in a Fundamentalist (not fightin' fundy), Baptist (not big "B) church for most of my life, I have always believed that mega churches use unscriptural methods in order to grow. I have heard all the arguments used, normally consisting of casual dress (normally meaning women wear pants and the men don't wear ties...) and "contemporary" music. While broadbrushing the category is unwise, I would have to say that many complaints against the methodology of most mega churches is legit.

What troubles me, however, is not the big churches. What troubles me is that the "good" churches (generally smaller by comparison) condemn the mega church, but yet they buy into the same pragmatic thinking used by the liberals. I think it boils down to the simple truth that people, in general, are concerned and impressed by numbers. Society persuades us to believe that "small" is inferior to "BIG." Being small, by comparison, means that you are not as effective in methodology and execution as the "BIG."

A couple of quotes relating growth to the church:
  • "Numbers are important, because numbers represent people."
  • "The result of growth is not necessarily bad, but the goal of growth leads to pragmatism and compromise."
I would contend that the goal of the church should be health, not growth. (And for those of you that think I just made an egregious error by not stating that the goal should be the glory of God, I am including that idea in the word health.) Now do not misunderstand, health often leads to growth. Growth cannot be made to be wrong in and of itself. The 1st century church grew by leaps and bounds. However, the goal of a church cannot be growth. This reasoning makes me conclude that people should not write books relating the Church to a business. The goal of business is growth and gain. (sorry for the alliteration) The goal of the church is the glory of God through means of worship, evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, and ministry.

A church may have to become healthy before it begins to grow. It goes against all human logic to not experience "success" when we are doing things "correctly." This would have to go back to our definition of "success." When glorifying God as mentioned above is the goal, men do not count people on Sunday morning so that they can report on how bad the pastor is. This is man-centered, anti-Biblical thinking. I would tend to think that one reason a church may not be growing is because of the ones who are more concerned with attendance rather than worship.

For some good reading on this topic, check out Mark Dever's "9 Marks of a Healthy Church." (see the Solid Ground sidebar to go to 9Marks Ministries.

Popular posts from this blog

No Zion, No Problem? Not So Fast.

Everyone in the media has wanted their piece of the pie with Zion this year. Each highlight reel dunk and spectacular block has only increased the media fervor and number of followers. As Duke looks to face Syracuse, and presumably Virginia Tech as well, without Zion, let's consider what Duke looks like without Zion, and what it must do against Syracuse to leave the Carrier Dome with a W. DUKE WITHOUT ZION Duke without Zion is not a cart without a horse. But it might be a sports car without its turbo. Or maybe a chef without her secret sauce. Here are the main points to consider: MAIN POINTS - A Five Spot 1. Without Zion, Duke can’t play “position-less basketball” since all bench players have limitations. Not only is Zion our best two-way player (offense and defense), but he also allows the greatest roster flexibility in terms of building around him. He wreaks havoc wherever he is on the floor. We don't have another player like that, certainly not from the bench

Processing US Women's World Cup Final loss

Without a doubt, this year's Women's World Cup was the most entertaining (on this side of the pond, as they say) since the 1999 edition of the global tournament. The USA's performance and "never say die" attitude endeared this team to many American fans rather quickly, which was no more apparent than when the team stormed back to tie Brasil in 120+ minute, before going to win in penalties. Unfortunately, the dream ended in penalty kicks to a resilient Japanese side who was more fit for the task. Here's my attempt to process and set expectations on yesterday's US loss: 1. The best team doesn't always win in soccer. Sometimes, even the most dominant team in a particular game doesn't win that game. (HT: Grant Wahl , Sports Illustrated) 2. Here are some notes on penalties ending this game: (a) Tough on USA, since Japan had data on US shooters, since they had just seen them against Brasil. There are players that take their penalties the same direction

BCS Postseason Analysis

If the controversy surrounding the BCS System and college football bowl format, it certainly is the most complex and misunderstood controversy. The morning after the BCS championship game, here are three talking points: 1 - We're closer than ever to seeing a change in the traditional bowl format. The 2011 bowl season again proved how difficult it is to sell out every bowl game. This usually results in the participating schools having to eat the cost of those tickets. That trend can't continue. Playing in a meaningless bowl game actually costs some schools more money than they make by participating in the game. You can read about one instance of this happening here , involving the 2011 Virginia Tech football team, which made it to the Orange Bowl. The school had to eat 9,500 tickets it couldn't sell. They lost a total of $421,000, and it could've been a lot worse. 2 - The BCS isn't the enemy of the playoff system. In fact, they could actually be really good friends