What Makes Church Growth So Deceptive

Dear Friends,

"How is your church doing?”, someone recently asked me the other day. I responded by stating I was encouraged by the general increase in attendance, sparked by a large influx of new people who have begun attending and who have caused a spike in attendance.

A crowded church can be very encouraging to a pastor. Who wants to see empty pews, when they are teaching?  That is why Easter is so often the highlight of the spiritual year. Crowded pews, enthusiastic singing, a packed Sunday School are all qualities that make Easter such an exciting and exhilarating time.

However, we must never allow ourselves to be fooled by numbers. We must equate packed pews with a 'successful' church.

Jesus was surrounded by a crowd of thousands, as he stood upon a hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee. In fact, it has been estimated that there may have been as many as 15,000 who had gathered to hear the Master teach. Sparked by his miracles in Cana, where he turned water into wine, and the raising of the paralytic, who for 38 years lay helpless beside the pool of Bethesda, the people flocked to hear this minister of miracles "do his thing". But Jesus was not impressed with the numbers who attended his 'hillside' service. He knew their hearts and he knew that most of them were there for only selfish reasons, to 'get' what He might 'give' them.

They were looking for food for their bodies, healing for their sickness, and relief from the oppressive Roman government which had politically enslaved them. He fully understood the people didn't receive what he was trying to give them. And so after feeding the thousands who had flocked to hear him, and only after constraining his disciples to get in a boat and sail from the glutted crowd who were filled to the gills on their miracle meal, he departed to be alone. 

All of this got me thinking of what is really the true measure of church's spiritual success. Is it just attenders that marks success? Are we more concerned about attendance than we are what happens to the attendees? Are we only interested in filled pews or is there some other measuring stick to determine success?

The longer Jesus continued to teach, the more his crowds continued to thin out. Many did not like his hard sayings, or his challenging truths. As long as He gave them what they wanted, and didn't offend them in doing so, they were all in. 

Friends, we must recognize that the most effective measure of any church is not bodies or budgets or buildings, but how many of its attendees are becoming active disciples. What if instead of asking people 'are you a Christian', a word used only three times in the bible to describe a believer, we asked them 'are you a disciple, the word that was most predominately used to define a believer?

If we are only concerned about attendance, we can easily fool ourselves into thinking the church is doing well. But if we look at how many members are becoming 'missionaries' and how many spectators are getting suited up, we recognize that congregational growth is not always the best indicator of a spiritually healthy church.

A church can witness a significant increase in their budget, but if less than half of its membership is giving, there is little to celebrate, for a win for the organization can be a loss for attendee.

A healthy church will be comprised of those who are serving, giving, learning,

sharing and inviting. As leaders, we need to ask ourselves the following questions: Are our members involved in some form of service activity? Are they giving and is their giving of a sacrificial nature? Are they learning as they study God's word individually and in groups?  Are they looking for opportunities to share their faith with others? And finally are they inviting friends and neighbors to join them for services? To me these are the five components of a successful church, the one Jesus might applaud. 

So you see numbers can be very misleading. Decisions for Christ need to become disciples for Christ.

A growing attendance can be very deceptive. As church leaders, we must always be more concerned about discipling attendees than counting attenders, and our goal as leaders is to make sure we distinguish between the two.

Yours in faith,

Pastor Tom