Articles
Ways The Church Can Grow
Ways The Church Can Grow
Church growth is a topic frequently discussed these days. Appropriately so since it is a topic about which God has much to say! The Bible identifies at least three main ways the church can grow.
Numerically
The book of Acts records the spread of the gospel from the establishment of the church in Jerusalem to Paul’s imprisonment in Rome. As the Apostles preach the gospel, the Holy Spirit sees fit to record the increase in the number of disciples. For space constraints I’m going to smoosh them together:
Those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls (2:41). The Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved (2:47). Many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of men came to be about five thousand (4:4). All the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number (5:14). Now at this time, while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose (6:1). And the word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith (7:1). So the church throughout Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and, going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase (9:31). But the word of the Lord continued to grow and be multiplied (12:24). So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily (16:5). So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing (19:20).
God obviously cares about numbers. Each number represents not an achievement for preachers or elders to brag about, but an eternal soul. “Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth” (1 Cor. 3:7). As we strive to follow the inspired pattern of the New Testament church, let us put efforts into evangelism. Can we really claim to be a “sound church” if we don’t?
The word of God grows and multiplies when Christians spread the gospel to their friends and neighbors. Remember, a church may swell when Christians move their membership— sometimes for good reasons, sometimes less than good—but the fruits of real evangelism brings more lost sinners to salvation. Real evangelism causes the whole kingdom of God to grow.
Spiritually
Numerical growth is often the most obvious indicator of whether or not a church is growing, but it is not the only one. God also desires those who become saved to grow in faith and knowledge. Preachers and teachers continue this process. Paul likens it to building a house: “the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians
2:19-22). He also likens it to the growth of a human body: “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16). God also speaks of the growth of our faith (2 Cor. 10:15), salvation (1 Pet. 2:2), grace and knowledge (2 Pet. 3:18).
A church may grow numerically, but unless the church also grows spiritually, the increase will not last. It would be like building a tall tower out of flimsy materials, destined for collapse (1 Cor. 3:10-15). New Christians and mature Christians alike must expand their knowledge of the Bible. They must develop a stronger faith able to withstand all temptations and willing to put God first in all things. The leaders of the church must work diligently to teach God’s word and instill the principles of the faith in those who become saved.
Spiritual growth is a process that is never completed. Though one may be in the church for decades, there is always something more to learn, someone else to serve, some new temptation to overcome. It is no use stagnating for the Lord!
Fraternally
Finally, the church must grow closer together as brothers in sisters in Christ. Paul praised the Thessalonians, for “the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater” (2 Thess. 1:3). Brotherly love tends to be the forgotten aspect of congregational health. A church may increase in faith and knowledge, and yet still not achieve all that God has planned for it, if the members bicker or remain in segregated cliques, or simply don’t prefer one another’s company over the world. God’s people are supposed to be the closest family on earth. Through kindness and hospitality, let us grow in love for one another.
—John Guzzetta
