I had a conversation with a ministry leader today about the need for discipleship in the local church and the inability of some leaders to free themselves of the shackles of the 80’s and 90’s nightmare called “The Church Growth Movement.” I told them the story of sitting in a Team 500 meeting of the Evangelical Free Church of America and hearing a moment of brutal clarity from a “K-Club” pastor in analyzing his own church (at that time over 2,000 in regular Sunday attendance), and a smaller church of about 600 in his area. [“K-Club” = churches of 1,000 or more in regular attendance]
Here was his moment of “brutal clarity.”
“If our church of over 2,000 were to disappear from our community overnight, it would make zero impact on the community we live in. Over night, a lot of other churches would get bigger. Our people would simply be absorbed into other evangelical congregations in the area and there would hardly be a ripple in the community.”
He let that sink in for the 50+ pastors in the room, most of whom nodded with recognition that they suspected the same could be said of their churches. Then he spoke into the silence that had entered the confines and said something even more shocking.
“Now if such and such a church (he named it), just 6 miles away with only a quarter of our attendance were to disappear overnight, the whole region would feel the impact.”
I knew the church he was speaking of. Though much smaller, they were well known in the community. They had taken 900 square foot of their facility and dedicated it to a clothing pantry for the poor in the community. Another 1,800 square foot of the building was dedicated to a health clinic for the uninsured. It was staffed by volunteer doctors (4), physician’s assistants (2), and nurses (15) from various area churches. All of the staff, from doctors to nurses were trained to share their faith and were supported by a network of prayer warriors praying for patients and staff and for the advance of the gospel. By the end of its fourth year of operation, the clinic had provided basic healthcare for over 4,000 patients! In addition, the church for over 20 years has distributed over 20 tons of food a year by using its kitchen, not to serve the church body, but to serve the poor in the neighborhood and region. The church’s people were mobilized to do all of these ministries alongside an unapologetic commitment to expository preaching, biblical counseling and a bold proclamation of the gospel.
Unfortunately, the discussion in the room devolved into a conversation about how all of these ministries fueled the church’s growth and impact. Q. and A. revolved around how other churches could develop similar ministries so that our churches could duplicate the pattern of that church. There were no second and third level questions such as:
- How could a church mobilize its congregation to all those ministries?
- How could they afford to do all those ministries with only 600 people (including children)?
- How did they maintain balance in both effective “Bible” ministry and effective “social” ministry?
- How did the church keep people from living for their best life now and instead for the gospel value of living and sacrificing for others?
- In a culture that seems bent on living for more comfort, convenience, and security, how were so many mobilized to live for others comfort and security coupled with a keen focus on gospel proclamation?
The answer to all of those questions was singular.
They were led by a pastoral staff and elder board that had abandoned “Church Growth” for an uncompromising commitment to personal discipleship. Too simple? Try it.
Afterall, it was the model of Jesus and Paul.
The foundation of everything that church did was DISCIPLESHIP.
An illustration:
I will never come home and have this conversation with my wife.
“Honey, we have been living here in this house since early 2017. I think it is time to remove the foundation.”
That will never happen, because foundations are foundational to the building’s structure. Without a firm foundation, the house will crumble. But the church in America, for the better part of the last 3 decades has forgotten that the foundation of all ministry is making disciples—deep, devoted, gospel proclaiming disciples, imbued with the compassion of Christ, living passionately for and like the Savior they love.
Unfortunately, too many churches in our country (and around the world) are not built on the “concrete” of disciple-making, but on sandy sociological church growth principles.
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