Church Growth Idolatry
Jesus told His disciples, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing (Jn 15:5).” And yet, “all things are possible with God (Mk 10:27).” An immediate tension is created between God and His chosen people when we begin using God for our own purposes. Secret agendas are common for sinful people, but God searches the heart for our motives. Unless love is our motive, we are wrong. In other words, unless God is our motivator, we are wrong. Paul reinforced this to Timothy, “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (1 Tim 1:5).”
When we are aligned with God, love should be the motive for all we do, and love should also be the effect. The haunting charge of Scripture about the church is, “All men will know you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (Jn 13:34–35).” Is this the effect, today? Here is my query of the church growth movement. Where is the love in all your schemes?
Why do we do what we do? What are we known for? Are you known more for your passion for church planting than for Jesus Christ? Do people say about you, “I visited _____(fill in pastor’s name)____church last Sunday.”? Have you made a strategic plan for “your” church, and then pray for God to bless “your” plan? God’s plan is directly set against man’s plan in Scripture (Job 17:11; Ps 33:11; Prv 6:18; 16:1; Jer 18:12). To follow Jesus, one must follow His plan, found in the Bible. To follow Jesus, one must walk by the Spirit (Rom 8:4; Gal 5:16) who leads us and guides us on the right path. There are few that travel this way.
Jesus Christ guaranteed church growth, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Jn 16:18b).” The agent of church growth is clearly Jesus Himself. He does the work; and He gets the glory for willing, working, and winning. When we consider the activities of today’s church, does it demonstrate God at work, or does it highlight our work? Do our schemes and programs line up with Scripture, or the world? We have the privilege of being laborers in and for Christ’s kingdom because He is at work in us, to do His will and good pleasure (Phil 2:13).
People who read the Bible, and even those who visit the land of Israel, can marvel at how God is at work in small things. The phrase, “biblical proportions” is out of proportion. God chose Israel, and the world laughs. Jesus’ lacustrine recruitment field was far from the hallowed halls of renowned divinity schools, and the world shakes its head.
Paul warned the Corinthians about the world-inspired aspirations for the church. Have you multiplied video screens and multiple locations, or have you multiplied disciples capable of rightly dividing God’s Word of truth? Have you sought the endorsement of mega-personalities to validate your new book?
In the smallest gatherings of Christians, there are those who have mega-passions. They desire church growth above all else. They quickly pass over John 6 and miss the mega-destroying preaching of Jesus. The hard sayings of the Bible are God’s sieve. The goats eventually leave inspired Gospel preaching centers because the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God (1 Cor 2:14). In reverse order, goats will remove pastors who preach the Law, sin, repentance, judgment, and hell. The reason is not love for Christ but love for church growth. Anything hindering the sacred cow of church growth must be remedied in their agenda.
Jesus referred to His followers as, “little flock.” How ironic this would be if it were heard in a mega-setting. The rule might be, “If there is anything big in one’s ministry, then beware, because there is simply nothing big in the Bible.” I am not an advocate of calling God, “big,” simply because it is not a word used to describe God in Scripture. There may be exceptions to the “big” rule, and I do not wish to limit God, but having lived for over fifty years in the church, I have never been convinced or compelled by mega-anything. In contrast, countless small things have moved mighty mountains, and of these I gladly bear witness of the grace of Christ.
The world loves statistics, and so does the worldly church. It is true, there are progress reports in Acts of the Apostles, but the early church operated in the apostolic age of miracles to affirm the Word preached. We have two thousand years of Spirit-affirming history. God’s Word is true (Ps 119:160; J 17:17). Miraculous events are hardly needed as proof to validate God’s Word. Men record statistics to measure their own success (see King David’s Satanic-inspired accounting scheme), and this is nothing more than pride. Pride is sin.
The world loves money, and so does the worldly church. Is money central to the message of your local church? Do you have a fundraising campaign to meet the mega-plans you have made? The Bible has an enormous amount to say about money, and most of it is warning. Examine the Scriptures and then examine your mega budget. Remember, when we are weak, He is strong (2 Cor 12:10).
Paul struggled with ministry funding, and funding was a problem in the early churches, with one notable exception…Corinth, the epitome of worldly church. The world shows us its prowess by the size of its buildings, and so does the worldly church. By putting a governor on the size of our local church membership, maybe 200 people who increasingly know one another, we would force our congregations to church plant with matured disciples, who are ready for service roles as elders and deacons.
Why have two services or more on Sunday morning (a sure sign of success!)? Denying interaction between one group and another group is foolish. You already have two churches and one pastor. Why not train the second service to be a church by itself, and then send them away to another location in town?
The world loves its organizations, and so does the worldly church. Committees, meetings, vision, objectives, goals, constitutions, reports, slick videos, marketing niches, advertisement, power-point, building projects, etc., are things that draw corporate people into the church, and those people make the church a corporation. “The business of the church,” has to be an oxymoron.
There was a financial economy in the church in the New Testament, and there was protocol for giving and distribution of funds to support pastors, missionaries, and the poor. Much beyond that, we would be hard pressed to validate our church budgets from Scripture. Church finances are made more complicated by church/state relationships. When the church receives a handout from the state, it must also comply with the state’s rules for the church. I will let that statement speak for itself. Complexity, not simplicity, is the modus operandi for the worldly church.
The world wants to be entertained, and so does the worldly church. Fun, games, carnivals, cook-offs, church vacations, etc., are simply not found in Acts of the Apostles. We must follow the prescription of church activities in Acts, or we are simply learning how to do church from the world. Acts 2:43–47 and Acts 4:32–37 is what the church does. Imagine the apostle Paul jumping in the bounce house or sitting in the carnival dunk tank. Is there a regulative principle for service, as well as worship in the church?
Simply put, the church growth movement wants more people, bigger venues, more programs, better entertainment, more money, and a bigger reputation. Christians are wildly distracted by their love for the things of the world (1 Jn 2:15–17). To bring those things into the church is self-defeating, or conversely, highly effective in making the church more like the world. High church liturgists bring in worldly religion (think: big hats and fancy robes), and low church evangelicals bring in a fusion of Broadway, Hollywood, and Wall Street. Absolutely none of this is found in Acts of the Apostles.
The church will surely grow, but we must ever examine the love in our hearts. Christians should be recognized for their love for God, not the world. Our love can be heard in our bold witness of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Christianity is an auditory experience above all else. Faith is manifested through hearing. God’s Word is central. God has spoken, and we must be hearers, then doers of the Word. Our good works follow our bold witness. What we hear is the Scriptures, and what we do is found in the Scriptures.
God is at work in each Christian (Gal 2:20; Phil 2:13). This process of God’s Spirit and God’s Word working together is called, “sanctification.” God is fulfilling His own requirement for us, which is to be holy as He is holy (1 Pet 1:16). Holiness, not church growth, should be every Christian’s desire. If the love of God is not motivating us into conformity to Christ (Rom 8:29; 2 Cor 5:14), then a foreign motivation is conforming us to the world. The world wants growth, and so does the worldly church.
Church growth is idolatry, if growth is manufactured by non-biblical practices, powered by the flesh, not the Spirit. It must be argued that the norm for the church in America is unbiblical and in need of repentance. If it were not, we would be known for our biblical knowledge and holy living, which are a demonstration of our love for God and love for our neighbors. These are also evidence that Christ is growing His church (Eph 2:20–22), just as He said (Mt 16:18).
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
February 5, 2021
