Church Growth

If you listen in on pastors talking "shop," quite likely one of the first
things you'll hear will be the question: How large is your congregation?

That seems to be the most important issue in much of the Church (at least in
much of the American Evangelical Church) these days. Growth is measured in
terms of how many more attendees there are now than there were a year ago in
the worship service - or house churches or small groups or whatever... It's
about numbers. Let's make sure we're keeping an accurate count. Let's put
it on a chart. Let's demonstrate what God has done by teaching others how
to get more people to come to their church.

King David took a count, a census, even though God told him that was
something that should not be done. David did anyway. (We're not told why,
we're just told he did.) And right after he did that he regretted it. He
had disobeyed God and he was sorry. He confessed his sin to God. He cried
out for forgiveness. And God forgave him... but there were still grave
consequences. Because of King David's disobedience, there was plague that
ravaged the people of Israel for three months. 70,000 people died.

Are you sure you want to "measure" Church growth this way?

I've got a suggestion. Let's change the question. Instead of keeping count
of how many we have in our congregations, instead of counting how many more
we have this week than we had last week, instead of determing who the
"great" pastors are by the size of their congregation, instead of asking,
"How many are in your congregation" let's ask this question:

How many of your congregation died because they followed Christ today? How
many in your parish are now martyrs for their faith in Christ?

The Church in China has it right. Here is true Church growth. Because they
are sacrificing everything - literally - to trust and follow Jesus, they are
being ostracized, they are beeing persecuted, they are being beaten and they
are being killed. But they are not dying... they are living! And as a
result they are taking the gospel to those who have never before heard of
Jesus Christ or his gospel - they may be ostracized, persecuted, beaten and
killed... but so what. That's no different than what they've already
experienced.

I don't care how large your worship attendance is. I want to know how many
have literally given their lives for the sake of Christ.

"They overcame [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their
testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."
(Rev. 12:11) When the Church in America makes this the important "count"
then the Church in America will grow.

Worship

It happened again today... or perhaps more to the point, it didn't happen
again.

I was at another church in which the worship service would have been
completely devoid of any scripture reading had it not been that I began my
message with it.

What is happening? How is this kind of sloppy approach to worship thought
to be acceptable? For centuries the Church has organized her worship
service around the Word. Now it seems to be organized around songs that are
appealing. (Speaking of which, the songs that were sung were all very
"upbeat" and focused mostly on "me." What happened to the substance of the
singing being theologically oriented, teaching about God?)

Somewhere along the line the "leaders" of a group of people gathering to
declare themselves as present for worship have decided that they can
determine what constitutes worship... Never mind what the Church has
practiced for centuries. Never mind what the apostles practiced. Never
mind what the apostles taught!!

If evangelicals don't realize that they cannot cut themselves off from the
historic Church they will become - at best - a cult.

Someone needs to start asking the question "Who's in Charge?" Who has the
authority to declare what does and does not constitute Christian worship?

I've been accused of attempting to push my "preferences" over other people's
preferences. Well, if that's true, then here's my preference and I WILL
push it... Christian worship is not whatever you want it to be. It's not
whatever makes people feel good. It's not evangelism!! It is God-centered,
God-directed, God-focused, God-glorifying. Whether it benefits me or not isn't the point. Does it benefit God?!?

The place of God in our worship has become, at best, a consideration and no longer the focus. No, I don't care that the word "God" or "Lord" is used periodically in the songs, in the instructions and pleas, or even in the prayers. God has become nothing more than a tool to make my life feel better, happier, more pleasant. Christians are being taught
a utilitarian approach to God, to the Word, to prayer, and to worship. What
makes a good worship service good? Ask someone - most of the time you'll
hear this kind of answer in response: "I really got a lot out of that
service."

SO WHAT!!?? Who cares what you get out of the worship service!? The whole
direction/point/focus/purpose of worship is to give God what HE wants out of
YOU! When asked, "How was worship?" We must resist "measuring" our worship by how we felt about it. We must consider how God felt about it. It's not about what "I" got out of it but what did God get out of me? Did I praise him despite the lousy week i had? Was I aware of his presence as the scriptures were read? Did i "taste and see" him in the bread and in the cup? Did I repent of my self-indulgence and self-righteousness and arrogant judgementalism? Did I give myself as fully and completely as I could to God... again? Did I listen for God? Did I determine I would do whatever God might tell me to do even before I heard from him - and then follow through?

The American Evangelical Church has become a place where we seek to
make people feel better about... well, whatever they want their lives to be about. Never mind following Jesus and suffering. Never mind following Jesus and dying.

Debbie Boone sang, "You light up my life... It can't be wrong when it feels
so right, cause You light up my life."

And that is the focus of worship in most of the Evangelical Church.
Congratulations, you have successfully integrated into the American culture.
Too bad the Kingdom of Christ contradicts American culture.

Where Are You?

I remember hearing over an intercom, some years ago, an announcement for the parents of a small child to meet their child at the security office. The announcer explained that their child was looking for them but couldn't find them because they were lost! I chuckled at that announcement (and still do) wondering if the announcer had decided to put that spin on the situation or if the child really thought his parents were lost.

After Adam and Eve had sinned, we're told, in Genesis 3:8-9, that Adam and Eve heard the sound of God walking along in the garden during the cool of the day - but instead of walking out to meet God, they hid themselves. We're then told that God called out and said, "Where are you?"

Doesn't it seem odd that God had to ask "Where are you?" God, who is omniscient, asks a question that appears to indicate that he did not know where Adam was!

Could it be that Adam and Eve's sin really did somehow keep God from getting to them? Although God is omnipotent and omniscient, it does seem that he voluntarily limits himself in certain ways especially when dealing with human beings. One of those ways is that, although God exercises sovereignty over the affairs of Man, he also exercises restraint in his sovereignty because of his great love towards us. This allows for individual human beings to legitimately practice free will - especially when humans choose to go against God's will. But another aspect of God's self-limitation seems to be that he at least permits sin to affect him. (Otherwise, why would God sorrow over Man's sin? Why would have "Jesus wept" over Jerusalem's resistance to and rebellion against him?) Perhaps another way in which God permits himself to be affected by a person's sin is that he cannot "find" the sinner - until the sinner wants to be found.

And yet God must have some idea of where the sinner can be found. The sinful condition of the human heart is such that it cannot, of its own accord, decide to quit sinning and seek God. God, himself, must first do something in the sinner's heart to cause that heart to want to be changed.

And therein lies the next point to ponder. Perhaps God's question, "Where are you?" is not merely a question God is asking in order to find the one who is lost. Perhaps the question is asked so that the one who is lost can realize that he truly is actually lost! How often has a person gone off on a trip in a certain direction only to discover he wasn't where he should be and didn't know where he was? If he had known right away he was going in the wrong direction, he might not have become "as lost" or even lost at all!

The reality is that, not only are we lost but we either don't know it or don't care... or simply refuse to allow ourselves to be found. But not only has God asked, "Where are you?" In Christ God even answers the question, "Aahh... there you are."