Adam McLane has a great post about his 3 Lies of Church Growth Experts. You really should read it if you’re a church leader. Here’s a clip;
An observation. Have you noticed that churches that want to grow (100 to 1000 people) flock to churches that grew 10, 20, or 30 years ago but have since plateaued? It’s like asking Bill Gates, “How do you start a software company?” Bill wouldn’t have a clue! When he wants to start a software company he buys one! In the same way, asking a church of 10,000 how to grow is a waste of time because they knew how to do it in their town 10, 20, or 30 years ago but haven’t a clue how to do it today in your town!
Of course one could argue that church growth isn’t what we’re to strive for. I would think growth in the church would be more desirable. It seems to me that if you teach the Word to your people, help them learn to apply it to their lives and seek God’s will, then God will take care of the size that HE wants your church.
But then I have been accused of having too “simple of faith.”
I do agree with you. A natural result of personal growth and love for Christ is growth numerically in the church. The sad thing is that there are a lot of believers who don’t believe in evangelism saying, “That isn’t for me.” Which is interesting because the Great Commission lays it out as a responsibility for all believers. So naturally as we’re sharing and the Holy Spirit is convicting and people are coming to know Christ our churches should see a natural growth from that.