The previous post on this topic ended with a few questions and a set of equations, the examination of which will be the focus of this post and the conclusion of this blog series.
Here's where we left it:
Church growth, evangelism, neither or both? How does the Church sustain, grow and thrive? I submit the following "equations" for your consideration.
CHURCH GROWTH ≠ EVANGELISM
EVANGELISM (could) = CHURCH GROWTH
EVANGELISM + CHURCH GROWTH = CHURCH SUSTAINABILITY
Let's be honest, church growth has been a major theme in churches for several years. First of all it is likely that all Christian churches seek to grow in that they continually engage more people to become members. Growth is probably the oldest and clearest marker of success. For example, in Acts 2 Peter preaches the gospel to a crowd of Jews who had gathered in awe of the Pentecost event. He tells the full gospel story, in a way that annoyed and convicted the people, who, at its end, questioned him and others saying,
37 ....Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
In short, the preaching was a convicting word, 3000 people received it and were moved to action. They joined the church and were diligent in the things of the church! (Verse 42.) This example alone would indicate, even if loosely, that the sign of success as a preacher or a church leader is that people come, listen, and join. This passage can be supportive of the equation:
Evangelism = Church Growth
Still, there is a difference between the two, and leaders must know which of the two they are pursuing with any programs or strategies in which they participate. Why? Because the processes and outcomes of Evangelism are different than those of church growth efforts. Furthermore the end result of not being clear can be disastrous to the long-term sustainability and Christian formation of new members.
I submit that the equation Church Growth = Evangelism is the one that is getting a lot of attention in today's church, and possibly too much. When people join churches because of the programs, types of worship services, location of satellites, celebrity leaders, and other things that can be highly successful in attracting interested people, they may or may not come as fully formed believers in Jesus Christ seeking not only those needful and healthy components that make church appealing, but also seeking the unedited, unaltered, convicting and transforming word of God, which has a unique appeal, all its own. When people come unformed, and do not become transformed and redeemed, long-term church sustainability becomes precarious, at best. It is important for us to know and remember that church growth does not automatically equal evangelism, and as The Church, our first and foremost priority is evangelism. Everything else is secondary; quite important, but secondary.
As we close this series, consider the meaning and nature of the words used in our equations above. Evangelism is defined as the winning or revival of personal commitments to Christ. Evangelism is also defined as the preaching or promulgation of the gospel; the work of an evangelist. Both these definitions are supported by our Acts 2 reference passage.
Church Growth is this, a movement within Evangelical Christianity which aims to grow churches based on research, sociology, analysis, etc.
It can further be defined as a movement within Evangelical Christianity which emphasizes mainly missionary work, combined with sociological awareness of the target population. It is important to note here, that these definitions are from Wikipedia.com and Dictionary Sensagent.com, which are less traditional, more contemporary online resources that actually contain a definition of Church Growth. This in itself indicates that the concept of church growth is fairly new and likely was not part of church practices proper, historically.
That is definitely not to say that historical and even biblical church leaders and church planters were neither interested in nor concerned about growth. The saIient point here is that historically, church growth was embedded in the expected outcomes of Evangelism. Which is, again, demonstrated by Peter's Acts 2 sermon and subsequent reception of 3000 converted souls for Christ.
The conclusion of it all is this; pastors, preachers, leaders, what is your goal? What do you really want and are you very clear on why? Church growth and Evangelism are not one-and-the-same. The processes of each concept are very different, the histories of each are different, and the outcomes are specific and different. Both are good and healthy toward adding bodies to a church, but only one carries the assurance of salvific formation that adds converted souls to the church.