The Church
Church Growth

The modern church spends a lot of time being concerned with church growth. Because we live in a post-modern culture, it is believed, in many circles that the church must adjust or die. Many have swallowed the ideas that no culture is superior to another and there is no absolute truth. People want spiritual experiences, but no doctrine. Post-modern folks have no time for a God Who tells them what to believe or how to behave. So, how do we grow a church in such an environment?

We need to be more relational. We need to help people with their marriages, children and jobs. The church must learn to care, understand and help people with their daily living. Please, no talk of sin, repentance, holiness or service. The church is an agency of “programs” to help harried, overworked folks cope in this world. Therapy has replaced transformation as the mission of the church.

Trouble is, Jesus doesn’t agree with how we build our churches. In Matt. 16:18, our Lord tells us “….I will build My church.” This promise represented a word of encouragement to a discouraged band of disciples. These boys could never quite let go of their expectations of Jesus’ Messianic Kingdom sweeping the world with them as the field marshals. These words were spoken in Caesarea Philippi near the end of His ministry. It was nowhere and they were going nowhere fast.

Beginning at verse 21, Jesus tells them that He is going to suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law; that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to new life. Talk about dashing dreams. In the contemporary vernacular—Bummer!

We can draw comfort from and be forgiving toward these men. They could not see that He would build the church via the cross. But, how is it that today, on this side of the cross, we miss what He said? The true church is being built by Him through what He did. Jesus alone is in the church growth business. It is not the domain of man. If God left the building of Christ’s church to human endeavors, it would have disappeared long ago.

God’s plan for establishing the church is found in Eph. 5:25-27:
“Christ…loved the Church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing with water through the Word that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; that she should be holy and blameless.”
Jesus gave Himself as a sacrifice for the church so that the church might be presented holy and blameless. Building a church is a God sized work that only Christ can accomplish.

In Matt. 16:18, the Lord teaches us of the certainty of His church [“will”]; the personal nature of the church [“My”]; and the invincibility of His church [“the gates of Hades will not overcome it”]. Who of us with our paltry programs can do or promise that? The church is a supernatural work of God the Father through Christ the Son. No amount of human wisdom, marketing designs or church board ideas will supplant Him as builder of the church.

Jesus is building His church with the sacraments [Baptism and the Lord’s Supper]; the preaching of the Word [His Gospel] and the teaching and making of disciples [having no spot or wrinkle…holy and blameless]. How humbling that he chooses to commission us to be His ambassadors, representing the King. How? Go all over this earth making disciples by baptizing them in the Name of the Triune God and teaching them to observe all the commandments of God (Matt 28: 18-20).

Somehow, the “church growth” movement has forgotten that Jesus Christ alone builds the church. We have forgotten that His saving grace applied to lives causes His church to grow. We have forgotten that our role is to proclaim Him through His Word, and His sacraments. And, lest we think His plan is not relevant for today’s post-modern world, listen to His final words of His commission: “…lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). Yes, a time will come when the situation for the church changes. But, it will not be based on how man sees the world. It will be at the end of the age when Christ returns in glory and judgment. Until then His promise stands: “…I will build My Church”.