Larry Osborne is an author and the teaching pastor of a megachurch in California. An article he recently wrote struck a chord with me concerning ministry and the church growth movement. He said, “I’ve always been told that if a business or church isn’t growing, something must be terribly wrong. After all, healthy things always multiply and grow...But frankly, that’s hogwash. It’s based on idealistic and wishful thinking. It’s a leadership urban legend. And a dangerous one at that.”
I should clarify at the outset that his article is not about spiritual growth, but numerical growth within local congregations. Obviously, no church or individual should ever stop growing and multiplying in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Neither is he saying that we should become indifferent about reaching lost souls or planting new churches. A church that slumps toward the mentality of “us four and no more” is clearly being disobedient to the Great Commission. Until we reach Heaven we must constantly be seeking to bring people to Jesus, utilizing the most effective methods possible.
In his article he uses an analogy that I think is extremely effective in affirming his perspective. He says, “Nothing in nature supports the goofy idea that healthy things always multiply and grow. In fact, in the natural order of God’s creation, it’s quite the opposite. The higher up the food chain, the shorter the period of multiplication. The same goes for growth. Living things grow to a size predetermined by DNA and environment. Then they spend all of their energy sustaining life at the size God ordained.”
He continues, “Some are ants. Some are elephants. Most are somewhere in between. But once any living thing reaches its prescribed size, it stops growing. It’s not a matter of health. It’s a matter of God’s design.”
In other words, when it comes to local churches, God didn’t design the DNA of every church to be a megachurch! Do you know how freeing that thought can be for a lot of pastors today? I’ve met plenty of godly men working hard in their ministries who will never pastor the largest church in town. They are gifted men that will certainly be rewarded for their diligence and faithfulness to God over their many years of service. They are wonderful preachers and they love the people of their congregations. And, they have led many people to Christ and helped countless others develop into fully devoted followers of Jesus. But, the fact remains, they are never going to pastor one of the fastest growing churches in America and the reason has nothing to do with the quality of their leadership or ministry style.
I also feel we have mislead some young preachers into thinking that it’s a worthy goal to aspire to leading a megachurch when they get out of seminary. In doing so, we set them up for discouragement and disappointment. The fact is that while some of these men may well pastor a church that multiplies quickly, most will see growth in much smaller proportions. Let me emphasize again, there are many factors that affect a church’s rate of growth, not the least of which is God’s sovereign design for that congregation.
Every year pastors and church leaders flock to conferences seeking to learn the latest techniques for reaching people. These conferences are generally led by the “success stories” in church growth whose attendance averages are highly disproportionate to those of most congregations in this country. I have personally benefitted from some of these events and found helpful ideas to implement in my own ministry. Anyone doing the Lord’s work should be humble enough to learn from others about being more effective in reaching lost souls. But, we also have to recognize that in spite of the best efforts put forth by many churches, it doesn’t always translate into megachurch growth rates. Let’s not be guilty of only celebrating those places where God chooses to multiply disciples at a greater pace than most congregations. Let’s also celebrate faithful churches/pastors that are seeking diligently to reach their communities, though they will likely never have more than a few hundred or less in attendance.
I believe it is misguided to measure the health of a church primarily on the basis of the numbers that attend on any given Sunday. Again, there is no excuse for indifference and lethargy about bringing people to Christ! However, the mindset that every healthy church has the potential to become “the largest church in town” simply isn’t logical or biblical. The sooner we accept this fact the sooner we will stop crushing pastors/churches under the weight of constantly changing methods, many of which will never work in their cultural context anyway.
One specific danger that is sometimes seen around the church growth movement concerns the pastor’s motivation in ministry. It’s possible for leaders of “successful ministries” to become like celebrities to pastors that, at times, borders on idolatry. Megachurches are exciting places because they are reaching lots of people with cutting edge ministry that is highly effective in their cultural context. The problem arises when a minister’s God-given passion for reaching people gets coupled with his unbridled fascination with a specific high-profile ministry personality. Within this context the desire for humble, servant leadership can be easily supplanted by the pursuit to become the next leadership celebrity. Their motivation to be on stage in front of thousands of people becomes a greater driving force than does the simple and obscure ministry model of Jesus. I don’t suggest that megachurch pastors intentionally foster such thinking, but it’s a reality in our American culture that fawns over celebrity. Neither do I believe that pastors purposefully get caught up in the celebrity of their mentor. The shift in focus happens so subtly that it’s hardly even noticed by most of them.
Ultimately, God has the last word on how big a church will grow because He is the One that designed the DNA of each church. Let’s all work as hard as we can to reach as many people as we can as fast as we can. But remember...there is more to a healthy church than just how many attend Sunday services. Only God can rightly judge true success in ministry!
