Church Growth is a By Product

Since I've led some churches that experienced significant increases in attendance, I've been asked on occasion, "What does it take to grow a church?" I think what many church leaders mean is, "How can I get more people to attend worship services." But when I think about growing THE church, I think of something entirely different. We don't grow the church, Jesus does. He said, "...I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it," (Matthew 16:18). Our job is not to build His church, it is to be disciples and make disciples. 

One of my mentors in life and ministry is Dr. Stephen Harris (Steve). His disciple-making efforts around the world have resulted in hundreds of new churches. Steve sent this in an email to me recently:
A couple of thoughts about discipleship.

"Discipleship is not a ministry in the church, it is THE mission of the church." Jesus didn't command us to build a church. He said "I will build my church." He commanded us to build disciples. If you focus on building a church, you may or may not get any disciples, but if you focus on building disciples, you will get a church every time. 

Our mission/commission from Jesus (the Head of the Church) is, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...," (Matthew 28:19). If a church understands what a disciple of Jesus Christ looks like, and unifies in the intentional mission of making disciples, growth and multiplication is a by product. Disciples make disciples. 

We are commissioned by Jesus to make (produce) disciples. To accomplish this, we have to begin with the end-goal in mind. My next post will focus on what a disciple of Jesus Christ looks like.

Blessings,

Tim