Church Growth
Jul 2, 2017 12:22:13 GMT -6
Post by Todd on Jul 2, 2017 12:22:13 GMT -6
Again, Church growth is NOT an increase in numbers, but an increase in the individual's strength and conviction of Christian doctrine and ethics, in relationship to God and man. The current notion regarding growth by increasing numbers has been disproven by American education.
Since the time when we began to strive to “educate” every child, we have found the task impossible. Soon, we tried to do so by producing “standardized” tests and standardized notions of what all educated people should know. When that failed, we began to cheapen the grading system so that the students could build their “self-esteem.” Never mind that they did so at the expense of what education they might have obtained, or that the entire educational system has been so weakened by our misguided efforts and our misplaced notions of equality; never mind the fact that we have lost sight of what education is. We now have a system in which virtually no child is educated, but it does not matter, because we have forgotten what education even looks like.
Similarly with the Church. We have been so obsessed with “starting” churches or “planting” churches, we have forgotten what Church Growth is. We continue the Madison Avenue game of increasing numbers, and Christians (or church-goers) no longer get beyond the pablum offered by their mass-produced pastors. Think not for a moment that we will not pay for our silliness.
Instead of growing the Christians given us, we are obsessed with adding new churchgoers to our pews, probably for the financial rewards that we expect. We parrot silly slogans such as “there is no such thing as Lone Ranger Christians.” The best we seem to be able to do is pride ourselves on following in lock step the purveyors of such little trite lies. Where are the voices of truth who know that the best that “community” can do is to confirm us in our errors, but that one of the functions of the church is to strengthen the Lone Rangers, so that they can go out into the world as witnesses and do the work of evangelists?
The twofold purpose of the local church is to minister worship to God and to minister Christ to each other. This means producing Lone Rangers who are able to stand alone in the face of temptation, persecution, and, when it comes, death, i.e., those who are rightly related, as individuals, to their God and His Messiah. - Todd
Since the time when we began to strive to “educate” every child, we have found the task impossible. Soon, we tried to do so by producing “standardized” tests and standardized notions of what all educated people should know. When that failed, we began to cheapen the grading system so that the students could build their “self-esteem.” Never mind that they did so at the expense of what education they might have obtained, or that the entire educational system has been so weakened by our misguided efforts and our misplaced notions of equality; never mind the fact that we have lost sight of what education is. We now have a system in which virtually no child is educated, but it does not matter, because we have forgotten what education even looks like.
Similarly with the Church. We have been so obsessed with “starting” churches or “planting” churches, we have forgotten what Church Growth is. We continue the Madison Avenue game of increasing numbers, and Christians (or church-goers) no longer get beyond the pablum offered by their mass-produced pastors. Think not for a moment that we will not pay for our silliness.
Instead of growing the Christians given us, we are obsessed with adding new churchgoers to our pews, probably for the financial rewards that we expect. We parrot silly slogans such as “there is no such thing as Lone Ranger Christians.” The best we seem to be able to do is pride ourselves on following in lock step the purveyors of such little trite lies. Where are the voices of truth who know that the best that “community” can do is to confirm us in our errors, but that one of the functions of the church is to strengthen the Lone Rangers, so that they can go out into the world as witnesses and do the work of evangelists?
The twofold purpose of the local church is to minister worship to God and to minister Christ to each other. This means producing Lone Rangers who are able to stand alone in the face of temptation, persecution, and, when it comes, death, i.e., those who are rightly related, as individuals, to their God and His Messiah. - Todd