Pastor Dan Brown offers practical suggestions for taking your church to the next level of significance.

Most of us have been stuck somewhere, somehow—in the desert sand off the main road; up a tree we climbed in our pre-adolescence; or, on a tricky algebra problem. But somehow, someway we got unstuck. When our tires spun uselessly in the sand, we tried different approaches; when the algebra equation withstood one thought, we assaulted it with another.

Getting stuck forces us to adapt our approach to life. In fact, one theory of learning says the brain is wired to solve predicaments, and true learning only happens when the mind tries to figure something out. God designed us to keep at it—knocking, seeking and asking—but to do so in close counsel with Him.

Image: Chris Potter

One of the shame-inducing truisms floating around the Body of Christ goes something like, “All healthy organisms grow.” Pastors of smaller or plateaued churches feel the implied jab: lack of growth is symptomatic of underlying sickness. That’s not very helpful in the real church-world. To begin with, there are limits to the size any organism can reach (Trophy trout are rare-especially in small streams), and if you keep growing after the legal age, it’s called getting fat.

We may find more solutions to what hinders our churches from growing larger if we think in terms of getting unstuck, rather than just getting bigger. Mega-congregations are the exception, not the rule, but they—like the oversized athletes who play in the NBA—get far more coverage than the many-times-more-numerous weekend warriors in leagues sponsored by local leagues.

Significance

Besides, the point is not, I hope, just to grow bigger congregations. Our true aim ought to be to grow more spiritually significant people. Rather than trying the latest sure-fire program emphases just to attract more people, we can actually focus our church growth strategies on the very things that make for bigger people. If we remember that the goal has never been to put on church per se, but to develop people with the tool called church, we can still find several ways to get our people unleashed and our churches unstuck.

Image: Vierdrie

The statistics are clear: 80% of all churches in the U.S. average fewer than 200 attendees each weekend. Without major change in leadership style, congregational dynamics, ministry vision, or some other significant aspect of church life, churches that have existed for more than 5 years will most likely stay the size they are now, with only moderate growth over time. Studies on church growth have sought to identify possible elements that accompany increases in the size of congregations. Some pastors mistakenly criticize church growth statistics, claiming that numbers do not tell the whole story: one’s passion for Jesus, one’s radical obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, one’s diligent study of the scriptures, etc. cannot easily be translated into numbers for analysis. That is true, but if we presume that every pastor is equally diligent and committed, then other differences can tell us something interesting about what elements may promote or retard church! growth.

 Introduction

“Nondiscipleship is the elephant in the church.” So Dallas Willard¹ pictures the obviousness and enormity of the problem. Richard Foster agrees, “Perhaps the greatest malady in the Church today is converts to Christ who are not disciples of Christ—a clear contradiction in terms. This malady affects everything in church life….”² Brian McLaren asks, “Why aren’t we making better disciples?…Why aren’t people becoming more holy, joyful, peaceful, content, and Christ-like?…Why are so few of our good Christian people good Christians?”³

Are these observations overly bleak? Thom Ranier’s survey⁴ of members from many churches asked, “What is your evaluation of the overall effectiveness of the church’s discipleship program?” Only 4.6% rated their church’s program either “very effective” or “effective”. Another survey⁵ found that nearly one-fourth of Christians felt that they were sliding backward in their spiritual growth, while 40% felt stagnated. In addition, it found no correlation between the length of time believers had been Christians and their spiritual maturity. After extensive research into the state of discipleship in America, George Barna concluded that though the vast majority of churches have a discipleship program, consistent spiritual growth is rare, and mourned the fact that in their attitudes and actions Christians appear little different from nonbelievers.⁶

Nudges do not budge pachyderms.
By RegBarc, via Wikimedia Commons.

That Jesus commanded the Church to make disciples is unquestioned (Matt 28.19-20). Once people become believers, they are enabled by God’s Spirit to undergo the process of transformation into the likeness of Jesus (II Cor 3.18), becoming mature (Eph 4.13), complete (James 1.4), and fruitful (John 15.2, 8). As they cooperate with God, this is a present and continuing process; Paul declares, “We are his workmanship ….” (Eph 2.10). The Bible clearly states discipleship’s command, enablement, and goals. Then what has gone wrong? How has the elephant of nondiscipleship made its home in the Church? Will tweaking existing programs produce mature and zealous Christians? Unfortunately, nudges do not budge pachyderms. The effort must match the size of the problem. Failure to appreciate the magnitude of the problem will only result in inadequate remedies. Without comprehensive change in their approach to ministry, churches can expect minimal results.⁷ The first part of this paper identifies six hindrances to discipleship which the Church must seriously engage. The second part proposes nine strategies needed to move the malignant mammal from our midst. Because the goal is to provide an overview for analysis and dialogue, thorough treatment of each point must await a longer work.

Hindrances

Six areas of hindrances to discipleship exist—two each in the Church, in the culture, and within individuals. Specific hindrances will be mentioned in each area.

Inadequate Goals

In many ways churches in this country have settled for goals far short of the discipling component of the great commission. It needs to determine more appropriate objectives for ministry. Below are listed a number of these inadequate goals contrasted with the correct paradigm for ministry. The adoption of one or more of these goals can hobble the attainment of ongoing spiritual growth.

Growing Attendance vs. Life Change

Churches and pastors tend to equate growth in attendance with success. As long as it increases, ministry appears to be effective. Eighty percent of church growth, however, is simply transfer growth. Bill Hull suggests, “The wrong question for the church is, How many people are present? The right question is, What are these people like?”⁸ The goal of discipleship is not numerical change, but life change.