Growth

 What do you think of when you hear church growth? Often people think of increasing the number of Sunday worship attendance. And that is definitely a measurable way to look at church growth.

But what if instead of focusing on the number of people in the pews, we looked at how we’re living our lives. The church doesn’t actually grow when Christians start attending a new church. It grows when someone who didn’t know Jesus Christ before comes to know him and proclaim him as Lord of their life. That means in order for us to be focused on church growth, we need to be in relationship with non-believers. And it means that we need to be encouraging our church to minister to people who aren’t showing up on Sunday and have never been to a church. 

Yes, it’s wonderful when a Christian who’s been looking for a church shows up and finds a place to connect. It’s even more wonderful when someone who had no idea that God was seeking to be in relationship with them becomes a part of the body of believers.