One of my friends just returned from spying out the land in a major American city. He went there to check the possibilities of becoming pastor of a small congregation in hopes of turning it into a bigger church and a major church planting center.

A Problem
One piece of information that he picked up gave him insight to why the Kingdom of God has ceased to grow in that city. The place was once alive with new churches and explosive evangelism. Now church growth is static, though the place is famous for hosting some of the larger churches in the United States.

The Source Of The Problem
What did my friend discover? He found that there are six “mega-churches” in the metropolitan area and scores of churches numbering about 100 in attendance. The big churches don’t want to plant churches because they are in competition with each other for the title of “biggest.” The smaller churches won’t plant because they are either struggling to stay alive or hoping to make it to mega-church status. All this in light of Peter Wagner’s famous comment that “Church planting is the best tool for evangelism under the Sun.”

Somehow the American Church Growth Movement moved away from its original intentions which were to evangelize the world by multiplying the church. Today, it seems to represent very human desires for pastoral significance through size. We find ourselves building bigger churches than ever before while we fall behind the task of evangelism. Congregational size, land and buildings, large budgets and the number of staff members are all merit badges when measuring the effectiveness of a church. We’ve even made excellence in presentation more important than content or a hunger for the spirit. Unfortunately the war is being lost on our watch.

A Biblical Solution
Well, my plan is not to write a negative article defaming well-intentioned pastors and leaders. I just want to pull us back to a biblical perspective toward ministry. Here are three passages of scripture we would do well to remember. They may help motivate us to go ahead and multiply our congregation by planting a new church. They may help us analyze our strategies and the daily decisions that we make.

Contentment
Paul wrote to Timothy, “Yet true religion with contentment is great wealth” (1 Timothy 6:6 NLT). If you are struggling with the size of your church you may be out of order. Why not try thanking God for what he gave you, instead? A thankful heart reflects contentment and God can work wonders with you in such a state. Some of our greatest breakthroughs have come only after we quit complaining about our situation and began praising God for what he gave us. This is true in my personal life as well as in my role as a church leader.

Consistency
I don’t know about you, but I can get confused when I read all the management literature that is available to me. This is true of both the Christian and the secular stuff. I once discovered that I was reading so much, so fast, that I was forgetting one article as I read the next one. Sometimes I get burned out from reading so much. At other times I actually find myself being discouraged by the books and magazines which aim to edify me. Comparing my measly efforts with the great successes of the author can through me into a mild state of depression.

The answer to this dilemma is to remember our calling. Again, Paul to Timothy: “Preach the word of God. Be persistent, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2 NLT). We are called to preach the word of God. This means stick to the Bible. You do it whether people want to hear it or not. Persist with correction, encouragement and solid teaching. Such advice may not build a crowd overnight. But, over time, it will endow you with leaders who have godly character. These are the people who will want to help you multiply your congregation. If you’ve taught them well, they will also be capable of pulling off the task. The best way to build preachers is simply to clone yourself by setting an example for your disciples.

Caution
Don’t fall prey to comparing yourself to others. Equally important, while you can learn from others don’t copy them. Search God for his power in your own life. Get to know him better than you do right now. Look for what it is that he built into your life that makes you unique and different from every other leader you know. Ask him how you can begin to build upon your strengths and to send help in areas where he (purposely) made you weak. Above all be yourself.

Paul had a piece of wisdom for Timothy about this as well. He described the leadership crisis in the church in the last days, “They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people like that” (2 Timothy 3:5 NLT). Now you have no way of judging another man’s heart and you should not try to do so. But, you can sort out some positive advice from this scripture. That is learn to embrace “the power that could make them (you) godly.” Let your ministry become an expression of the Spirit’s power. My prayer of late is “God, let your glory fall on our house.” I want people to feel the weight of the Holy Spirit in our worship, in my teaching, and in our home groups.

So What About Planting Churches?
What’s all this have to do with planting more churches to reach the harvest? The answer is simple. The church is a living organism. As such, it is natural for it to reproduce itself if it is healthy and mature. An unhealthy church won’t want to reproduce. An immature one isn’t yet ready. Stick with Paul and his instructions to Timothy and you (and your congregation) will grow in both areas.