The Improper Focus on Growth
Sometimes a minister feels the pressure to “grow the congregation” and to “keep the contribution up.” Because of these underlining pressures, the minister feels the anxiety for a decline in the church. If the congregation is declining, often the members will point at the elders or minister, and the elders will point at the minister. No one wants to take the responsibility for the decline. The minister will stay if the elders and congregation point to changing dynamics in the community or culture to blame. But remember, someone or something must be blamed. Rarely does a group take responsibility for decline.
Because of all of this anxiety in the church that the minister feels, he will focus on growth in the congregation. He establishes himself as the “champion for growth.” And the congregation continues to decline. Why? Peter Senge proposes a systems theorem that states “if you push growth you will decline.” Therefore, if you want your congregation to grow, you must focus on removing the barriers to growth that are built into the system. When a minister creates programs to stimulate growth, this causes us to put our focus on trying harder to reach people “out there.”
Instead of focusing on “them out there,” the congregation needs to focus on “in here on us.” Working harder on an outreach project will not cause permanent growth. The real problems are the hidden and obvious barriers to growth that are in the congregation. A congregation has a natural balancing process. There could be barriers to growth in a organizational standpoint, a relational standpoint, a spiritual standpoint, or a missional standpoint. The first step of growth is not changing the sinners in the world but the saints in the church.
Related posts:
- A Growth Skill Set
- Church Leadership and the Growth Chart
- A Theocentric Focus
- Developing a Growth Calendar
- Advice on Preaching–Focus of the Text
About The Author
The hardest work is identifying the barriers, the most difficult work is changing them.
I believe if people really see Christ in us that they will come to us.
I allude to that idea in this post. http://johnxbrown.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/simplify/
Matt,
Is that pic making anyone else’s eyes batty, or is it just me?!
I digress, but interesting post.
Good stuff Matthew. As a preacher in a small congregation, I could easily give myself over to the anxiety of needing to grow. I’m consciously trying to focus on internal health right now though. God has used your post to encourage me, brother!
Great post John. Matthew, the hardest thing for a minister to do is not be anxious over growth. There is a ton of pressure for a congregation to grow, but as a minister, this is not your burden to bear a lone. It is a congregational burden. Rick, I believe so.
my eyes hurt too, i have astigmatism..
great post, that’s true, an internal focus can lead to evangelism more than an “external” focus