Let’s go back to the office where I was sitting with our friend Jeremy. He had been sharing with me, with great emotion, his frustration and discouragement. Just as he was wiping the tears from his eyes, we were interrupted by his cell phone and—although he had put it on vibrate—he picked it up to see who was calling. I quickly said to him, “If you need to take it, go ahead.”
He whispered, “This will only take a minute,” and answered the call. I wasn’t sure who was on the other line, but from the half of the conversation I could hear, it seemed to be a friend of his who was a lead pastor as well.
I took a drink from my bottled water sitting on his desk and began to hear something very familiar. The words weren’t familiar, but the tone was. I listened as Jeremy responded to his friend’s conversation and heard him say with somewhat limited joy, “That’s great. Praise God. You are really tearing it up. Way to go.” These phrases weren’t said from a point of true celebration; they were said from a point of discouragement. Beneath it all was a voice of jealousy, and on his face was an expression of insecurity that once again cried out, “Why not me?”
He hung up the phone and placed it down on his desk, and I asked, “Everything okay?” as if I didn’t already know the answer to that question.
He said to me, “My friend just called to let me know they are growing so quickly they need to add yet another service.” Jeremy’s tone and expression quickly changed as he began to justify why his friend’s church was experiencing growth and his wasn’t. We all do that, don’t we? We know someone across town, in another city or state, and we have a list of reasons why they are growing and we are not. It somehow makes us feel a little better.
The problem with this approach is that it is more defensive than offensive. When you are on the defensive in ministry, you are always searching for why you’re not experiencing as much success as the next guy. When you’re on the offensive, which is what this book is designed to help you be, you are searching for solutions that will help you grow. You are not simply holding your ground; you are taking ground. You are looking for ways to win, not reasons for losing.
To discover what makes a church grow, we must first understand what doesn’t make a church grow. We believe many myths about church growth, often saying, “If I only had this or that, then my church would grow.” This is what Jeremy was doing when he hung up the phone that day in his office. He was giving me the myths about what creates church growth, which is unhealthy and even slightly dangerous, because while believing them may help us feel better, it will never help us get better.
Here are some of the reasons—or lack thereof—that we blame for our lack of growth. See if you have ever held on to one of these myths.
Better Facilities
When South Hills Church first began, I remember needing to rent a facility for our opening day. We looked all over the city but couldn’t find anything we could afford that had the space we needed. I was driving up one of the major streets in the city when I noticed a building to my left. As I passed it, I wondered what kind of building it was and if it would be available to rent on Sundays. I quickly (and illegally) made a U-turn and pulled into the run-down parking lot. Approaching the front door, I noticed it was slightly open. I pulled it back, stepped in, and noticed an immediate and unpleasant odor—something only a tired and worn-out building can produce.
I was in a small lobby; to my right was a small auditorium and to my left was a locked door. I raised my voice a little and said, “Is anyone here?”
A few seconds later, an older gentleman came through the locked door and asked, “Can I help you?”
I began to share with him that we were starting a church and looking for a building to rent. He seemed somewhat open to the idea, which was the first sign of hope I’d received during my building search. I then asked him, “What kind of building is this?”
He said, “It’s a Masonic lodge.”
At first I was taken aback, but then I thought, Okay, God. This is the only door opening up. Maybe I need to be a little more open-minded.
I took a tour through the place. The bathrooms were in horrible condition. The tiles leading to the bathrooms were falling apart. The area for the children’s department was where the group’s meetings were held, and quite honestly, it was a little strange. The building, as I said earlier, had a less than pleasant odor. There was no stage lighting, no sound system, and very dim house lighting.
To make a long story short, we looked around at other places but could not find anything, so we made a one-year agreement to rent the facility. In addition to all the other challenges I’ve just listed, we had people tell us that it housed a cult and they would not go inside that building. I guess my philosophy was, “If it’s truly a demonic cult, they should be more scared of us than we are of them.” Just saying!
But here’s the thing: against all odds, God grew our church in that first year beyond what we had hoped for or imagined. The building had everything going against it, but we still grew.
It’s not a building that creates growth (although I knew it would be nice to have a great one). I have been to some churches with great facilities that are nonetheless experiencing numerical decline. Don’t fall into the trap that says, “If only we had a better facility, then we would grow.” That is just not the case.
Location
Another great reason we like to latch on to for why someone else is experiencing growth and we are not is the location of our church. Not the building, but the actual city or state. Now I am not saying that people are more open to church in certain parts of the nation than in other parts, but I find that no matter what state or city I am in, I continually hear, “That doesn’t work in our area,” or, “If I lived where my pastor friend lives, we would definitely do better.” We use this reasoning for why we aren’t growing, why we can’t get volunteers, why no one is signing up for small groups, and on it goes. Instead of saying, “Our church won’t do that,” maybe we need to start saying, “We haven’t led them there.” In most cases, the latter would be more accurate.
I have been to states known for being more open to the gospel than others and have met countless pastors struggling to grow in those states. I have been to areas known for lacking generosity, only to discover some local churches that have experienced incredible giving. I have coached in areas where, in one part of the town they say, “Small groups don’t work here,” only to go a few miles away and speak to a pastor whose small groups are thriving. My only point is this: location may, at times, play a positive or negative role, but, again, it is not and never will be the primary reason for growth. That is just a myth we tell ourselves.
There is no doubt money helps. It sure has a way of releasing stress in ministry. It can get you more staff, facilities, location, land, equipment, and all sorts of other wonderful and helpful things. But know this: it absolutely doesn’t guarantee growth.
I know of a church in a highly affluent area of the state. Their per capita giving is like nothing I have ever seen. They receive multiple six-figure gifts throughout the year. Their facilities are spectacular: they have a top-notch children’s area, state-of-the-art sound and lighting, and a youth chapel better than most sanctuaries I have seen. They have everything that money could buy, but what they don’t have is growth.
This church has been stagnant for years and continues to move toward a very steady and slow decline. Their money, although abundant, has not created growth for them. Everything we will discuss in the remaining chapters of this book that helps churches grow has been ignored by this church, and the results show up in the hundreds of empty chairs in the oversized auditorium that was once filled each week with the fruit of changed lives. So again, resources are wonderful and can enhance a church on the incline, but they cannot save a church on the decline.
More Programs
“If we just had more staff, we could do more programs, and those programs would grow our church.” This is a giant myth that pastors all across the nation have bought in to. If you’re a fan of the book Simple Church—written by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger, who has served on our coaching team—you will know that churches larger in size typically have fewer programs than those smaller in size. This is an interesting fact to consider. You have these large churches, most likely with the staff, resources, and facilities to pull off a greater number of programs, and yet they choose not to. Why? Because programs are not what make churches grow. Programs can help enhance a church, but they do not (in most cases) build a church. Processes win over programs every time. (We will discuss this more in the coming chapters.) You have to burst the myth bubble that says, “More Programs = More People.” Not true!
Big Events
Now this is something I love to do. I love bringing special guests with name recognition outside of the Christian community onto our campuses. Sports figures, Olympians, musicians, authors, actors, anyone to whom you can attach a level of celebrity. We’ve done all of this and I believe it helps draw some people temporarily. But the myth is that it will grow your church. That is not the case. Big events will bring in a crowd, but they will not grow your church.
Events are great. They give your people a reason to invite their neighbor or co-worker to church, when on a normal Sunday they would not be as inclined. However, if your weekend services aren’t worth coming back for, then you will only see those guests once. If your systems aren’t in place to follow up with those guests and those who become new believers, you may see those people a few times but they will never integrate into the life of the church. And if your strategy is not operating well, then you will have a tough time connecting those new people to your church and eventually they’ll leave.
You see, events are great for introducing people to your church, but once they get there, if all the other components are lacking, then the event ends up costing too much. It will cost you time, money, staff energy, and if the people who come like the event but don’t like what else they see, it will cost you your reputation in the community.
Events are a great entry point, but by themselves they cannot and will not grow your church.
More Prayer
Before you freak out on me, let me tell you up front: I believe in prayer. You will not experience true and lasting growth without prayer. Life change throughout your church won’t happen without prayer. As Jesus shared, certain miracles won’t happen without prayer and fasting. My friend and one of our coaches, Mark Batterson, wrote The Circle Maker, which is one of my favorite books about prayer. He shares a strategy that I have learned to live by in my life about drawing circles around your prayers and learning to pray more boldly. I am practicing that in my marriage, with my children, my personal finances, the church, our campuses, our staff, and any other project or need we have. Prayer is a must.
The myth isn’t that prayer doesn’t work, because it does. The challenge lies in what I shared with Jeremy in chapter 1. There is the God factor, and there is the leader factor. The God factor states we can’t do anything without God. The leader factor states God doesn’t do anything without leaders. He always looks for someone to use. God seeks a partnership with mankind when doing something extraordinary. Take the feeding of the five thousand found in John 6—a fascinating story with so much packed into it. As John 6 begins, Jesus had finished teaching in Bethesda and crossed over the Sea of Galilee to an area called Tiberias. The journey was a several-mile walk for his followers. But nevertheless, over five thousand followed him to Tiberias on foot. The disciple Philip approached and asked Jesus, “How can we feed all these people? We don’t have any money and we have no place to buy bread.” They could have bought food earlier in the day, in Bethesda, but now they were in Tiberias, far away from any town or food. It was getting late and there was no way to take care of these people.
I love the very next verse in John 6:6, after Philip approached Jesus with this dilemma: “He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.” Jesus was setting the stage for a miracle. He knew exactly what he was going to do. He was about to feed five thousand people with just a little bread and a little fish.
Then at that moment, when the disciples were worried about feeding the people and Jesus was spending time setting up the miracles, what happened next shows his driving desire to partner with us.
Verses 8–9 state, “Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. ‘There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?’” There it is. Did you catch it? Jesus could have turned a rock into fish and a stick into bread. He didn’t need the sack lunch of a little boy. But that’s not how he likes to do things. He loves partnering with us. Jesus is the miracle worker and he loves to do miracles. The only catch is that he loves to do them in partnership with you and me. Miracles follow action. We do our part (the leader factor) and God does his part (the God factor).
He used the lunch of a little boy to feed five thousand people. Partnership!
He healed the woman who was sick after she reached out to touch his garment (Mark 5:25–34). Partnership!
He healed the man who was lowered through the roof when his four friends brought him before Jesus (Mark 2:1–12). Partnership!
God is always on the lookout for partners. We need him and we need to pray circles around our dreams and goals. But we can’t stop there. God will do his part, but he is looking for us to do ours. We can’t just pray; we must do. That’s why the book of James teaches us that faith without works is dead (2:26). We pray because we know without God nothing significant or eternal will happen. But we work, strategize, grow, develop, remain open to change, and are willing to sacrifice tradition for transformation. That is our part. And as we all know, as we do our part, he is faithful to do his.
But remember: these two parts work together. They work as partners, because that is what God is looking for. The Holy God of Israel wants to partner with the wretched sinners that we are. That’s amazing grace!
Growth is something God desires for your church, even if you don’t. Why? Because lost people matter to God. Chapter 15 of Luke is entirely dedicated to displaying God’s heart for the lost. In it we find the story of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son. All of these stories bring one common message: lost people matter to God. In Matthew 28:19 Jesus’s final instructions to us are, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Then in Luke 14:23, Jesus commands us to “urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.” His heart is clearly for those who are far away from him. So if we are going to grow the way God desires, we have to let go of the myths that we have held on to that say, “If I had __________, then my church would grow.” All the things listed earlier—a good location, greater resources, more programs, big events—are beneficial, but at the core, they are not sustainable church growth methods. They will not help you obtain continual and sustainable growth.
I shared all of this with Jeremy in his office that day. It was an honest conversation, and it opened his eyes to see that all these things were just excuses he leaned on when feeling insecure about where he was in ministry. They were just reasons he used to make himself feel better about his church. But, like I told Jeremy then, if you don’t stop using these reasons as excuses, you are never going to tap into the sustainable way to grow your church.
So, Pastor, let me ask you: Are you ready to learn? Are you ready to grow? Are you ready to position your church for the growth God desires? Are you ready to do your part, because you know he will do his? If you are, then turn the page and let’s get to work.