MEASURING THE CHURCH
by James Cymbala
Have you noticed that whenever you ask a fellow Christian these days about his or her church, the subject invariably goes to attendance. Question: "Tell me about your church. How is the Lord's work coming along there?" Answer: "Well be had three hundred on Sunday, I'd say."
When I ask pastors the same question, I get the same answer—plus two others: "Membership is at five-fifty, we have just finished a new education wing, and our gross income this year will top out at about four hundred thousand." Attendance, buildings, and cash. A-B-C: The new holy trinity.
Such a thing would never have happened in Peter and Paul's day. For one thing, they had no buildings to call their own. They met in people's homes,in public courtyards, sometimes even in caves. As for a budget, they seemed to have dispensed most of their funds in helping the poor.
How large was the attendance in the Antioch church? Berea? Phillipi? Rome? We have no idea. How large was the congregation at Philadelphia, one of the seven churches addressed in the book of Revelation? Apparently not very big. The Lord says, "I know that you have little strength." Yet He proceeds to give them a glowing review (Rev. 3:7-13). By contrast, how large was the congregation at Laodicea? One can get a hint from the fact that the church was "rich and in need of nothing." For all we know, it may have drawn 7,000 on a Sunday. Their bills were certainly paid—yet they received a scathing spiritual rebuke.
This leads me to say that no church should be measured by its attendance. Then what kind of spiritual things do matter a book-of-Acts church? The apostles prayer in Acts 4 provides a benchmark: "Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness " (v. 29). Listen to Peter on the day of Pentecost: "You, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross" (Acts 2:23). This is the last thing the crowd wanted to hear. But Peter's preaching did not drive the people away. Instead it stabbed their consciences. At the end of the day a huge group had repented of their sin and been converted.
New Testament preachers were boldly confrontational, trusting that the Holy Spirit would produce the conviction necessary for conversion. They were not afraid. The apostles weren't trying to finesse people. Their communication was not supposed to be "cool" or soothing. They aimed for a piercing of the heart, for conviction of sin. They had not the faintest idea of asking, "what do people want to hear? How can we draw more people to church on Sunday?" That was the last in their minds. Such an approach would have been foreign to the whole New Testament.
Instead of trying to bring men and women to Christ in the biblical way, we are consumed with the unbiblical concept of "church growth." The Bible does not say we should aim at numbers but rather urges us to faithfully proclaim God's message in the boldness of the Holy Spirit. This will build God's church God's way.
When I ask pastors the same question, I get the same answer—plus two others: "Membership is at five-fifty, we have just finished a new education wing, and our gross income this year will top out at about four hundred thousand." Attendance, buildings, and cash. A-B-C: The new holy trinity.
Such a thing would never have happened in Peter and Paul's day. For one thing, they had no buildings to call their own. They met in people's homes,in public courtyards, sometimes even in caves. As for a budget, they seemed to have dispensed most of their funds in helping the poor.
How large was the attendance in the Antioch church? Berea? Phillipi? Rome? We have no idea. How large was the congregation at Philadelphia, one of the seven churches addressed in the book of Revelation? Apparently not very big. The Lord says, "I know that you have little strength." Yet He proceeds to give them a glowing review (Rev. 3:7-13). By contrast, how large was the congregation at Laodicea? One can get a hint from the fact that the church was "rich and in need of nothing." For all we know, it may have drawn 7,000 on a Sunday. Their bills were certainly paid—yet they received a scathing spiritual rebuke.
This leads me to say that no church should be measured by its attendance. Then what kind of spiritual things do matter a book-of-Acts church? The apostles prayer in Acts 4 provides a benchmark: "Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness " (v. 29). Listen to Peter on the day of Pentecost: "You, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross" (Acts 2:23). This is the last thing the crowd wanted to hear. But Peter's preaching did not drive the people away. Instead it stabbed their consciences. At the end of the day a huge group had repented of their sin and been converted.
New Testament preachers were boldly confrontational, trusting that the Holy Spirit would produce the conviction necessary for conversion. They were not afraid. The apostles weren't trying to finesse people. Their communication was not supposed to be "cool" or soothing. They aimed for a piercing of the heart, for conviction of sin. They had not the faintest idea of asking, "what do people want to hear? How can we draw more people to church on Sunday?" That was the last in their minds. Such an approach would have been foreign to the whole New Testament.
Instead of trying to bring men and women to Christ in the biblical way, we are consumed with the unbiblical concept of "church growth." The Bible does not say we should aim at numbers but rather urges us to faithfully proclaim God's message in the boldness of the Holy Spirit. This will build God's church God's way.
Taken from Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, ch. 8 The Lure of Marketing, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1997), pp. 121-124
