4 THE PRINCIPLES OF CHURCH GROWTH

“It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13)

“The Church is the body of Christ, the fullness of Him Who fills everything in every way.” (Eph 1:23) For the building up of the Church, God has laid down principles in the Bible concerning her growth. These principles constitute the direction for the Church on earth today. In terms of development, the Church has been entrusted with the commandment of the Lord: “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” (Mark 16:15) and “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19) In terms of quality, the Church has to equip the saints to come to the unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God, attaining “to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

The central message of the gospel is the salvation accomplished by Christ. Therefore, it is imperative that each evangelist be a true believer with personal experience and authentic knowledge of salvation, so that there will be no deviation in his preaching. The object of the gospel is mankind, the multitudes who are without eternal life. They are lost in sin, pursuing the glory and gain of this life, and will soon perish in sin forever. As we share the mind of the Lord, we hope to lead them into God’s salvation. Gospel preaching is a service for God. When we comprehend the unfathomable love of God, we will respond in love and will desire to follow His command to preach His salvation to the world. Without such love and desire, gospel preaching will become a mere responsibility. There may still be results from the effort, but our rewards from the Lord will lose much significance.

The Scriptures clearly declare that God gives “evangelists” to the Church as one of the gifts for church growth. The function of these people is obvious, and their burden is focused. They are indispensable in the process of church growth. This does not mean that members without such a gift are exempted from preaching, for the Scriptures also reveal to us that it is an obligation for every believer to preach. If we love both God and men, we will preach the gospel in our daily walk whenever opportunity arises.

The content of the gospel is the vital part of preaching. Methods of preaching are secondary. We may apply different methods that are in line with Biblical principles; however, we should not depend on the application of methods alone. We are only messengers. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to cause sinners to repent and to believe in the Lord. On one side we may plan and arrange large- scale gospel activities. We may send and support missionaries, or organize rallies and distribute gospel tracts, in accordance with the strength of the local church, so that the gospel may be widely spread. On the other side, there are newcomers attending our evangelistic classes on Sundays or joining the gatherings and fellowships. There are also children in the Sunday school. These form another front in our ongoing weekly evangelism. There are also Christians quietly reaching out day by day, as the Lord Jesus demonstrated in Himself: “And He will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear His voice in the streets.” (Matthew 12:18-19) As long as we abide in the Lord and walk in the guidance of the Holy Spirit, our service will be meaningful and acceptable. The magnitude and method of approach are not concerns in measuring the value.

We all know that the centre of our service is the Lord Jesus. Every step, beginning from God’s entrusting the work to us, to the inspiration of the Spirit, to the strength and result of the service, is for His glory. The one and sole important goal to learn in preaching is to glorify God. “That we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:12) Undeniably, the focus of gospel preaching is the human race, which is without eternal life and will perish because of sin. However, the purpose of preaching is to lead people to be reconciled to God, and to solve the problem of sin through salvation. Only then will they receive eternal life as the gift from God. Sometimes we are overwhelmed by our passions and feelings that we would pay more attention towards the issue of life and death than the righteousness and glory of God Himself. If ever we exaggerate such thoughts about salvation, then the gospel could easily be downgraded to a mere life-saving process. Jesus Christ and His sacrificial redemption would be treated as an agent to obtain life. With such a shift of gravity, our belief would be in danger of being distorted.

We have seen in the Scriptures that God has given different talents and strengths to individuals in the Church. They take up different positions of service for the building up of the Church together. The Church therefore does not have just one type of service and neither will She concentrate on one type of service. Whether it is evangelism or edification or instruction, there should always be an appropriate coordination and collaboration that the Church may grow properly.

Not only has God given evangelists to the Church, He has also, in the same manner, given pastors and teachers. Obviously, God also provides people who will focus in tending the Church. Consider the birth of a physical life. It takes a lengthy period of pregnancy, filled with much care and expectations and eventually the pain of childbirth, before there comes a new being. Then, for an infant to grow to maturity, it will take years of untiring nurture, plenty of tender care and tears before it will come to the full measure of adulthood. For those who edify and teach, they must have the heart of a parent to learn self-denial and sacrifice; have the love of Christ to know long-suffering; have faith to overcome disappointment; be equipped with true knowledge to be apt to teach; practice the faith to become examples of living faith; have the abundance of life to become life-nurturing. Deprived of these basic qualities, pastors and teachers will all become “hired hands”. The Church would simply degrade into a daycare centre, and would no longer be a home.

The ministry of gospel preaching cannot replace the work of edifying and teaching in the Church. Service on the outside may not reflect the spiritual life of a person. The amount of outside work may not necessarily be a measure of spiritual maturity. Evangelism is our responsibility, and spiritual growth is our nature. The harvest of evangelism is the basis of church growth. The goal of church maturity leads her to attain to the fullness of the body of Christ. Someone has said that “God treasures what we are more than what we do,” and “To offer oneself to God is not to work for Him, but to let Him work.” Teaching and edifying are “on-the-job training” assignments. It is when we share from the pulpit, lead Bible studies, teach Sunday school classes, guide fellowships or provide personal counseling, that we also receive Biblical truth and training from the Lord so that we may continue to be vessels for the multitudes. The more we learn self-denial before God, the more we are able to speak forth the Word of Life.

The harvest of evangelism is jubilant joy: “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” (Psalm 126:5). The reward of shepherding will be restful inward satisfaction: “After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light (of life) and be satisfied.” (Isaiah 53:11). The results of these two services are complementary to one another. Both are the Lord’s work wrought through His servants. As the apostle Paul has claimed: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.” (1 Cor 3:6-8)