The Community of the King by Howard A. Snyder

Author:Howard A. Snyder
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2010-02-12T11:57:00+00:00

Normal Church Growth The community of God's people grows by bringing people to faith in Jesus Christ and incorporating these new disciples into the body of believers. This should be the normal pattern of church growth. Several aspects of this growth process need to be discussed.

Normal church growth means growth which conforms to the norm of the gospel. By normal I mean neither average nor customary. Rather, I mean the growth which follows when the Church adheres to the biblical norm for its life, structure and witness. This is the only norm which counts, and the only valid criterion.

There is something spontaneous about genuine church growth. Normal growth does not depend upon successful techniques or programs, although planning has its place. Rather, growth is the normal consequence of spiritual life. What is alive grows. Normal church growth is spontaneous in the sense that the nature of the Church is to grow-spiritually, numerically and in its cultural impact. Like Jesus, its growth should be "in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men" (Lk. 2:52). Roland Allen was right to speak of "the spontaneous expansion of the Church."1

Church growth is not a matter of bringing to the Church that which is necessary for growth, for if Christ is there, the seeds of growth are already present. Rather, church growth is a matter of removing the hindrances to growth. The Church will naturally grow if not limited by unbiblical barriers.

What are some of these barriers? Potentially they are many: spiritual disunity, immorality and false doctrine are some that come to mind from the New Testament church. Two other hindrances which relate especially to the nature and structure of the Church are unbiblical traditions and rigid institutional structures. These were two of the factors found in Judaism which necessitated the formation of a church distinct from Judaism when Christ came. Speaking to the scribes and Pharisees Jesus said, "You nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition" (Mt. 15:6). On another occasion he said, "New wine must be poured into new wineskins" (Lk. 5:38). On both occasions he was referring to the traditions and structures which had grown up in Judaism and were actually stifling God's work.

The same thing has happened countless times in church history. Unbiblical traditions and structures have limited the growth of the Church until they either were corrected or (more often) burst open as new wine bursts old wineskins.

Of course, these barriers result from sin as do immorality and false doctrine, but more in the sense of our failure, due to the Fall, to perceive and faithfully follow God's plan for the Church. I have already called attention to the clergy-laity dichotomy which tends to limit growth by stifling "lay" initiative and the exercise of gifts essential for growth. Other fac tors are the institutional church's edifice complex or dependence on buildings, the rigidity of denominational and missionary structures, and inflexible traditions as to time and form of church gatherings.2 Sterile worship patterns are a particular problem and a crucial area where reform is needed.

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