Plans are launched to attract new people, but growth in membership is not necessarily growth in God’s kingdom.
Every religion, sporting movement and club has plans for recruitment of new members. Especially in today’s world, where individualism is everything and membership is not valued, recruitment has to be intentional.
Churches are no different. Even the large denominations are beginning to look into this question. All sorts of schemes and plans are launched to help attract new members. The trip overseas to see how it is done elsewhere is a favoured – and often useful – strategy.
We can and do benefit immensely from such study. There are things to be learned even in surprising places. Because human nature is basically the same, we can devote attention to human needs and see how we can meet them best.
But growth in membership is not necessarily growth in God’s kingdom. We need to know not just how to grow churches and how to grow membership, but how new Christians are made.
Of course the first thing to observe is that this is something which God does. When a person is born again, when he or she passes from death to life and becomes a child of God, it is through the action of God’s Holy Spirit in the person’s life. We must be careful not to think that it is through the brilliance of our plans or the power of our rhetoric that a person comes to know the Lord Jesus.
But God has an appointed way of action for us. We are born again, according to the Apostle Peter, through the word of God (1 Peter 1:22-25). It is God who blesses his word and opens the eyes of people to see its truth. But he calls upon us to share his word with others and to pray for the results to come.
I believe that God blesses us as we walk the path of obedience. If he has called on us to preach and to pray, it is no good filling our lives with other things so that we neglect his appointed path. We are not merely looking for new members. We are looking for new Christians.
Two further things as a result. First, if we are clear on this matter, we will not mind so much if the new Christians do not join our church. Naturally we would all like to swell our own numbers. But God is patiently waiting for people to repent and turn to him. Salvation is the big issue.
Second, we must be careful about mere membership without commitment. There have been times in the past when the churches have been filled with nominal Christians, people who are there for reasons other than spiritual ones. Not uncommonly they seek to run the church, and do so in an unspiritual way.
The consequent deadness of the churches is most unfortunate and God’s work is severely hindered. Ungodly ways of doing Christian work emerge as nominal Christians use their political skills in the fellowship.
Whatever we do to make church attractive and encourage people to belong, let us make sure that prayer and the word remain central!
Peter Jensen
October 2004