For the first time parents raising a
child can be fun as well as challenging. Wilma and I used to make numerous
visits to our pediatrician. Every time we took our girls he would take their height
and weight and track them on a growth chart. Then he would nod his head in a
way to let us know that they were growing at the expected rate. Why would the
pediatrician track the growth of the child? The centerpiece of the child's
health record is his growth chart. Children who are growing at the expected
rate and whose height or length and weight are pretty well matched are
generally healthy.
Similarly, whether a church is
healthy or not depends on whether it is growing in its length (scope of
influence) and weight (weekly attendance) at the expected rate. Let’s compare
these statistics. In 1900, only 1% of the country’s population was Christian,
but largely through the efforts of missionaries and churches, Christianity has
grown rapidly in South Korea over the past century. In 2010, roughly
three-in-ten South Koreans were Christian, including members of the world’s
largest Pentecostal church, Yoido Full Gospel Church, in Seoul”[1]
Whereas Churches in the west in general
are declining. According to the North American Mission Board (NAMB), in 1900
there were 28 churches for every 10,000 Americans. Just fifty years later, that
number plummeted to 17 for every 10,000. Since 2004, the trend is expected to
continue at an 8% decrease every 4 years. This is despite the fact that our
population is increasing.[2]
Numbers can be overwhelming at times, but these two statistics can give us an
idea in regards to the state of the Church and Christians in the USA.
I
am well aware that in this country we equate numbers with success. Though I am
not a great fan of mega churches, but I do believe that numbers communicate the
health of any given Church. Does God care about the Church growth? Why do we
have such a hard time understanding Church growth? What does the Bible say
about growth? Our Church leadership has been wrestling with these questions for
quite some time. In the month of June a group of 30 of us took a survey
developed by “Natural Church Development” Organization. The results are
staggering. One of the observations of that survey is that our Church growth has
been stagnated for a while and beginning to decline.
Let me explain the following graphs:
Graph 1 when I first became pastor six years ago, the average attendance was
about 40. It grew up to 82 in the next few years. Then it began to decline and
now it stands at an average of 50 on a good Sunday. Graph II: Shows the age
groups and gender of the Survey participants (Most of them are members). About 13% (70+) 30% (61-70), 25%( 51-60) 12%(41-50),
7%(31-40) 10%(21-30) 4%(-20) age group. Female to male ratio is about balanced
with a slight edge towards females.
Graph III. Indicates that if we do not
improve the quality of life in the next ten years we will continue to decline
and maybe at some point this church will no longer exists. Graph IV. If we
improve the quality of life in the next 10 years we may reach 150 to 200 people
in regular attendance.
These graphs give us a fair assessment
of where we are today and where we would like to go. When we hear these
challenging figures we can have either one or three responses. The Lord is
coming back soon; why bother about growing the Church. Or we just can’t let
this church die and we must do something right away! Or I don’t care whether it
grows or dies as long as I get what I want.
I wonder why such varied responses? The answer partly depends on how we
understand growth.
I.
WHY DO WE HAVE
SUCH A HARD TIME WITH CHURCH GROWTH?
We live in a wonderful, colorfully
diverse world. We interact with people of various cultures. Let’s look at how
people live and process information, it depends on where they were born, raised
and continue to live. Based on the NCD network, they distinguished three
cultural poles: The West, (North America, Europe) the East (most of Asia) and
the South (Latin America, Africa). People living in these cultural poles, think
and act differently. That provides rich cultural diversity. God wants us to
harness this cultural diversity for the greater good of humanity and even more
so for the extension of His Kingdom.
Let me share some distinctions of each
cultural zone: The westerners value the freedom of the individual, self-realization,
diversity and personal initiation. Their thought pattern is linear: (cause and
effect, input-output, A to B to C. There
are many things that can be wonderfully explained by applying linear thinking,
but the Western tendency is to apply this thought pattern even when it doesn't fit.
The Eastern world (Most of Asia)
functions differently. These cultures are built on consensus rather than
competition. Their livelihood depends to a high degree on the Co-operation of
the whole village. They encourage dialogue that leads to consensus. They have
high regard for harmony that explains the plentiful forms of politeness that
are so typical of Asian cultures. They follow models whereas the westerners
follow principles.
In the southern cultural zone, in spite
of all their differences these continents have one experience in common:
suffering. Much of the way Africans and Latin Americans think has originated as
a response to suffering. Christians living in this zone have a high view of the
Old Testament, creation, and the exodus as categories many people can identify
with.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa
has placed the word Ubuntu at the center of his theology. The concept is to a
certain extent to the Kenyan word harambee.
It is Kenyan’s national symbol, you can find it on their currency. It was
initially used by the Indian indentured laborers. It is hard to translate
these words, the closet English translation would be “Solidarity” In reality
these words have far greater meaning in their native language: The zest of
these words mean: “A person depends on other people to be a person. This
definitely expresses a form of group feeling, and group loyalty, pulling
together that is virtually unknown to the individualistic Western World.
Ubuntu has a strong impact on
Christianity. While in the Western world many believe that the individualistic
approach to evangelism, God on the one hand and your soul on the other hand is
typically biblical, dealing with African or Latin American cultures helps us
recognize that this focus on the individual is not typically biblical but
typically Western. That explains why the church in the non-western world is
growing rapidly and declining in the West.
In the Southern hemisphere, we can
detect cyclical way of thinking that is in the contrast to the linear structure
of the West.[3] The cyclical way of thinking is very
important when it comes to church growth. There is no one single method or
approach can bring about the desired Church growth, but living by certain
proven principles and a combination of variables can contribute to growth I
know this is a lot of information to process, but it is important to know why
people think the way they think.
Especially a church as diverse as ours
must make efforts to understand other people’s cultures before drawing our own
conclusions about the differences we encounter. Understanding how other
cultures think not only help us appreciate our own culture but also spare us
from misunderstandings and heartaches.
So when it comes to growth in general and church growth in particular, Eastern
and Southern cultures tend to grasp the principles of growth more easily than
the westerners. Westerners are excellent in understanding the technical
realities but when it comes to understanding how growth happens, they are
limited partly due to their linear thinking.
Growth in general is a natural
phenomenon. Where there is life and health there will be growth. Growth is also
a biblical concept, we see running through scriptures over and over again. When
God created Adam and Eve He blessed them and said be fruitful, and multiply and
fill the earth.” After the flood when men tried to build a tower so that they
won’t be scattered throughout the earth, God confused their language and
scattered them throughout the earth. When God called Abraham and blessed Him
what did he say? In you all the nations will be blessed.
When Jesus spoke about the dynamics of
the kingdom of God, He continually referred to nature. The lilies of the field,
the seed that grows by itself, the growth of the mustard seed, the four soils,
the tree and its fruit, the laws of sowing and reaping. Let’s look at Matthew
6:28, “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field
grow. They do not labor or spin.” The word “see” however does not fully cover
the implications of the Greek word, “katamathete”
Which means (diligently learn observe, study, or research).
What then are we to study? Not the
lilies’ beauty, but rather their growth mechanisms or principles. We are to
study them, meditate on them, and take our direction from them, all these
aspects are included in that Greek word. We are told that we need to do these
things in order to understand the principles of the kingdom of God. What works
in the nature works in the church.
You may be overwhelmed and wondering
where I am going with this teaching. Be patient. After taking the NCD survey,
the church leadership is convinced that we have to do something in order to see
this declining trend change and the quality of life in our church increase. The
NCD has developed several tools to help churches grow. We will be implementing
some of those processes in the days to come. All I am trying to share with us
today is that God is interested in growth, the right kind of it. God wants our
Church to grow and not decline. However there are certain factors that either
will contribute to growth or hinder growth.
I hope hearing about various cultures
has widened your understanding of how creative and wise our God is. It is His
world and no one group or culture has monopoly over it. No one culture is
superior to the other, neither has all the wisdom and resources to make this
world a better place. Only in seeking to understand, respect, give and receive
at the same time from one another, may we become better people and continue to
survive and prosper as a civilization.
Over the next eight weeks I will be
sharing with us eight Quality Characteristics of all healthy and growing
Churches developed by the NCD. Can we
all be on board with this ambitious yet necessary process for the betterment of
our Church? No one can do it on his or her own strength, it takes all of us. As
a community of people who are committed to one another, support one another and
learn from one another, we can make this Church a safe haven for people from
all nations. Great things happen when we come together in Christ in love and in
Unity. My prayer is Lord please bring us together to build your kingdom. Amen
