We usually look at huge companies, campaigns and movements and are moved to think that these organisations are more successful. This is true in any form of organization including the church.
Many churches focus on becoming as big as possibly can, and though we want to see pews filled with people, we don't want them to be just filled with attendees. The goal of every church must be to filled with disciples of Jesus who follow and surrender to Him.
A church can have an attendance in the thousands but still struggle to build quality Christians because there is too much emphasis on the numbers. And this flawed thinking doesn't just affect 'big' churches. In fact, many small churches that want to get big but can never cross the 200 attendance threshold can also be fooled by the numbers game.
Looking at healthy churches that reach the thousands but continue to build strong disciples, what can we learn from them and what they do right?
Small is big. Even if the church gets bigger, strong and healthy churches keep communities small to keep relationships real and maintainable. A pastor definitely cannot minister to the thousands, so the strategic way to grow is to grow leaders who will then care for the tens just as God instructed Moses when he lead Israel through the wilderness.
Ways that this can be done include building small group discipleship, training more pastors and leaders and finding ways to connect church members with each other.
Unity not uniformity. A healthy church will be the first one to admit that not all Christians think alike. Some will be Calvinists, others will be Armenian. Different leaders will have different views in eschatology. Although, the quest for the truth is vital and must continue, a healthy and growing church will not sacrifice church unity for the sake of uniformity.
Doctrine is best worked out together and not worked against each other. At the end of the day, God has called the church to be a community of believers who have a missional mindset in the context of a relational culture.
Christ not pastors. Every church must have a senior leader, but we must never make the mistake of turning our senior leaders into our models of success. In fact, none of us should follow our leaders fully, but only the example of Christ that is modelled by our leaders. It's heart-breaking to watch huge congregations lose strength when a pastor, activity or doctrine fails at some point. And as much as we would like for our beliefs and leaders to be indestructible, it will never happen.
The best way to stay firm as a church community is to be centered on nothing else except the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
