Recently, leaders of another church asked me how they could grow their church. Even though this was not my church, it is a conversation my own has had—like all churches. The question is commonly asked of a new pastor or pastoral candidate. Last time I went through that process, I was asked, “What would you do to grow this church?” They were shocked by my answer. You may be shocked as well. I answered, “I have no idea. I don’t know the people here, their needs, the culture, anything. Before designing a plan to grow the church, I must learn about the community.” I even said, “It would be wrong to come in here and pretend I have all the answers and know precisely what you need.”

Christian books on how to grow a church are everywhere. There are books on how to break different growth barriers. There are books on different forms of leadership. Some of these books are more practical: “Do this and you will grow.” I remember many popular approaches: church bus ministry, visitation programs, bulk mail programs, tract distribution, and many others. These usually assume all churches and their communities are pretty much the same, and all that is needed is a new program.

Another type of book is more focused on worship and devotion. These tie growth to worship and preaching styles. Style of worship, preaching length, and sermon type are key here. These often come off as “Your church is not growing because there is something you should be doing better.”

The problem is that certain assumptions are being made. The foundations of the question should be considered. Instead of “How do we grow our church?” we might want to ask, “Why do we want to grow our church?” I’ve become convinced that the “Why” is just as important, if not more important, than the “How.”

Here are some I’ve heard from churches:

• “Our people are getting old. We need people to keep ministries going?”
• “We need more money. How can we draw in more donors?”
• “Our Sunday School is too small. How do we bring in families with children?”
• “If we get any smaller, we may have to close. How can we keep this building open?”

I bring this up because, too often, we overlook why we grow the church. We don’t grow the church to keep the doors open, have more money or volunteers, advance the pastor’s career, or gain prestige. We grow the church to obey our Lord and expand the kingdom.

Of course, some will say, “We don’t grow the church. God does.” I agree, but that answers a question I’m not asking. My point is that we are often misguided in our efforts. We should seek to grow the church because the people around us are lost, and Christ has commanded us to find them and teach them to follow him as disciples. God doesn’t care about our buildings, our committees, our constitutions. These are all human devices. God is concerned about the world around us and has put us where we are to transform it.

Let’s change the language of church growth. Instead of concentrating on marketing schemes, campaigns, and branding to build the latest and greatest, let’s be people who want to see our neighbors eternally in the presence of Christ. Those other things are not to be jettisoned. They are all valuable tools. But they are only tools. The church organization and the building are also tools. Let’s not focus on the tools. Our call is to people who are lost and in need of the savior.