Rejecting Church Member Recruitment
by Clay Gentry
In his second letter to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul found himself in an unusual position. He was forced to defend his ministry, not against pagan or Jewish opponents, or Roman magistrates, but against other Christians who had entered the city with slick speech, impressive letters of recommendation, and clever strategies. These so-called “super-apostles” (II Corinthians 11:5; 12:11), as Paul sarcastically called them, were masters of impression. They knew how to market themselves, navigate crowds, and win people over by undermining the work Paul had already done.
Paul’s response to these tactics serves as a boundary line for anyone who claims to do the work of the Lord:
“But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God” (II Corinthians 4:2).
When we look at the modern religious landscape, with its reliance on corporate marketing, launch teams, and strategic recruitment, Paul’s words hit us like lightning. This isn’t merely a critique of new church plants or satellite campuses; it is an indictment of a widespread mindset that has infected established congregations as well. Paul’s words force us to examine not just what’s being done, but how and why it’s being done. In the kingdom of God, the methods must match the Message.
Renouncing Underhanded Ways
Paul begins with a firm declaration: “We have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways.” That is, things that advance one’s own agenda at the expense of others. The word “underhanded” refers to things that one’s sense of honor doesn’t allow to come to the light (Curry, II Corinthians, p. 151). It's the opposite of transparency.
Whether a larger church wants to open a satellite campus, a preacher wants to start a new church plant, or an established congregation is simply trying to bolster its own numbers, the temptation is the same: they rarely, if ever, begin by preaching on street corners to the lost. Instead, they begin by recruiting active, dedicated members of existing congregations. If the strategy for starting a new work or bolstering an existing one requires recruiting Christians from other churches, it isn’t evangelism; it’s cherry-pickin’.
How do we know these tactics are inherently “underhanded”? Look at who they target. True missionary work goes after the lost, the broken, and the spiritually destitute. But those recruiting church members don’t go after the spiritual equivalent of the “poor, tired, huddled masses.” They don’t recruit members who will need long-term financial assistance or heavy pastoral care. No, they seek to drain sister congregations of their best resources. They advance their own personal agendas at the expense of other congregations.
We’re told that these recruited members are needed to help the new work get on its feet, or the established church to get back on its feet, to reach the lost. But we must be honest about the math. They take the net-positive contributors and expect an established church to continue caring for the needy with reduced budgets and workers, while bearing none of the burden themselves.
For example, if a new church plant recruits 15 workers from a sister congregation of 150, the sister congregation is left weakened, its ministries disrupted, and its peace fractured, while the new work boasts about its “incredible launch numbers.” This is an illusion of fruitfulness built on the back of division. True growth is measured by how many people leave the world for Christ, not how many people leave one pew for another.
The old preachers used to have a saying for this kind of phantom increase: “You’re not growing; you’re just swelling.” When a body swells, it looks bigger, but it’s actually sick. When a church “swells” by intentionally recruiting or poaching members from neighboring congregations, it isn’t healthy growth – it’s an inflammatory response to a new gimmick.
Sucking the life out of a sister congregation to fuel your own expansion isn’t missionary zeal; it’s a symptom of a deeply sick ministry.
The Open Statement of Truth
How did Paul combat the slick, underhanded, cunning “super-apostles” of his day? Did he launch a counter-marketing campaign? Did he try to out-program them? No. He refused to use “cunning” tactics and relied on “the open statement of the truth.”
Paul had nothing to hide. His life, his doctrine, and his methods were an open book. He didn’t need a “launch strategy” because he had the Gospel. He didn’t need to undermine Apollos or Peter to make himself look good; he simply stood in the public square and preached Christ crucified.
A ministry of integrity commends itself to everyone’s conscience. It doesn’t need to manufacture a “desperate need” in an area where faithful churches already stand. It doesn’t need to tout shortsighted statistics to justify its existence. If there are lost people to be saved, the open statement of the truth can be preached anywhere, by anyone, without requiring the dismantling of neighboring congregations. If an outside group genuinely wants to reach the lost in a community, they don’t need to build a new franchise. They can support the sowers who are already there. They can partner, encourage, and build up.
When they choose instead to compete, recruit, and fracture, they show that they are more interested in building their own kingdom than the Kingdom of God.
Guarding the Flock
For those targeted by these modern strategies, the message of II Corinthians 4:2 is a call to discernment. Be on guard against those who flatter you for your talents while asking you to abandon your local church home. Stand firm, guard the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and reject any method that values numbers over integrity.
The grass is greenest where Christians are actively submitting to God’s Word, loving their brethren, and sowing the Seed in their own neighborhoods. Don’t allow your loyalty to Christ to be hijacked by the ambitions of others.
Remember, the Great Commission is a command to go into the world, not to go into your neighbor’s congregation; let’s stop playing corporate headhunters and start preaching Christ, and Him crucified to the lost.
