Two churches want to grow, but their attitudes toward growth differ greatly.<\/p>\n
The first church looks upon growth as its primary purpose. Goals are placed before the membership: “We want to double our membership within the next three years,” for instance. Success (or failure) is judged almost entirely on the basis of that congregation’s numerical growth.<\/p>\n
The second church looks upon the saving of souls as its primary purpose, and any growth in membership is just a natural result of that primary purpose. Members of the second church are infused with the value of immortal souls rather than with a sense of congregational pride.<\/p>\n
Members of the first church become eager to get people to the water. Baptism is the point at which individuals are added to the membership list; consequently, it will take many baptisms to keep pace with their goal of doubling their membership. They must not only bring them to the water, but also do so within the time period arbitrarily set by their leaders.<\/p>\n
Members of the second church are far more eager to encourage repentance. Their concern is for additions to the Lord’s body rather than additions to a membership list. Their approach is to bring sinners to a consciousness of their sin and the consequences of remaining in sin. If they can do this in a single study, excellent. But if considerable time is required to uproot false concepts and to plant the true seed of the gospel, they patiently accept this. Their only sense of urgency arises from the uncertainty of life and its duration. But they know that shortcuts are not the answer; that baptism without repentance is worthless; and that once people are brought to true repentance, having been properly taught, baptism for the remission of sins will follow. So they wait with longsuffering until the gospel brings about its desired effect in the hearts of those whom they are teaching.<\/p>\n
Members of the first church may be tempted to employ questionable tactics in their interactions with others. The old methods and approaches don’t seem to be effective anymore. New, more positive approaches must be developed. Thus, the members of the first church appeal to the pride of the people. They persuade them of their self-worth; they build their self-image; they tell them how valuable they would be to the congregation. “We need you,” they tell their prospects. They might also extol the virtues of the congregation, persuading their prospects of the value of being part of such a vibrant, growing group. People “become members” and conform to the rules imposed for acceptance within the group, but there may have been little grief over sin; in fact, they might still believe they were Christians before they “became members.”<\/p>\n
The members of the second church recognize that the gospel never appeals to human pride. They bring people to see their spiritual bankruptcy; that they have “nothing to pay” that their true worth is not to be found in self, but in Christ; that they must humble themselves and look to Christ for their exaltation; that they are sinners in desperate need of salvation; that their only hope is to be found in Christ. They would bring them to say, in the words of Mrs. C. H. Morris:<\/p>\n
“Nearer, still nearer, nothing I bring,
\nNaught as an offering to Jesus my King,
\nOnly my sinful, now contrite heart;
\nGrant me the cleansing Thy blood doth impart.”<\/blockquote>\nThe first church may become compromising in its teaching. Its elders intend to maintain doctrinal soundness, but there is pressure to produce and to maintain the growth rate set before the congregation. When doctrinal soundness becomes an obstacle to that purpose, the elders may succumb to the pressures and ease up on their teaching. The second church faces no such pressure, for in its concern for the spiritual well-being of people, there is a desire for truth on every subject vital to salvation.<\/p>\n
The first church emphasizes organizational and institutional concerns; the second emphasizes spiritual and heavenly ones.<\/p>\n
We commend the second church to our readers. Serious problems can result when churches see growth as their primary purpose. If goals are to be set-and goals can serve a good purpose-let them focus on the number to be taught rather than the number to be baptized. If new approaches are needed, let them be conceived only if they are compatible with God’s wisdom. In efforts to reach others, let all determine to know nothing “except Jesus Christ and Him crucified<\/em>.” When churches thus become really serious about saving souls, God will give the increase, and growth will take care of itself<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Bill Hall via Seeking Things Above Two churches want to grow, but their attitudes toward growth differ greatly. The first church looks upon growth as its primary purpose. Goals are placed before the membership: “We want to double our membership within the next three years,” for instance. Success (or failure) is judged almost entirely…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[448,383],"class_list":["post-93635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-church","tag-growth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":86380,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-growth-of-the-church-in-jerusalem\/","url_meta":{"origin":93635,"position":0},"title":"The Growth of the Church in Jerusalem","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dudley R. Spears via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 16 No. 4, December 31, 1990 No period in the history of the Lord's church records a greater numerical growth than the first century. There are repeated references to the reason why such phenomenal growth occurred. Men of faith claim the reason was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33975,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/feeling-wanted-and-needed\/","url_meta":{"origin":93635,"position":1},"title":"Feeling Wanted and Needed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton We were very young (24) when we first started preaching full time or \"living of the gospel\" (I Corinthians 9:7-14). God providentially put us in the right place (Berney Points in Birmingham, AL) for this early training ground. We needed to feel wanted and needed in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/giving-gift-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":46286,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/devaluing-the-local-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":93635,"position":2},"title":"Devaluing the Local Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Glen Young via\u00a0Gospel Power, Vol. 15, No. 25, June 22, 2008. The local church occupies an important position in God's scheme of things. It is through the local church that Christians execute certain works. These are works that God commands that can only be accomplished as a group in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89646,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/restoring-the-spirit-of-the-early-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":93635,"position":3},"title":"Restoring the Spirit of the Early Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edward O. Bragwell, Sr. Members of the churches of Christ today generally recognize that they are beneficiaries of \"the restoration movement\" that began in this country in the late 1700s. While we recognize that our faith and practice must not be rooted in that movement, but in the New\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40236,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-come-as-you-are-method-of-church-growth\/","url_meta":{"origin":93635,"position":4},"title":"The “Come as You Are” Method of Church Growth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Johnson Churches want to grow in number, but, sadly, many improper methods are used by churches today to increase their membership. One of these is the \"Come as You Are\" method. This method of growth is prevalent today in denominationalism. Slogans such as \"God loves you no matter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/come-as-you-are-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":58965,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/quotes-on-institutionalism\/","url_meta":{"origin":93635,"position":5},"title":"Quotes on Institutionalism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Excerpt from an article by David Lipscomb Gospel Advocate, August 29, 1907 The following article was sent to me with the request that I comment on it. 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