The church growth movement taught church leaders that the key to healthy church was that people have a positive experience in church. The program of the church needs to be excellent to attract a crowd. The speaker must be entertaining. The music must be excellent. The programs must be fast paced and offer relationship with nice people, and the parking must be sufficient.
If we do this well, people will be attracted to church, and this will expose the masses to the Word of God and the gospel. In this approach, we are really converting people to church attendance. The program takes most of the pastor’s time. He is the director of an event. Christian fellowship is then reduced to individuals consuming church together.
All of this, I argue, is not the cause of the church’s increasing irrelevance but is rather the consequence of a much larger and more foundational mistake. The church has forgotten that it is to be a witness to, a sign of, and a foretaste of the “now but not yet” kingdom of God. Central to the kingdom is God’s desire to renew, restore, and reconcile all things. For the church to truly be the church, it must announce, embody, and participate in this work of God in the world.
– Death by Church by Mike Erre
I agree. Most of my philosophy revolves around being relationally driven, Jesus centered, high grace / high accountability, however, at the end of the day, on some level, “renew, restore, and reconcile” is still a program that is just dressed up a little differently. I don’t want this to be true, but it seems like until the Spirit of God shows up it doesn’t matter what form it takes place.
Amen. And boo-yah.
Yes, church growth strategies often seem aimed at the symptoms rather than the disease