5 Biblical Church Growth Essentials from the Apostle Paul

When I was in seminary, Church Growth 101 was a required course. I took interest in the whole field and became a student of church growth. I read a pile of books and attended most of the big church-growth conferences. Some of the principles I’ve applied have worked. And some have failed royally.

When we look at the early church, though, they obviously did something right. They grew exponentially. In this post, I will suggest five church growth essentials from the apostle Paul that we see from his first missionary journey.

First, a bit of background. At this point in the early church, as described in Acts 13 and 14, we see three significant movements: church leadership shifting from from Peter to Paul, the target group for evangelism shifting from primarily Jewish to Gentile, and a move from a rural focus to an urban focus. Paul and Barnabas visited six cities on this first missionary journey.

Principle 1: Rely on the Holy Spirit.

In these two chapters, we see the obvious work of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, while not dismissing good leadership thorough strategic planning and great outreach events, only God by His Spirit grows the church (Col. 2:19; 1 Cor. 3:7). In chapter 13, we see the work of the Holy Spirit in several ways.

1. He was involved in the selection of Paul and Barnabas to go on this missionary journey (13:2).

2. He planted in their hearts the desire to go (13:4).

3. He gave Paul great courage to confront a wizard who wasn’t too happy that Paul was evangelizing to his boss (13:6-12).

So, if you want to see your church grow, make sure the Holy Spirit is guiding and directing your plans and decisions.

Principle 2: Evangelize through your most natural relationships.

When Paul would enter a city, he would make a beeline to the synagogue. Why? Because he was a Jew and Jews would be there. Their common Jewishness bound them together. It was also natural for him to go there first, because the Jews were already religiously minded and Paul could easily talk about what was common between them, the Old Testament Scriptures, prophecy and the longed-for Messiah.

Some of the most fruitful ways to grow the church is to find those most open to the gospel, who are often already in our circle of relationships.

Principle 3: Stay flexible in your approach.

Paul tailored his evangelism to the group he was with. His method of operation with the Jews was to go to the synagogue and start with the Old Testament.

However, with the Gentiles, who had no Jewish reference frame, he took a different approach. In one very pagan city they visited on this missionary journey, they healed a crippled boy (14:8-18). The word spread. A crowd gathered. And because of a Greek legend, they believed that Paul and Barnabas were the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes.