In ministry, “church growth” has become the hallmark of the attractional model, which invests in experiences more than relationships over time. The established church has felt the residual effects of decades of trying to keep up with this attractional model. It has attempted and failed to match worship experiences because it lacks the resources. Matching dollar for dollar or person to person will quickly outstrip the average size church of its resources.
The pandemic exposed that beyond the bells and whistles of the high-gloss church is a lack of discipleship making and a focus on numbers rather than a life change. While the average size church (less than 100 people) can invest in growing relationships rather than numbers and find the joy in life change than lives touched if they are patient over time.
When a church focuses on growing relationships rather than numbers, they begin to sense the heart of God in a new way. Experience has shown that investing in a person rather than a situation establishes a deeper, more meaningful connection than just a one-and-done event. The community outside your church’s doors does not need another concert but a relationship with the Father that can improve their lives.
Focus on the Individual.
Any organization you belong to has metrics to track the progress the company or organization is making. The church world is no different. But quarterly or yearly numbers do not always tell the true story of a life impacted through the ministry. While the church can use principles found in the business world to help it sustain and grow its mission, it should not be arbitrarily focused on the bottom line and miss the God lines in between the balance sheets.
The person who enters the local church or is reached by its members can be transformed into God’s image and never tithe to the church. Should that person be less valued on the balance sheet because they cannot give back to the local church? Surely not.
When a church focuses on the person as a whole and not the transactional relationship often, they see Christ in the person and not the person inside the local church, which begins to tare the veil of developing relationships to become pew warmers. Instead, the church sees a person as a life change waiting to happen with God’s help. The name of the person that has given their heart to Jesus then far outpaces a giving report and should be honored from a perspective that reminds the church of their true calling.
See the Value in the Person’s Abilities.
I love the average church. I have served as the preacher, janitor, Sunday school teacher, and gardener. I have experienced what many pastors experience week-in-week-out—that their value is found in the number of people attending. These numbers were often printed in the bulletin or posted on a board. They reminded the church of how many people they had, and instead of providing value, they offered shame and personal embarrassment for the pastor.
As the established church rethinks its next steps, it must begin to see the value of each person rather than what the person’s value can be for the church. While your church might have tremendous needs, they can’t be whitewashed through a new tither or new body on the church council. Instead, it is through meaningful relationships where lives become impacted through relationships built over time outside the four walls of the church that begin to make a difference.
Each person who comes across your path is a life that needs to be transformed or strengthened through a deeper relationship with Jesus. Through you, Jesus can impact the person in front of you. Valuing the person for who they are and not what they can do for the church releases the pressure off of winning them into membership and instead focuses on mentoring them into a deeper walk with Jesus.
Be a Difference Maker.
The church is a small part of a person’s larger life story. Yet for most church members, it becomes the story in which they live their lives. While I love the local church, it can keep you so busy “doing church” that you miss why you go in the first place. Stop momentarily and ask: who do I know that needs Jesus? The person that is brought to mind by the Holy Spirit is the one that you are called to make a difference in that person’s life. It is not by accident they came to mind. God needs you to see that you are the difference maker in helping them connect with him and, as an extension, your local church.
So, what is the next step? Reach out and be Jesus. Reaching is pausing what you are doing and making a phone call, texting or emailing the person. If you have time and are near the person, stop in and let them know you are thinking about them. As you move from reaching out, think about the next touchpoint, a connection where you can go deeper. Find a way to effectively communicate with the person by asking them about their needs and what is happening in their life. Stay focused more on them than you.
The third step in being a difference maker is Jesus. Be there for them in the good and bad times as Jesus has been for your ministry. Encourage and lift them up by cheering them on when they need it. We have all been there, attending a church but feeling disconnected from the true church around us. Be Jesus, who loved the unlovable, cared about the sinner, and provided hope to the fallen.
I sense in my spirit that God is calling his church to grow deeper with people and to live life with them outside one hour a week on a Sunday morning. Let me challenge you to pray like never before that God would bring you a person or people across your path to pour into, and watch how God grows that relationship deeper and wider like never before.