Forget marketing, the real attraction is a relationship with God

Just recently I received an email in my inbox that said in big bold lettering:

“Grow your church by 100 people in 100 days: A foolproof blueprint for sustainable church growth”

I’ve seen this type of advertising more and more recently, and in my opinion it’s cause for alarm.

As a young pastor of a church here in Bonner County, I must admit I’m tempted at times to think about numbers as the measuring stick for success. I mean, that’s how we as Westerners think anyway right? Bigger and faster is always better than smaller and slower.

How has attendance been this month compared to last month? Has giving gone up or down over the past six months? How many new visitors have we had in the last four weeks? What can we do to change our negative trends?

It’s at this point I want to call a timeout and comment briefly on the subject of the email I recently received, the one promising to bring in “100 new people in 100 days.”

Let me say this: there’s nothing wrong with “big and fast” if it’s God who is doing the growth.

Let me direct our attention to one passage of Scripture.

It’s found in Matthew 16 right after Peter confesses Jesus to be the Messiah.

Listen to what Jesus says in verse 18, “I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

I simply want to point out that it’s the claim of Jesus that

1) He [Jesus] is the builder of the church and

2) Nothing, not even the power of hell will prevail against it.

If Jesus is the builder of the church and he promises that nothing will prevail against it, why do we put so much faith and trust in our own designs to grow the church?

Is the job of a pastor to get as many people in the doors of the church as possible? Is the church of 400 more blessed and better off than the church of 85?

Sometimes God does use the “big and fast” model for church growth, just read through the first few chapters of Acts. But the early church didn’t grow because they had a “foolproof blueprint” to bring people in their doors. They grew because God caused them to grow.

It is always God who brings the growth, never our plans or vision.

If you’re a member of a church of 1,000 people, praise God! If you’re a member of a church of 100 people, praise God!

The purpose of the church isn’t to get as many people in the doors as possible. The purpose of the church is to be God’s witness on earth to the gospel of Jesus Christ; that repentance and forgiveness of sin are found in no one but Jesus.

If you’re reading this and you aren’t a follower of Jesus yet, I want to apologize to you.

You should never be treated as a commodity. You have value and dignity and worth, and you are more than a number to be recorded on a bottom line report.

I do believe that there’s salvation in no one but Jesus. I do pray that God would draw you to Himself through repentance and faith in Christ.

I do hope that the gospel will become sweet news to you very soon.

I do encourage you to come to church, but not because of some slick marketing scheme, but rather because the church offers what nothing else can — Jesus.

Brandon Herron is lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Sandpoint.