Church growth by itself means nothing. The Ba’al worshippers that Isaiah faced were far more numerous than he (Isaiah 18). Are we building human empires or God’s kingdom? Some of the largest churches on earth are spiritually weak and starving. Some of the smallest hovels in distant lands are filled and satisfied with rich spiritual nourishment.
There are many large churches built upon a man, but they are weak for having been built on the wrong foundation. As soon as that man dies, the church falls apart if it was not built by Jesus. Only a church built on the Apostles, Prophets and Jesus being the cornerstone will last beyond the grave (Matthew 16:18). Let’s follow the example of the Apostle Peter. He saw that people were astonished after a lame man was healed, but he was quick to give credit to God.
“But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, ‘Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why are you staring at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you handed over and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.’” (Acts 3:12-13 NASB)
I dream of a church that honors and supports its human leaders, but worships Jesus.
Call to Repentance
Many today preach a message of just believing, but that builds a church without repentance. Peter, in his second sermon, called for repentance.
“Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.” (Acts 3:19 NLT)
Repent means to change our minds or hearts about sin, but it doesn’t stop there. We also turn our lives away FROM sin and turn them TO God. When we preach this kind of message, then the church being built through us by Jesus Christ, will be headed in the right direction. Without repentance, we are no different from the demons who believe but don’t repent or people who refused to listen to Jesus.
“Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.” (Acts 3:23 NIV)
A large part of Jesus’ purpose was to teach repentance.
“God sent his chosen Son to you first, because God wanted to bless you and make each one of you turn away from your sins.” (Acts 3:26 CEV)
I dream of a church that has the habit to turn away from sin and to God.
Authoritarian Religion
In many countries, if you are not part of the established religion, you will be harrassed. This is even the case in some countries with a national Christian church. Just because someone is a Christian, does not mean they are perfect, and Christian churches have been guilty even of atrocities in history, as Catholics and Protestants have even murdered each other. So, we should not be shocked when even fellow believers harass us.
“While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees confronted them. They were incensed that the apostles were teaching the people and announcing that the resurrection of the dead was happening because of Jesus.” (Acts 4:1-2 CEB)
Another lesson about church growth in this chapter is that when harassment comes, sometimes growth does too. The early church grew from 3000 to 5000 during this time.
“But a lot of people who had heard the message believed it. So by now there were about five thousand followers of the Lord.” (Acts 4:4 CEV)
I dream of a church that accepts the faith of Christians from other churches and treats them as brothers and sisters.
