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What If?
“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow” (2 Corinthians 3:6).
Back in the 1960s, the first of the church growth specialists told pastors that at least 80% of America’s local churches averaged 100 attendees or under at any Sunday morning worship service. In the March 27, 2000 issue of Christianity Today magazine, George Barna said,
“There does not seem to be revival taking place in America,” says pollmeister George Barna announcing his latest report, The State of the Church. “Whether that is measured by church attendance, born again status, or theological purity, the statistics simply do not reflect a surge of any noticeable proportions.
So, after four decades of “Applied Marketing” to Church Growth issues, outside of the mega-churches, the majority of Protestant churches find themselves, at best, still ‘treading water.”
It’s frustrating for most pastors who are honest in their ministries, careful in their use of time and study, and yet, still see their parishes struggling to welcome new folks into their membership.
Years ago, I was called to a “mission church” in Massachusetts. The church was a “plant,” by five couples who had committed themselves to starting a Baptist church in the middle of a Roman Catholic, Portuguese community. Experiencing the frustration of the challenge, the church board and I turned to 1 Corinthians 3:6. We saw the words “plant,” “watered,” and “increase.” The context surrounding the verse deals with “jealous divisions” in the Corinthian church. And Paul’s answer to the struggling Church was to get the members’ eyes off of himself and Apollos…and back on God.
“Yes,” Paul said, “I planted the Gospel” (the seed). “Yes, Apollos watered the seed (Gospel) as he instructed you in the faith. “But it was God who made it grow.” Now, one can argue that Paul was talking about the growth of the new faith of the believers. You may say that Paul is not referring to the physical numbers of the people attending the First Baptist Church of Corinth’s services. However, we know from the Acts of the Apostles that the church grew because of the preaching of the Gospel. And guess what? It was accomplished without any slick, Madison Avenue marketing campaigns.
That little church in Massachusetts grew to an average attendance of 250 people on a Sunday morning. About 190 of them became members. I believe that happened because the original five couples believed God’s Word, reached out to their neighbors with the Gospel, and allowed God to grow the church.
Thirty-one years later, I am asking the same question in Colorado Springs as I did in Massachusetts. “What if? What if, after the planting and the watering, I believe God to grow the church here?” Thank you for your prayers for Christ’s Church in Colorado Springs.
Prayer: Increase our faith, O Lord, as we serve You. Encourage our hearts as we place our confidence in You to grow Your Church. Thank You for reviving our spirits as we serve You and trust You for our ministries’ results. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Don Emanuel
Interim Minister
Bethany Baptist Church
Colorado Springs, CO
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