Megachurch or Minichurch?

Keys to Church Growth

There are quite a number of sizable churches today, and they are called megachurches. Many of them are in USA, Nigeria, and Korea. The largest megachurch in the world is Yoido Full Gospel Church of Paul Cho Yonggi in Korea (230000). The largest church in Nigeria is Deeper Christian Life Ministry. In the USA, it is Lakewood Church pastored by Joel Osteen. In Singapore, we have four well-known megachurches—City Harvest, New Creation, Lighthouse Evangelism, and Faith Community Baptist Church.

Pastors from minichurches might envy such megachurches. Some might be tempted to copy the methods of these megachurches in hope of turning their minichurch into a megachurch, using worldly and carnal methods to attract people to church.

In doing God’s work, size really does not matter. Whether big or small, what is important is faithfulness to God and His Word. Having a megachurch is no indication of God’s approval. Today, there are many false Christs and false prophets who start false churches with a false gospel. Jesus warned in Matthew 24:24, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” What will be the end of such false people? Jesus also said, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matt 7:23-24).

If we do not want to end up judged and condemned, then we must make sure we are true disciples and true servants of the Lord Jesus Christ indeed. We want to see God’s Church grow of course, and God’s Kingdom spread far and wide, but surely this must happen not at the expense of truth but on the basis of truth. We want to see the Church grow in God’s way so that He might be glorified.

So, how to grow the Church God’s way? We learn it from the Acts of the Apostles. The Rev Dr Timothy Tow —wrote a commentary on Acts entitled, Pattern for Church Growth and Missions, and said that the Acts of the Apostles are an infallible pattern for us today in growing the Church. This is because the Apostles of Jesus Christ were infallible in their preaching (1 Thess 2:13), in their writing of the Holy Scriptures (2 Pet 3:16), and in the administration of the Church (2 Thess 3:6-9).

Thus, from the Book of Acts, we find that for the Church to grow in a way that is pleasing to God, we must understand these three important principles:

(1) Church Growth Comes by the Power of Christ and His Spirit (Acts 1:8, Matt 28:18)

It must be emphasised that the work of growing the Church is a spiritual work. As such, it is not something that can be achieved through human reasoning or strength, but divine wisdom and power. That is why Jesus in His Great Commission spoke of the power that propels missions and evangelism (Matt 28:18). Jesus has been given all power in heaven and in earth and with this power He commissions His Church to go into all the world to extend His Kingdom with His Gospel (Matt 28:19), and He promises His Church His presence until the end of the age (Matt 28:20).

The first church in Jerusalem experienced the power of the Holy Spirit which Jesus promised He would give once He ascended to heaven (Acts 1:4, 5, 8). This happened on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and they spoke in tongues (foreign languages). This was done so that the people who came from different parts of the Roman world with their own respective languages or dialects could hear and understand the Gospel. After the Gospel was preached, the Holy Spirit convicted and converted the hearts of the people and 3000 got saved (Acts 2:41), and subsequently many more got saved and joined the membership of the growing Church (Acts 2:47).

The gift of tongues is no longer given to the Church today (1 Cor 13:10). What we see today in the Charismatic churches are not tongues but gibberish which brings confusion and chaos, not spiritual edification and growth. Although the gift of tongues is no longer given, the preaching of the Word in the various languages of the world remains. The Gospel has been translated into over 2000 languages and is going out into all the world. The power of the Spirit continues to work through the preaching of the Gospel and it continues to convict and convert sinners today (John 6:7-8, 1 Cor 1:17-21).

We see this power in the days of the Asian Awakening when God used Dr John Sung to preach the gospel and teach the Bible, to rebuke sin and call both unbelievers and nominal believers to repent of their sins. Hundreds of thousands in China and Southeast Asia were soundly converted and revived.

(2) Church Growth Comes by the Preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:21-24, 29-32, 37-38)

The Church in the first century steadily grew in numbers and spiritual maturity. This is achieved purely through the preaching of the Gospel (not through philosophy, psychology, oratory, entertainment, money, business tactics or marketing strategies).

What is the Gospel you might ask? The answer is clearly given by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4—it is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures. Never forget to preach the resurrection of Christ! If you will study every sermon preached by the Apostles in the Book of Acts, you will not fail to find that every sermon mentions the resurrection of Christ. No resurrection, no truth. No resurrection, no gospel. No resurrection, no salvation. The power of the gospel lies in the resurrection of Christ. That was why Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Rom 1:16).

Today, we see these megachurches boasting many members, but how many of their members are truly born again? What is the Gospel preached in these churches? Is it a gospel of works (Roman Catholic Church and the many cults)? Is it a gospel of health and wealth (Charismatic churches)? Is it a gospel without Jesus being fully God (Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormonism)? Is it a gospel of bread and butter (social gospel of the Liberals)? Is it a gospel of armed revolution (ie liberation theology)? All these gospels will not and cannot save.

The Gospel that saves must be the Gospel of repentance. The Apostle Peter preached, “Repent and be baptised everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). The Apostle Paul made it very clear what saves, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Rom 10:9).

(3) Church Growth Comes by the Separation of the Church from the World unto Christ (Acts 17:16-31, 19:17-41)

The Church can only grow in a spiritually healthy way if it keeps itself pure and clean from the influences of worldly religion, philosophy and culture. The Church must not become idolatrous and immoral. In Acts 17:16- 31, Paul makes a sharp distinction between the gods of this world and the only living and true God who is Creator and invisible. But this invisible Creator-God became visible and Saviour. He is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose from the dead. There is only one God, one Saviour, one Gospel, one Way (John 14:6, 1 Tim 2:5). That was why the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthian church, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Cor 2:1-5).

God requires His Church to be separate and not syncretistic if it is to be powerful and effective for His glory and service. The Ephesian church made a great impact in the world by separating itself from idolatry and witchcraft. The believers once converted, put away all their heathen gods and practices. The Apostle Paul commanded in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

By way of illustration, a lighthouse is only good and useful if it stands alone and away from tall trees or buildings so that its powerful beacon can shine forth its light without hindrance and obstruction, and all can  see  clearly the way to safety. This was the testimony of the Bible-Presbyterian Church in Singapore founded by the Rev Dr Timothy Tow. In Growing Churches Singapore Style, Keith Hinton wrote, “…in 1950, Timothy Tow, influenced by the International Council of Christian Churches (ICCC), broke from the Presbyterian Church to form the new and rapidly growing Bible denomination … Dean Kelley, in his research on American churches, also discovered that churches which are clear in their beliefs, strict in their membership requirements, rather isolationist and actively evangelistic, grew much faster than those with a social message, ecumenical associations and easy membership terms.”

The doctrine of separation is a doctrine of Church purification and preservation. Once a church rejects this doctrine, it will become totally defenceless and vulnerable to all kinds of false teachings and heresies that will kill it; like a person infected with HIV/AIDS, it will not survive.

Conclusion

How to grow the Church God’s way? The answer is simple: Grow the Church by the power of the Holy Spirit, preaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, and obeying the Father’s command to be separate from all worldliness and falsehood.

Let us not envy the megachurches because it is not size that determines whether a pastor or a church is successful or not. Success is determined by one’s faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ and to His forever infallible and inerrant Words in Holy Scripture. The Lord Jesus at the end of His life and ministry had no more than 500 followers, but His Father in heaven commended Him nonetheless, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt 17:5).

God must get all the glory. “So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” (1 Cor 3:7). JK