I almost get the sense in some circles that when it comes to church growth, it is you either grow, or you die. Grow or die. That sounds pretty dramatic except for one thing. It is not true.
I have not grown one fraction of an inch in height since high school. We grow to our natural height and then we stop growing. We may get bigger, but we will never get any taller.
We are only democratic when it comes to serving in our churches. Everyone can and ought to serve in some capacity. We are an all voluntary congregation when it comes to serving and evangelism.
We are a command and control church when it comes to preaching or teaching adults. No one is allowed to do anything no matter how qualified they are unless they are the pastor. Or an active evangelist.
We do what works and we do what we have been taught to do. Most of what we do is not spelled out in the Bible. No one in the first century gave any thought as to how churches should operate in the 21st century. God is eternal, but we aren't. We can only see what is obvious. To us.
Pastor Wayman Mitchell built or enlarged buildings when we were bursting at the seams. He used tents for conference. The church building was too small. The tents met the need for a long time. Now we build conference centers that we only use occasionally and that cost a lot of money. Our building is still not finished completely. Two years since we moved in and we just got a sign up.
Well, that clears out the cobwebs for this week. I am grateful to have this outlet to share what's on my mind.
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