Why Is The Church Not Growing

Why Is the Church Not Growing?

Why isn’t the church growing?

There are many possible answers. We could talk about weak preaching, poor leadership, worldliness, division, lack of evangelism, changing communities, or congregations that have lost their first love. But in this article, let us examine one reason that is sitting right in front of us.

Could it be that the church is not growing because most of the church is not doing ministry?

Ephesians 4 gives us a picture of how the body is supposed to function. Paul speaks of various roles given by Christ and explains their purpose, “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12).

Notice the order.

The saints are equipped for the work of ministry.

Somewhere along the way, however, many congregations completely reversed the arrangement. We hired a preacher and began expecting him to do the ministry. We appointed elders and expected them to build the congregation. Members began thinking their responsibility was to attend services, listen to sermons, put something in the collection, and go home.

Then we wonder, why aren’t we growing?

The preacher’s responsibility is not to perform every work of ministry while the congregation watches. Leaders are supposed to equip, teach, prepare, encourage, and strengthen the saints so that the saints can serve.

What would happen if an army operated like many congregations?

Imagine officers developing strategy, training soldiers, supplying equipment, and preparing everyone for battle. Then when the battle begins, all the soldiers sit down and say, “You officers go fight. That is what you are here for.”

Would that army win anything?

Yet congregations sometimes operate exactly that way.

Who is visiting the lonely?

“Call the preacher.”

Who is studying with the lost?

“Tell the preacher.”

Who is checking on the struggling family?

“Maybe an elder should do that.”

Who is reaching new people?

“That is leadership’s responsibility.”

Who is inviting neighbors?

Who is encouraging the weak?

Who is mentoring younger believers?

Who is finding opportunities to serve?

Silence.

Then Sunday arrives, everyone sits in the pews, and somebody asks, “Why isn’t this church growing?”

Maybe because most of the body is sitting down!

Paul describes the church as a body. Ephesians 4:16 speaks of the whole body being joined together, with “every part” doing its share. Growth is connected to the functioning of the entire body.

What happens to a physical body when most of its parts stop working?

It becomes disabled.

Imagine a body where the mouth works, but the arms and legs refuse to move. Would we call that healthy? Yet we sometimes expect the spiritual body to grow while only a handful of members are actually working.

A congregation of one hundred people should not have five ministers and ninety five spectators.

It should have one hundred servants.

Your ministry may not happen behind a pulpit. It may happen across a kitchen table. It may happen while visiting a widow. It may happen while teaching someone the gospel. It may happen while helping a struggling family. It may happen when you invite a coworker to study Scripture. It may happen when you mentor a young believer or encourage someone who is ready to quit.

But are you doing anything?

That is the uncomfortable question.

How many people have you invited recently?

Who are you personally trying to reach?

Who are you discipling?

Who are you encouraging?

Where are you serving?

Whose spiritual condition concerns you enough to actually do something about it?

It is easy to blame the preacher. It is easy to blame the elders. It is easy to complain that attendance is down and young people are disappearing. But perhaps before asking what leadership is doing, every member should ask, “What am I doing?”

Ephesians 4 does not present Christianity as a spectator religion.

Leaders equip.

Saints minister.

The body works.

The church grows.

Maybe the mystery of why some congregations are dying is not much of a mystery at all.

We have too many spectators and not enough servants.

Too many people watching and not enough people working.

Too many people asking what the church can do for them and too few asking what they can do for the Lord.

So why isn’t the church growing?

There are certainly many reasons.

But perhaps one reason is painfully simple.

The workers are sitting in the pews waiting for somebody else to do their work.