In many ways, the last year of lockdowns has merely served to expose the flimsy foundations upon which the Western church has tried to build in the last 20 years.
At the end of Jesus’ greatest message, The Sermon on the Mount, He says this:
“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” (Matt. 7:24-27).
My thesis here is that the Western church has been too dependent on human cleverness and worldly techniques but has not been radically dependent on Jesus. We want to grow big churches, but we are not vitally dependent on Jesus, as Head of the Church. We have been building on sand instead of on the Rock Himself.
For church leaders, what has occupied the greatest amount of energy and attention for the last 20 or more years? What have we spent the most financial resources on? What are the biggest conferences we have attended?
The Church Growth Movement. The Seeker Movement. Church Marketing techniques. Church Systems. Etc.
Let me just interject that my criticism is as much pointed at myself as anyone else. I have spent hours listening to the “experts” tell me how they did it and how I can also be successful.
As leaders, how do we measure success? Numbers. Always numbers. Attendance, budgets, building sizes, membership.
When I was on staff of the Vineyard Anaheim, now more than 20 years ago, we held conferences that attracted thousands. Why? Our numbers said to other churches, “Come learn how to build better numbers in your church.” As other churches grew big, they offered conferences that attracted people who were looking to grow their numbers. Willow Creek, Saddleback, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, I highly admire Bill Hybels and Rick Warren. I remember weeping as I listened to Bill Hybels talk about his heart for the lost. It was obvious that his church grew because of the move of God through him. If you heard Rick Warren’s story, you would realize that the Spirit of God moved creatively through him. They were men on fire for God.
But other leaders gathered to study their techniques so that they could be “successful” and thus gain the same notoriety and build a similar empire. But these leaders seldom developed the same heart for the lost or the same total dependence on God’s Spirit.
In Ephesians 4:11-16, we are told that the Equipping ministries of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher are meant to equip the rest of the church to do the work of the ministry. This is at the center of God’s plan to grow the church.
But the key is that Jesus is the Head of the church, from whom the whole body is knit together and built up. The pastor/teacher is NOT the head of the church. He/she is a servant whose job is to equip everyone else. The apostle is NOT the head of the church. The prophet is NOT the head of the church. The evangelist is NOT the head of the church. They are all servants who should be submitted to the one head, Jesus Christ.
JESUS IS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH!
The problem is stated well in verse 14:
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming” (Eph. 4:14).
The church has been tossed about on turbulent waters and wind gusts of teaching. Clever and cunning. Even deceitful. These teachings promise to give us what we want: success as measured by numbers.
But the numbers tell us something else: the church is shrinking, not growing.
So what is the biblical alternative?
“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Eph. 4:15).
For many years, John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard, presented a conference entitled, “Signs and Wonders, and Church Growth” at venues around the world. At one point in the conference he would deliver a keynote address entitled, “What the Holy Spirit is Saying to the Church Today.” And his point is as relevant today as it was then, “I want my church back.”
Jesus is supposed to be the Head of the Church. But we leaders have tended to think that we know how to run the church better than Him. If we learn anything from the last 20 years, it is that we have been doing a poor job and it’s time for us to hand the steering wheel back to Him. Jesus is the Head of the Church, and He wants His Church back.
