Why Don't Most Churches GROW?

[Mark H. Stevens, Th.D]

Church Growth!
Why don’t we experience it ?

1. The Aquarium Syndrome - Churches have become aquariums, or holding pens for Christians.

4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. (Luke 5)

2. Not Realizing Our Potential

29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. 31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4)

3. The Violent Take it by FORCE! Time to get in the devil's face.

48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. (I Sam. 17)

4. Evangelism doesn’t work from pulpits very well. Works better in the street.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matt. 28)

5. Pentecostal Prayer and Praise

7 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1)

32 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4)



6. Must have a STRATEGIC PLAN

10:1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. 2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

7. Discipleship vs. Membership - Disciples beget disciples, members come once a week.

23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? 26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.

[Anna]

Regarding the verse in Matthew, which you quoted above:

"The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force"

I present to you the following alternative Hebraic interpretation for your consideration:


There is a longish passage on the subject. The key to its understanding - according to this book - is an old rabbinic interpretation (midrash) of Micah (2:12-13).

This saying is certainly difficult to understand. It is not just ordinary Christians who have been stumped by it. There seems to be no satisfactory explanation of this verse even in scholarly literature. Apparently, a great deal of violence is connected with the Kingdom of Heaven. However, that does not agree very well with the rest of the teachings of Jesus. Many and varied have been the attempts on the part of ministers and scholars alike to explain this passage.

The key to its understanding turns out to be an old rabbinic interpretation (midrash) of Micah 2:13 discovered by Professor David Flusser. Micah 2:12-13.

These verses are full of rich imagery. It is the picture of a shepherd penning up his sheep for the night. He quickly builds a fold by throwing up a makeshift rock fence against the side of a hill. The next morning, to let the sheep out, he makes a hole or a breach in the fence by tossing some of the stones aside. He steps through his "gate" with the sheep following close behind. They have been penned up all night and can hardly wait to get out of their cramped quarters. Of course they push and shove, several trying to get through at once, literally breaking through, further breaching the little gate in their eagerness to get out and into the green pasture. Finally they burst out into the open spaces, rushing headlong after the shepherd.

In Micah 2:13 the "breach-maker" and the king are, of course, the same person, but in the rabbinic interpretation discovered by Professor Flusser, they are two different persons:the "breach-maker" is interpreted as being Elijah, and "their king" as the Messiah, the Branch of the Son of David.

Now we can begin to understand what Jesus is saying. He is not only hinting at Micah 2:13, but also a well-known rabbinc interpretation of it. "The Kingdom of Heaven," he says, "is breaking forth [not "suffering violence"], and every person in it is breaking forth [literally, "those who are breaking out break out in it, or by means of it," not "the violent take it by force'']" (Compare Luke 16:16). Two tremendous things are now happening simultaneously: the Kingdom is bursting forth into the world like water from a broken dam, and individuals within the Kingdom are finding liberty and freedom.

Jesus is again teaching His disciples about the Kingdom of Heaven, his movement. It started when Jesus began calling disciples, during John's active ministry, "the days of John the Baptist." Since then, the Kingdom of Heaven has been "breaking out".... The Kingdom is something that has been in existence since John the Baptist.

The Kingdom is breaking out and members of the Kingdom are breaking out. In Micah and also in the midrash it is the Lord and His sheep who are breaking out. Jesus alters that figure slightly so that it is the Kingdom and its sheep who are breaking out.......
Elijah had come and opened the way and the Lord Himself was leading a noisy multitude out to freedom....etc

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It comes from the ''Center for Judaic-Christian Studies". Christians who believe that many of the difficult to understand expressions in the Gospels can be better understood if we believe that Jesus originally gave them in Hebrew.