Scott at the Awaken Blog asked me to contribute something on the subject of church growth. Here’s what I sent, and I liked the idea so much, I’m posting it here too.
Leading a growing church is equal parts exhilaration and exasperation.
It seems like every time we restructure ourselves, the new structure is obsolete just two months later. Every time we discover a solution to our most current growth challenge, three brand new and even bigger challenges present themselves. It’s kind of like playing whack-a-mole.
Better yet, it’s like buying baby clothes. My wife and I have two sons, ages 2 years and 4 months. I’ve noticed that by the time she’s dressed them in their cute little outfit 2 times, it’s usually time to retire it and buy the next size up.
And that’s a good thing. Every parent wants their babies to grow and develop. But upgrading the wardrobe after every growth spurt is inconvenient… and expensive.
If you ask God to grow your ministry, be prepared to outgrow some of your baby clothes. Practically, this means you’ll have to replace, move and upgrade some of your key leaders and staff members. You’ll have to demolish, rethink, and rebuild many of your paradigms and systems. It’s inconvenient, expensive, and usually painful. It’s also inevitable.
I was pretty proud of myself for the originality of this analogy… until I realized it’s entirely unoriginal. Long before the current complexities of our day Jesus communicated this timeless truth in Matthew 9:16:
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.
When God grows you up, prepare to pay the price for a brand new wardrobe.