Lutheran Vocational Evangelism

(How Does the Church Grow?)

We talked about how the visible church grows, that is that the visible church grows through numbers, but are all those we count in the visible church actually in the invisible Church? Unfortunately too often the invisible Church is forfeited for the visible church, mainly because that is what one sees and that is how “success” is counted in our world.
 

How does the Church, capital “C” grow? The Church grows through the means the Lord has given to grow His Church, the means of grace: the Word, Confession and Absolution, and the Sacraments; Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The difficulty with this “means of grace” kind of growth is that it is not something we can see nor count, it is only what the Lord can see and only what the Lord can count.
 

When we look at the outside of any given church, we might be impressed or even depressed with what we see, big numbers in attendance or small numbers. Yet, this outside looking is not what God sees. God sees what is in the heart. God sees those He has given faith and those who come to be strengthened and kept in faith.
 

So, as we look at the Church and as we dwell on the questions, “Is this church growing?”, we really cannot answer by simply looking at the outside, at the numbers. If we really want to know if a church is growing, we might look at such things as Bible Class and Bible Study attendance as well as works of service. Are people pitching in, being a part, or are people simply showing up for the service on Sunday morning and that is all that is going on in their spiritual life? Are people having personal and family devotions in their homes? Are people actually reading their Bible on their own? The spiritual growth of the church brings the leader of the church, the faithful attendees, the faithful givers. Those in the Word are the true leaders of the church because they know what, where, and how God wants His Church to function.
 

The desire of one having faith is to be given even more of the gifts of God. The desire of one having faith is to be when and where the gifts are given out and then to respond, to live as a priest, to offer one’s life as a living sacrifice. Unfortunately the opposite is also true. As we see those absent themselves, not being in the Word, not doing works of service, we might surmise they are not a part of the Church. Of course, only God can see in the heart and so only God knows what is truly His Church.

15 of 52    © Rev. Dr. Ronald A. Bogs (2017)