FAITHFUL AND FRUITFUL CONGREGATIONS EXPERIENCE FOUR KINDS OF GROWTH:
(1) NUMERICAL GROWTH, as they seek to evangelize large numbers of non-Christians through their life of witness and Gospel proclamation and bring them, by God’s grace, to faith in Jesus Christ;
Motivated by His love, and possessing an urgency that none perish but that all people might be saved, each disciple of Jesus vigorously seeks to make known His love for all people as they share the Good News about Jesus with those who do not believe in Him. They understand that they are the ones who have been sent by God into the lives of their family members, neighbors, friends and acquaintances as “fishers of men” and “sowers of the Word of God” so that they might embrace a saving way of life (and leave their perishing way that leads to eternal death and separation from God). Consequently, they possess an outwardly-focused impulse, as did their Lord, to share the Gospel with those who do not believe in Him with the hope that they, by God’s grace and activity, might come to saving faith in Him.
(2) MATURATIONAL GROWTH, as they grow up into Christ, who is the Head of the body, and become mature disciples of Jesus, who are also His stewards, servants, priests, witnesses, salt, light, and living letters;
A disciple is a believer in Jesus Christ who is an active student of God’s Word, building one’s life on the person and word of Jesus Christ and being stamped and fashioned in the mold of Jesus Christ as an imitator and living witness to Him. Being a wise disciple, they are committed to hearing the words of Jesus and putting them into practice (Matthew 7:24-27) so that they might grow up into Him in every way (Ephesians 4:11-18) and be equipped, as a mature follower of Jesus, for their ministry in the lives of other people, both believers and non-believers.
As His stewards, they seek to use all of the gifts that He has given them to prosper His business; as witnesses, they seek to speak and live in such a way that others can easily see that they have been with Jesus and that Jesus lives in them; as His priests, they pray for believers and non-believers before the throne of God frequently and fervently and, as they face others in their daily contacts and relationships, they become His instrument of counsel and consolation and blessing in their lives; as His servants, they empty themselves as did their Master and Lord (John 13:2-17; Philippians 2:5-11) so that others might be served; as His salt, they are to live in such a way that this corrupt world is challenged with His abundant life and convicted to embrace a living way filled with hope and health; as His light, they have been sent to do good works so that others may see these caring and loving works and glorify the Father who is the giver of every good gift and the Father of all light; as His living letters, they desire that their words and actions are “read” in such a way by others that they would see Jesus living in them (Acts 4:12-13; Galatians 2:20).
(3) ORGANIC GROWTH, as they are connected to each other in relationships that live out the “one another” admonitions of the New Testament, with each believer using his or her gifts for the building up of the body and for the common good;
A disciple does not live his or her life separate from other disciples since they are the body of Christ, each one connected to Him, and to one another, as His members. Consequently, they come together often to praise God for calling and gathering them into His family and making them to be His people. As they come together, they seek to hear and know the Word of God so that they might tell it to others and live it in their lives.
In their life together, they understand that each believer is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and serves as His instrument of blessing that counsels, consoles, encourages and builds up each other in the Christian faith and His way of life together. They also understand that the Gospel, along with at least one spiritual gift, has been entrusted into their life for the common good of others within the body and they actively seek ways to bless others with this gift. As they journey together in this life, and toward their eternity with God and His people, they are committed to be a blessing to each member of the body as they have an equal concern for one another, pray for one another, love one another, honor one another, serve one another, forgive one another, and give their lives for one another.
(4) INCARNATIONAL GROWTH, that wherever they go, and to whomever they come into contact with, they are able to be His ambassadors and living letters, mediating His mind and word and demonstrating His love, concern and compassion for others;
From the very beginning of time and history, God’s fundamental mission is to SAVE HUMANKIND for God wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of their salvation in Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:4). Every believer has a mission and is being sent by God to be His ambassadors and living letters as they “go and make disciples of all nations” and peoples. This mission is to permeate all of their lives and acts of living. In these daily mission trips, we are to make known His mind and word in the lives of others and demonstrate His love, concern and compassion.
Moreover, the growth of His church should be CONTINUOUS and in EQUILIBRIUM:
CONTINUOUS…in that the Christian faith, and way of life, is being modeled, taught, and passed on from generation to generation, and to the ends of the earth, so that the peoples of the earth might always know of His salvation:
God’s people know that God makes disciples through EVANGELISM and EDIFICATION as they pass on their faith from generation to generation. For example, ever since Timothy was an infant, his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice were active in making known in his life the Good News about Jesus so that he could know of his Savior Jesus and be thoroughly equipped for his life as a disciple and witness. Just as Jesus grew “in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men,” so Lois and Eunice, along with other believers in Lystra as the body of Christ in that place, taught and modeled a way of life for young Timothy so that he could grow “in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature” (Ephesians 4:13) and live a life that shared the Gospel with others so that they might know of His salvation. Lois and Eunice understood and lived out the admonition that God gave to His people during their wilderness journey that they were to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength” AND to impress His commands upon their hearts and upon the hearts of their descendants (Deuteronomy 6:5-6). Wherever, and to whomever, the Lord led them they were to talk about the stories of the sacred Scriptures and impress His design for living upon one another as they lived before a watching world (Deuteronomy 6:7).
Christianity is, therefore, a CONTINUOUS and CYCLICAL PROCESS: CONVERSION, as unbelievers are brought to faith in Christ Jesus as their Savior; MATURATION in the Christian faith, as believers are incorporated into the community of believers and become mature as they grow up into Christ who is the Head; and INCARNATION as His living letters, believers who are equipped and sent for witness/service in the world so that they can minister His mind/will and word and demonstrate His love and compassion for humankind.
IN EQUILIBRIUM for…to seek numerical growth without attending to maturational and incarnational growth is to neglect the teaching dimension of Jesus (teaching them to observe all these things that I have commanded you);
IN EQUILIBRIUM for…to seek only maturational and organic growth neglects the mission and scope of the Great Commission (GO and make disciples of all nations);
IN EQUILIBRIUM for…without maturational, organic and incarnational growth, the GOING and the TEACHING and the INCORPORATION cannot be effectively put into effect.
God’s people understand the proper balance between EDIFICATION (building one another in the Christian faith and becoming mature in Christ), and EVANGELISM (proclaiming the Good News about Jesus to those who do not believe in Him), and fostering a healthy, vibrant organic body life together. This integration is achieved through the counsel and practices of the five-fold gifts given to humankind from their ascended Lord (Ephesians 4:11-18) and was clearly seen in the life of those who followed Jesus after His resurrection and ascension. Day after day they met together and DEVOTED THEMSELVES to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer (Acts 2:42) AND of being of one heart and mind (Acts 4:32). Because of their message, and their way of living together, the Lord added daily to their group others who were being saved. Their mission was to live His design for living and proclaim the Good News to those estranged from the God who loved them and gave His life for them.