The Folly of Church Growth Gurus

In the first part of the text, Jesus tells the disciples to pay attention to what they have heard, or take heed what they hear. In other words, they should apply and be good stewards of the mysteries Jesus has imparted to them. They must be doers of the Word, not hearers only. And they must pass on and teach what they have learned. It is not to be hoarded in secret. If they are faithful, Jesus will grant them more understanding and more opportunity and more fruitfulness. If not, even what they have will be taken away. The same applies to us. We have been give the Word of God, access to the throne of grace in prayer and religious freedom. But what are we doing with it? If we squander His gifts, He will take them away. And that is exactly what we see happening in America.

In the second part of the text, Jesus again describes the kingdom of God as a seed planted in the soil. Its growth is mysterious. How it grows,the sower does not know. This shows the great mystery of the faith. How is a person converted? How does he go from hating God to loving Him? How is a new creature formed within? No one knows. How do we make converts? No one knows. We know we must preach the Word, but we do not know how to make converts. How do we grow our churches? No one has a clue. And yet America is overrun with books by church growth specialists telling us exactly how to grow the kingdom of God. Pure folly.