In this episode of The E.A.R. Podcast, host Brandon Queen tackles a question that often challenges church leaders and believers: How do we measure the growth of the church? With Jesus' promise in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church,” as the foundation, Brandon explores whether growth should be gauged by numbers, spiritual depth, or faithfulness to the Great Commission. Discover why numbers matter but shouldn’t define success, what true growth looks like in a church, and how to stay faithful in seasons of both abundance and stagnation. This episode is for you if you’ve ever wrestled with balancing trust in Christ with practical stewardship. Tune in for Biblical encouragement, practical insights, and a renewed perspective on what it means to build a church that glorifies God. Don’t miss this insightful discussion—listen now and be inspired to lead your church, big or small, with faithfulness and courage! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/elderqueen/support
The Ear, Evangelical and Reformed, Christian Podcast. Welcome to The Ear, the Evangelical and Reformed, a Christian podcast that urges you to think deeper and draws you closer to God through faith. Through powerful sermons, teaching segments, and discussions, The Ear hopes to give you a different perspective on secular topics from a Christian worldview. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Please welcome your host, Brandon Queen.
Good morning, podcast world, and welcome back to the Ear podcast. This is another great segment of Pew Talk on the small church. I'm your host, Brandon Queen. And before we dive into today's topic, I want to kind of get some. good news off my chest, if you will. So Pastor Bill will not be joining me. That's not good news. He is actually preparing for the Lord's Day and also Christmas Eve service.
So he needs a break away from the podcast for a minute. But most of you may know this or you may not know this, but I recently got engaged and I am still excited about that and still basking in that precious moment, if you will. But moving on from that, Today's topic touches on a question that many pastors, church leaders and Christians wrestle with. How do we measure the growth of the church?
Jesus said in Matthew chapter 16, verse 18, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. This promise reassures us that Christ's authority and commitment is to the church. But does that mean we shouldn't focus on numbers at all? Or should we look at numbers to gauge growth and effectiveness in our ministries?
I don't know, but let's go ahead and explore what the scripture says and how we can balance trust in Jesus with our responsibility to steward the resources he has already given us. So Jesus will build his church. So first let's start with the foundation. Jesus declared that he will build his church.
This means the ultimate responsibility for growth, both spiritually and numerically, rests in Christ alone. You see, as believers, our job is to remain faithful to the Great Commission, making disciples of all nations, as stated in Matthew 28, verses 19 and 20. We sow seeds, water them, and trust God to provide the increase, as stated in 1 Corinthians 3, verses six to seven.
So this should give us great comfort, right? If growth seems slow or stagnant, it doesn't mean that we've failed, provided we're being faithful to the mission. It also means that we shouldn't panic or compromise the gospel for the sake of numbers. Why? Because the church belongs to Christ and he will sustain it.
Now, when we talk about, you know, compromising the gospel, you know, there's a lot of churches and pastors that will isogeet the text instead of exogeet the text. It becomes I, or if you do this, your problems are David and are Goliath in life and you're David. And, you know, that's not the gospel.
Okay, David's story was part of God's plan and a reminder to us, but our job as good stewards and preachers and teachers of God's word is to exerge the text. So remember, the church belongs to Christ and he will be the one to sustain it. So let me ask you this question. Are numbers important? So does that mean numbers don't matter at all? Not necessarily.
Numbers can tell a story, but they're not the whole story. You see, in Acts 2, verse 21, Luke records that about 3,000 people were added to the church in one day. This numerical growth was a sign of God's blessing and the effectiveness of the apostles' spirit-filled preaching. Brothers, I urge you to get back to spirit-filled preaching.
You see, numbers or amounts of people in the Bible often reflect moments of significance, like the feeding of the 5,000 or the 120 believers gathered in the upper room. However, the danger definitely lies in defining success solely by numbers. You see a church with a large attendance, but a shallow discipleship may look healthy on the outside, but be spiritually malnourished on the inside.
And conversely, a small church that prioritize teaching community and mission may be growing in ways that numbers don't immediately reveal. So. Now for the fun part of the discussion, let me give you some signs of true growth. You see, growth in a church isn't just about filling the seats, right? It's about number one, spiritual growth.
Our members growing in their knowledge of God, their love for Jesus and their obedience for scripture. So scriptural growth is number one. Number two, relational growth. Are people connecting in meaningful relationships, bearing one another's burdens and serving together? That's relational growth. Number three, missional growth.
Is the church reaching the lost and making disciples who make disciples? That's that missional growth. You see, when we focus on these indicators, we begin to shift our perspectives from numbers to faithfulness. And I think that's where every church needs to be in this day and age. We need to shift from numbers and shift over to faithfulness.
Now, I'm not going to say numbers don't matter because numbers can serve as a helpful tool. But they should never, ever become our idol. So. What if there's a lack of growth in the church? You see, if your church isn't growing numerically, it's probably worth asking a few questions. You know, we've been there. We had to do it. Are we praying for growth and relying on the Holy Spirit?
Are we faithfully preaching the gospel and equipping people to share their faith? Are there barriers that we can address such as lack of community engagement or ineffective discipleship models, whatever the case is. Or let me add one is the members of your church tithing. So you can put on more programs. Now that was a joke. Okay. But sometimes a lack of growth is called to refocus on the basics.
Our times. rely on what we do in the basics right so other times what is that relying on other times it's an opportunity to just simply trust god's timing and sovereignty and not overdo things and take things into our own matters and you know make it seem as if we are fixing the problem we just have to simply trust god's timing and his sovereignty
Why do we have to trust God and his timing and his sovereignty? Because he will build and sustain his church. So here's the bottom line, folks. Jesus promised us something. He promised to build his church. And that promise gives us freedom. Freedom to focus on faithfulness over performance. Let me say that again. Freedom to focus on faithfulness over performance.
Freedom to prioritize spiritual depth over numerical breadth. And freedom to trust that God's plans are bigger and better than ours. Yes, numbers indeed can be helpful indicators, but they're not the ultimate measure of our success. As long as we remain faithful to the mission, leave it to Jesus because he will handle the growth.
Remember that the church, its health, it's ultimately determined by how well it reflects Christ. not by how we fill pews. That's all I have, folks. I want you to remember this. Remember the questions. Are numbers important? You know, remember that Jesus will build his church. It is not our job to build something that's not ours. We build because it's Jesus's church.
We continue to build and add to that. So thank you for joining me today on the air podcast. And I hope that this episode of Pew talk would encourage you to just trust in Jesus's promise and to lead your church big or small with faithfulness and courage. Brothers and sisters, if you enjoyed this episode, do not forget to subscribe and share it with others who might benefit from this conversation.
Until next time, stay encouraged and keep pressing on. Thank you for listening to The Ear. Don't forget to subscribe. God bless.
You have reached the end of yet another episode from The Ear. We hope that God's word remains on the ears of the listeners. We pray that this podcast would urge you to go forth and spread his good news to the world. Thank you for tuning in. Please don't forget to subscribe to our podcast. See you at the next episode. God bless you and may his glory shine upon you.