People Spots
Online
Produced by James W.
Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries
Growth Issues: Spiritual Warfare
by James W. Moss, Sr.
The strategies to grow a church can be fairly complex. They involve affirming the body and people. A solid concern for absentees is required. The church needs a meaningful evaluation and strategy to be sure it has a welcoming climate. Finally, there needs to be an aggressive outreach ministry to create a flow of new people. Then the church will need to create new small groups and new worship services. I have addressed all of these issues in a variety of ways in previous articles.
But, let’s say you have done all of the above and significant growth occurs. Your church has been successful in ministry. That can mean different things to different churches. Let’s say your church has grown from 25 to 60 in a limited facility. Or your church may have grown from 60 to 150 in more spacious settings. Your church may have grown from 150 to 300. In a few instances, your church may have hit all those spots. Growth will create a whole other set of issues.
Issue 1: spiritual warfare
The church is a spiritual, living organism. Producing growth involves one set of strategies that I have tried to highlight for you. However, when growth occurs there is another set of struggles that will appear. Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12,
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Let me use the words “spiritual warfare” to describe some of the issues that face a growing church. Some people claim they are facing spiritual warfare when they simply fail to do the things they should or when they simply create resistance to their ministry by using poor people skills.
However, let me assure you that spiritual warfare is real. I was reading an article in our denomination’s paper called The Church Advocate written in the first decade of the 1900’s. The author cited six growing churches. Then he made this observation: “The one thing they all had in common was that they all experienced difficulties.” Every growing church will experience problems apart from the normal growth issues that I mention.
Possible symptoms
They will vary greatly in scope. It may be as simple as three key families getting job transfers. It may involve moral failures of clergy or laity. It may be that a treasurer steals $50,000.00 from the building fund. It could be the church fails to get a zoning variance needed for expansion. It could be that a key person, who has lost influence as the church grows beyond the capacity of any one person to call the shots, misbehaves. Maybe all of these issues can simply be explained away. But, then again, maybe there is another explanation. It may be spiritual warfare.
I heard that David Mains commented that many of the churches that used the 50 Day Spiritual Adventure would frequently encounter issues of spiritual warfare because of the potential for good. I suspect the same may be true of the churches following Rick Warren’s 40 Days of Purpose. Spiritual warfare issues have the possibility of destroying a church’s growth potential or at the very least sidetracking the church from its basic mission for an extended period of time.
Whenever, a growing church encounters several such problems, I am prone to say, “This church must have tremendous potential for good in the Kingdom. The enemy is attempting to block every good effort.”
What does a church do?
First of all, seek to know the will of God for the body. I am a firm believer that when individuals or a church honestly seeks to know the will of God, they will find it. As you come to know his will, then strive to do it.
Stay focused on the tasks that brought growth.
Bathe the church in prayer. There is tremendous power in prayer. There is even greater power when the people of a church pray together in unity for the advancement of the Kingdom. Years ago, one of the parachurch groups had a nationwide campaign that promoted, “The family that prays together, stays together.” Let me suggest that the church that prays together, stays together. We have a mighty God on our side.
John writes: “. . . the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
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January 20, 2005. Volume 8, Issue 2. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way with proper credit. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.