Many people look at church growth as an indicator they are doing something right. I hear this again and again in churches that have experienced a period of growth. Church growth often convinces us that God is blessing our church. We must be wary of such thinking. While it is true in the book of Acts that God added to the church some amazing numbers, we must drill it into our heads that this miracle was a result of obedience, and of the obedient message preached by Peter.
40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:40-42
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:43-47
God added to the numbers of the new Church because they were continuing in the doctrine or teaching of the Apostles, they were unified in this teaching, and Peter had just preached the most profound sermon using the scriptures. Church growth can happen however, even if you are not preaching and teaching like the Apostles.
In the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares the Bible tells us both the wheat and the tares (weeds) will continue to grow until our Lord Jesus returns. This is a good picture to ponder when you think about Church growth and weeds.
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”Matthew 13:24-30
Make sure the growth you are seeing in your church are not weeds! Notice the scripture says while the men slept the enemy came in and sowed weeds. Don't be asleep! Keep watch! Elders please keep watch over your congregation! We are living in a time like I have never seen before. False teachers are truly in every Church, and they are growing weeds. People love to attend churches that tickle their ears with the positive messages of God's love while leaving out the other attributes of God…in particular, His holiness, His Righteousness, and His Wrath. These false churches are multiplying rapidly.
The old adage “growing like a weed” is a truthful statement. Weeds grow faster than good green grass. My yard is a reflection of that. I have a yard with almost no grass and only weeds. My yard full of crabgrass, and maybe about 5 square feet total out of 2 acres of yard is good fescue grass. The crabgrass overtakes and kills the fescue. I haven't kept watch over my yard. I failed to kill the crabgrass. This same picture can happen in your church. Once you let the weeds start growing they multiply, they grow quickly, and they overtake and kill the good grass.
So how do we prevent the weeds? Be awake, be sober, be steadfast. Don’t let them grow. Preach and teach the Word of God and strictly hold on to "the faith" once and for all delivered to the saints. The faith is the body of doctrine that we find in our Bible. There are not multiple faiths.....only one is correct. Keep watch over your small groups....especially women's bible studies. I say this as a woman who has seen the false teaching in almost all, yes, almost all of women's bible/book studies. The Beth Moore's, the Joyce Myer's, the Paula White's....they are wrong. Encourage your women to simply teach the Bible. Encourage them to use a good Bible commentary such as the Believers Bible commentary and just study the Word. Encourage your women to avoid the Eve mentality (see my article on this site), which is that God's Word is not enough. God's word is enough. It's everything we need! Preach and teach the whole counsel of God’s Word. We don't need book studies! Try to avoid topical teaching and preaching. Topical preaching or teaching is when you choose a topic in your mind and then choose verses from the Bible to match your topic. This method of teaching or preaching will very often take scripture out of context. Teach the whole… all the verses, one chapter at a time. I'm not saying that all topical teaching and preaching is bad, but there is danger in this type of teaching.
The bottom line: Don't let the weeds come into your yard.