Mega Church Growth Not So Mega
“At least three in four of those “new” attendees left another church to attend the growing megachurch. In other words, the majority of that “growth” is not growth but transfer of existing evangelicals,” Dickerson, “The Great Evangelical Recession.”
As a matter of fact Dickerson, in his revealing book, also states that “Of the 3.7 million United States evangelicals who are eighteen to twenty-nine years old, 2.6 million will leave the faith at some point between their eighteenth and twenty-ninth birthdays. That’s 260,000 who leave each year. That’s 712 who will quit the faith today, another 712 tomorrow, and so forth.”
Don’t shoot the messenger- its the truth whether we like the above stats or not! I wonder when church growth seminars are going to stop focusing on being “church-seeker-senstive” with models that simply attract other Christians to their “new” churches and start teaching “luke-warm-spoon-fed-spirit-li
Oh well, I guess if you don’t like it that way– there are 10 churches down the road that will take you in your “luke warm” state and let you remain comfortable on the pew while the world around you perishes. But please be sure of this, God will judge you for what you did on this earth with His gospel. The blood of men’s souls will be required of you in the Kingdom to come.
Questions to Ask Yourself
- When was the last time I led someone to the Lord personally?
- When was the last time I spoke to a stranger about the gospel?
- When was the last time my church equipped me to publicly preach the gospel in my community?
- When was the last time my pastor and church leadership did what Jesus and the apostles did and shared his or her faith on the streets, in the parks or in public without a stage and microphone?
- When was the last time I wept for lost souls?
- When was the last time I saw a miracle or demon cast out or a spiritual gift occur in public with the lost?
- When was the last time I read the book of Acts and was convicted for both personal and national revival?
The Stats Don’t Lie:
- 95% of all Christians have never won someone to the Lord!
- 80% of Christians never even share their faith!
- Only 2% of all Christians are active in evangelism ministries at their church!
- 63% of the leadership, including deacons and elders, have not led one stranger to Jesus in the last two years through the method of “Go Ye” into all the world!
- 49% of the leadership ministries spend zero time in an average week ministering outside of the church!
- 89% of the leadership ministries have zero time reserved on their list of weekly priorities for going out to evangelize!
- 99% of church leadership believes that every Christian, including themselves, have been commanded to preach the gospel to a lost world (notice the hypocrisy, “they know and teach, but don’t do and obey!”).
- 97% of all Christians believe that if the church leadership had a greater conviction and involvement in evangelism, that it would be an example for them to follow.
- 96% of church leadership believe their churches would grow faster if every Christian would be more involved in evangelism.
Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”