There are a lot of theories about how people and churches grow. There’s a lot of elbow grease and mind numbing effort put into “growing.” But is it all that necessary?
I have concluded that the way things really grow is by removing the obstacles. If God doesn’t sponsor life in a ministry or life, there is no point in trying to make it alive to begin with. But if he does sponsor life then we have a steward’s task of releasing it. Managing wouldn’t be all that bad a word for it, either.
If life has been sponsored, the main task of the leader is to get the obstacles out of the way. There is a lot you can do to grow or increase numbers. Sometimes I wonder if they wouldn’t have happened without the effort anyway.
Are there attitudes that are obstacles to growth? – get rid of them. Are their people who are in the way? – pray they move. Do you have poor music? – fix it. Do you have a complacent heart? – change it.
Get out of the way and let it grow. Doing the right stuff is what is usually left after the obstacles get moved.
