Want Personal or Church Growth,Try This

For years now there have been books and seminars on "How to grow your church," "How to have a growing, vibrant small group ministry," and others promoting growth and outreach. I attended, or with the books, read some of them. While they had a lot of good information, like many others I found they really did not produce the promised results. There are many reasons why that happened. I think one big reason why we do not see personal and/or church growth is that the seminars and our lives together fall short in obeying a command Jesus gave us.

That command is, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." {John 13:34-35}

Part of that command should have been quite familiar to his listeners, because the Mosaic Law taught that God's People are to love each other as in Leviticus 19:18, It also comes out in Jewish history for example; The Jewish people were working with Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. A type of church growth project if you will. The work was hindered as Nehemiah 5 tells us because this and related commands were being broken.

Jesus takes the command to "love your neighbor as yourself" a step further. He tells Christians to love each other as HE loves us! That is a love that was humble enough to leave the glories of Heaven to live among us in Galilee under the Romans. That was humble and caring enough to touch a leper and wash the feet of Judas right before he betrayed Jesus. A love that loved us so much he died a terrible death so we could be forgiven and have life with him. Jesus commands that, that is how much we must love each other!

This love goes beyond being polite to each other in public. It goes beyond helping each other when a disaster strikes. It goes beyond normal behavior we would call loving. Many nonchristians love those ways! To our shame, some of them do it better and more consistently than we do. This is a love that is totally selfless. It always puts the others present and eternal good before our own. It loves like Christ does.

When the Jewish people under Nehemiah repented and started obeying the Law about loving each other the work on the wall went forward to completion. When the early Jerusalem Church repented and started loving in Acts 6 the Church leaped forward. I find it compelling to reflect on the fact that if the growth and blessing individually and corporately is not there then we had better examine and repent in this area.

How to turn this around? First, realize it is a problem area. Second, confess that to God. Third, repent of it in your own life. That involves letting God work in you to turn your thinking, attitudes, and actions 180 degrees around. As enough individual Christian do this the Church will start turning around and really loving each other as God loves us.

This is also important because Jesus says this sets us apart from other people. Loving like this shows other people that we are really his.

Back in the 60's and 70's Christians sang a song by Peter Scholtes I have not heard for a long time. Maybe we should start singing and living it again. The chorus goes this way, "And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love."

Confess, repent and let your attitudes and action show you are Christ's disciple by your love.

Written by Rev. Daniel B. Baker February 2005



Articles by Rev. Daniel B. Baker :: Webmaster: Joseph I. Baker