New Doors

Refreshment
This past Sunday as I was walking into our church building, I paused and stood outside for a moment. I noticed that something was different but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I realized that the church building had received two new exterior doors, replacing the old and weathered ones. It was somewhat of a pleasant surprise which caught my attention and made me laugh.

Coming from a 14,000 member mega-church in the buckle of the Bible Belt, I found this to be somewhat of a shock, seeing that the church building I'm in now only holds about 200 people. I've never seen a small town church purchase a simple need like new exterior doors. My soul was refreshed at the sight.

But it's not really about the doors.

Depth Over Width
If it's not really about the doors then what is it?

I have been learning that spiritual depth is more important than numerical width. What I mean is that too often is church growth measured by numerical increase. Spiritual growth is not dependent on how many pews can be filled each Sunday. The more people present does not indicate a level of spiritual maturity or Christ likeness. In this postmodern culture, souls are not crying out for a place to be lost in a sea of fake faces. At the heart of humanity is a need for Truth (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Truth is being searched for whether the postmodernists will admit it or not, as scripture testifies. What evangelicalism has given birth to is a church model of width over depth. Some evangelicals (if they are) today think: "Get as many people in the building and they will become spiritual. And if the building gets to small, just build a bigger one. Oh, and have you been to our Starbucks down the hall?"


Tent Multiplication
I'm learning now that by planting new churches is how God expects His followers to follow the great commission. According to research compiled by Dave Earley of Liberty University, "in the average year, half of all existing churches will not add one new member through conversion growth" thus these existing churches are growing through membership growth. It may sound elementary but membership growth is not conversion growth. These churches are adding new members not because the gospel has penetrated their hearts and they are adopted into the church, the bride of Christ, but because these churches are too concerned with "enlarging the place of their tent".

Ed Stetzer explains and supports this need for church planting as a fulfillment of the Great Commission saying that the, "New Testament Christians acted out these commands as any spiritually healthy, obedient believers would; they planted more New Testament churches."

Missional Methods
C. Peter Wagner has said in his book Church Planting for a Greater Harvest, that, "the single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is starting new churches." I myself, and those who have been called to communal, gospel-centered ministry, are not just looking for another method to collect dust on a book shelf, but rather the messy missional living that gets done on the life-on-life level. As I dwell deeper in experience with God my hope is to see a church of souls in community radically transformed by the gospel of Christ, by the power of His Spirit all to the praise of His glorious grace. I don't know exactly what that looks like yet, but I believe church can "be done" this way. More on that later.

Spiritual Rape & Dead Doors
A professor told me of his daughter's first experience with an alter call/sinner's prayer. He knew she did not fully understand the weight of her decision and described the gut wrenching feeling he got as if she had been, as he said, "spiritually raped". If what we are mainly focused on is getting as many people in our tents then all we are doing is attracting them into a building entering through doors leading to death.

New Doors
Although the doors on my church were updated and perhaps more attractive, once inside, the same powerful gospel is preached. In this postmodern world we may have to "become all things to all people" and update the "doors" through which people enter our family, but the one true gospel must not change. Updated, contextualized exterior, same life transforming gospel interior. And all of this because of the cross of Christ.


Zach Barton