Church Growth Jesus Style

In Matthew 13:31-32 Jesus said of a mustard seed picturing the kingdom of heaven, “when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” Church growth advice is for sale at a price. The effective ingredient of church growth is not for sale at any price, Jesus. He said, “I will build my church.” (Matthew 16:18) Is it wrong to get advice? Of course not. Jesus predicted that the kingdom of heaven would grow to be the largest garden plant, a tree. In the garden of world religions Christianity is now the largest.

Tiny Seeds

In Matthew 13:31-32 Jesus called a mustard seed, “the least of all the seeds.” This is conversational speech, like saying, “Isn’t that just the cutest baby!” It is not a scientific or statistical conclusion but an everyday superlative. Those trained in scientific precision may quibble that there are seeds smaller than the mustard seed, but those trained in literary style would be quick to point out that is not the point of the parable. A lot of biblical criticism comes from misunderstanding the genre of speech. Being highly educated in one field we are often totally ignorant of other fields of study. Jesus’ frequently taught with imagery and hyperbole.

Jesus’ Little Flock will Grow

In Matthew 13:31-32 Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.” What kind of plant was the mustard tree? Some experts believe it was the black mustard, an herb which can grow to three meters (ten feet). The parable of the mustard seed gives the impression that the kingdom of heaven, though once a little flock, will become very large. The mustard seed certainly did correlate to the smallness of the kingdom in the beginning. However, it foretold a far greater, all-encompassing future. Indeed, where Jesus used the term “little flock” He was addressing his disciples, not the eventual size of the Church (Luke 12:32).

The Kingdom of Heaven is …

In Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 Jesus described some traits of the kingdom of heaven. He spoke in parables because the kingdom of heaven was still a well-kept secret. As it grows, it is becoming less of a secret. The kingdom of heaven has become the largest venture of all time, covering about a third of humanity. Jesus rules the largest kingdom on earth, a spiritual kingdom hidden from plain sight. Like yeast it will someday leaven all of humanity. Like a buried treasure not seen by human eyes, it is the most precious treasure of all. It is currently a mixture of good and evil, old and new.

Jesus, Liberal or Conservative

Liberals and conservatives accuse each other of evil. Do conservatives protect mere human traditions, traditions inspired by God or traditions like Moses’ bronze snake that have become useless idols or all the above? Do liberals depart from the Bible or refuse to interpret the Bible legalistically or both? Jesus is described as liberal or conservative on a variety of issues, but He is always orthodox. In Matthew 13:40-43 Jesus used the term weeds, “They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Judgmentalism & Judgment

We’ve all met people who complain that the Church is too judgmental. It’s true — in part — but the statement itself also judgmental. The Church does not own irrational and snobbish criticism exclusively. It’s common to all. We try to make good judgments by discerning between right and wrong. When is judgment right and when is it wrong? In Matthew 13:41 Jesus said, “The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.” If someone is condemned or not is not ours to judge? What is Jesus’ alone to judge is not our business.

The Children of the Kingdom

In Matthew 13:38 we read in the parable of the wheat and weeds, “The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.” Outward appearances can be deceiving. Only Jesus can truly judge between the wheat and weeds in the world. Even in the church, not all professing Christians are righteous. The visible church has always been a mixture of good and evil (1 John 2:19-20; Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 9:6; 2 Peter 2:20-22). At harvest the righteous will be visible because the children of the kingdom “will shine forth as the sun.”

7 Keys to the Parable of the Weeds

Jesus gave 7 keys to understanding the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13:37-39. They help us understand other parables. 1) Who really sows? “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.” 2) Where is God working? “The field is the world.” 3) Are we God’s children? “The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom.” 4) Who are Satan’s children? “The tares are the sons of the wicked one.” 5) Who is ultimately responsible for evil? “The enemy who sowed them is the devil.” 6) How long must we wait? “The harvest is the end of the age.” 7) Who harvests? “The reapers are the angels.”

Waiting Until Harvest

Do we get upset and angry with wrongdoing in the Church? Should we excommunicate all remorseless sinners until few are left in the church? Should we refuse to have communion with those who are corrupt and unresponsive to God? What if in so doing, we also offend family members and friends who are sincere Christians? In Matthew 13:30 Jesus said, “Let both grow together until the harvest.” Jesus does not ask us to tolerate evil but be patient because the responsibility is not ours but the angels’. The Church has always been a mixture of sinners and saints. We must be patient, praying for repentance and waiting until the harvest.

Evils in the Church

The Church does much good in the world, like schools, universities, medical care, music, arts, literature, science, human rights, opposing slavery, influencing laws, providing orphanages, care for the hungry and poor. Why is evil also in the Church? Why did Catholics exterminate Waldensians and murder tens of thousands during the Inquisition? Why did Catholics and Protestants murder Anabaptists? Why did Calvinists murder French priests? Why do Orthodox persecute Russian Protestants? Can we weed all corruption out of church? In Matthew 13:28-29 Jesus described evil to his disciples as weeds among the wheat. “‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked. ‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do.”

What are Tares?

In Matthew 13:24-25 Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.” The weed was probably darnel, called cockle and false wheat. It exists worldwide, looking similar to wheat until maturity. Wheat ears are heavy. It hangs down. Darnel ears are light. It stands tall. The wicked seem to prosper while the righteous suffer. Cockle has a deeper root. Removing it would pull out the wheat. A solution is to let both grow together until harvest and separate them then, when the righteous will shine.

Fail in Order to Succeed

An old axiom says that failure is the stepping stone to success. Are we afraid of failure? The road to success is paved with failures. Before the farmer in the Parable of the Sower had a successful crop he failed in three areas. We fail in these same areas. We allow the devil to snatch the word of God away from us. We allow the deceitfulness of wealth to choke out the word of God. We are shallow in faith and quit too easily. Paths can be plowed up, thorns can be uprooted and rocks can be pulverized into good productive soil. All our failures can be stepping stones to success.

Sow Indiscriminately

In the Parable of the Sower Jesus spoke of the kingdom of heaven being like an indiscriminate sower. This contradicts theories surrounding church growth of targeting certain statistically measurable demographics. There is no such target audience in this parable. The seed of the kingdom is sown with wild abandon. I like that. It’s more like spreading of the Gospel with faith instead of using man-made formulas. A well-known leader in the church growth movement once said that he could build a church a mile wide but only an inch deep, only a pastor can build depth. Jesus said something quite different. He said, “I will build My church” (Matthew 16:18).

Why Parables

In Matthew 13:10-18 Jesus revealed why He spoke in parables. It was because, “whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” So, those who have no interest in learning to obeying God will not understand. Not everyone has ears that desire to hear, but those who have the desire can ask God for understanding. A parable is a story, an allegory that illustrates a moral or spiritual lesson. To those who really learn to understand, Jesus says, “blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear.”

He Who Has Ears

In Matthew 13:9 is a familiar saying of Jesus, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” What does that mean? It means, Pay attention! It does not mean hearing outwardly only, but deep down inside. It means to comprehend. It means to put to use the parables Jesus taught. It is an invitation to think about the deeper, hidden meaning. Why did Jesus paint such familiar farming pictures? Are there morals to His stories? His parables require more than ordinary powers of superficial thought to understand. Jesus said this proverbial conclusion more than once, perhaps to indicate which of His teachings were of greatest importance. Do we hear?

Fruit-Filled Christianity

In Matthew 13:8, 23 what happens in good soil that causes the seed of the word of the kingdom to grow so well? After describing superficial, shallow and worry-filled lives, Jesus described fruit-filled Christianity. What is the difference? One difference is understanding. The Greek implies being “put together” as in the God-given ability to synthesize the word of the kingdom into a whole picture. The Holy Spirit helps us to put spiritual ideas together producing a fruit-filled Christianity. John the Baptist understood this when he chided the Pharisees about repentance. As a genuine change of heart is seen by its fruits, so does authentic Christianity produce a fruit-filled life.

Anxious & Deceived Christianity

In Matthew 13:7, 22 what happens in the thorns that causes the word of the kingdom to be choked? How do anxiety and wealth suffocate us? Why do we receive the word, and circumstances soon strangle it? Like thorns, worldly cares and affluence suck the life out of us. We are enticed to waste time and effort on worthless materialism. Worldly success becomes all-consuming. Then, important things suffer, like family life and the word of God. The result is that our lives become spiritually dead. On such a treadmill, we have less time to even think about the word of the kingdom. How do we escape our prisons to freedom?

Shallow Christianity

In Matthew 13:5-6, and 20 what happens on rocky soil that causes the seed of  the word of the kingdom to die so quickly? The seed that fell on the rocks did take root, but it was shallow. It had no deep root and died when hard times came. Shallow Christianity focuses on good times and materialism, but not deep spiritual things. For example, health and wealth are a focus of shallow Christianity. Suffering and persecution are rarely or never preached in such circles. The Bible teaches: blessed are those who suffer and are persecuted for righteousness. Shallow Christianity cannot handle the truth and avoids it. But deep-rooted Christianity lives on.

Superficial Christianity

In Matthew 13:4 and 19 the message of the kingdom is snatched away by birds. What happens? If we are careless with the message of the kingdom, it can be taken away. When the word of the kingdom comes, we should take time to understand it, because it is easily lost. We may even call ourselves Christian, but is it only a label, superficial, just on the surface? Is it only an outward show and not a deep Christian life? There is no substitute for the word of the kingdom as a lamp to guide our path (Psalm 119:105-112). Do we take time to understand the word of the kingdom?

Like New and Old Treasures

In Matthew 13:51-52 Jesus spoke of those who convert from an Old Testament faith to the kingdom of heaven as being “like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” We have treasures from both Old and New Testaments. We have treasures from both old and new music styles. It requires some maturity and education for a church to sing old and new songs in worship. Grandchildren honor grandparents’ music choices and grandparents know it is biblical to “sing a new song” (Psalm 33:3; Psalm 40:3; Psalm 96:1; Psalm 98:1; Psalm 144:9; Psalm 149:1; Isaiah 42:10; Revelation 5:9).