In my recent post, “Are protestant evangelical churches confusing Success with Faithfulness?” I drew an association regarding the way churches are connecting success with their faithfulness to the calling they feel God has put on them as leaders. After some comments and additional conversations with others, here is what I have learned about these church leaders:
So, for the sake of argument, let’s assume that these church leaders ARE being faithful, which we have to since we don't know them. If this is true, then maybe the confusion is simply in the way success is being defined!
I was talking to a church planting coach yesterday and he commented that when he hears of a church growing by huge numbers, naturally he takes notice. When he talks to these leaders and they are telling him how much God has blessed their church because they are growing so much, he responds with, ‘that’s great, what is your plan?’ – ‘what other ways are you measuring success?’ – ‘what is the mission of your church?’ - 'how are you developing community?' If they have a plan and they measure success differently than head counting, and they have a clear focus to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ (to equip people to go out and reap and sow) then maybe they are better off then those who seem to only talk about their attendance growth as means of success and faithfulness. But the problem I have is when I read a lot of church websites and church leader's blogs. What I see is the measuring of success in the wrong way.
Don’t take my word for it - take theirs:
Steve Furtick, founding pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC notes a tremendous success of growing his church to over 2,000 in less than two years. They just opened a second franchise called the “Union Campus.” Because of these successful numbers one blogger calls him a, “flat out pimp” because he grew his church and questions why he is not leading all the church planters conferences. To Steve’s defense I do like that he mentions that each person who “accepted Christ” was counseled privately.
Radiant Church of Surprise, Arizona claims to be the 18th fastest growing church in the country with attendance of 6,031. Their website shows off a lobby coffee shop equipped with a drive through (“Hey, can I get a Hail Mary to go with my latte?”) They recently talk about their Easter service they had at the University of Phoenix stadium on their website in which they list out all the cool things that will be there for families. They marketed their target audience in only one month with a patriotic tribute to our veterans and military personnel, JUMP 5 for the kids so they won’t get bored – followed by an autograph session with the group, a truckload of thousands of Krispy Kreme donuts for an “Easter Tailgate Party,” and oh yeah they also mentioned the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in one sentence in the last paragraph before tying it back to a relevant hook – a message spun off a Hollywood movie. As a result 14,243 people showed up. Success? Yes if their goal was to get a lot of people there.
Tony Morgan, Chief Strategic Officer of NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC gives weekly “box scores” of attendance along with growth percentage over the attendance last year during the same week. For their Easter weekend services, Tony boasted a “10,707 in total attendance; 3,262 person increase (43.8%) from Easter weekend last year.”
Now before you dismiss me as a bitter critic let me assure you I am not. These are not my words and claims, they are theirs. All that I am seeking is the answer to this question that I am wrestling with: What is the correct way to define success in church today?
