Church growth seems to be a major part of what church is all about. There are plenty of resources, as mentioned here previously, on how to grow your church. It seems in some circles that there is almost an attitude of “anything goes” when it comes to seeing your church grow. Not all of this is bad. We cannot minister in the exact same way as the 1st century church.
However, we do well not to focus on sermons, seminars, and speeches on church growth unless they send our thoughts back to the early church. We learned earlier that they grew because of persecution. It appears from the idea of “being at peace” and from the time period that the persecution had slowed a bit. Even now the church was multiplying.
What lessons can we learn? I think there are a couple of things. The passage says that they were edified for one thing. Instead of dividing and tearing down they were united and edifying – building each other up. Part of the pattern for the church to grow is mutual edification. Instead of finding ways to tear down the church must look for ways to build it up.
Two more things the church did. They walked in the fear of the Lord and comfort of the Holy Spirit. The fear of the Lord tells us that they walked in holiness. Their lives were lived in respect of who God is. They didn’t need man-made standards; they simply lived in the light of who they worshipped.
They walked in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. When things got tough they found comfort in Him. He is, after all, the great comforter. What better place to find comfort than in His constantly abiding presence?
Edification, the fear of the Lord, the comfort of the Holy Spirit. How simple that all sounds. Why is it so hard for us to “get it”?
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