Growing in Structures

First things first – would you please turn in the Bibles to Acts 6.1-7. Next thing: let me ask you something. What are you going to do with what’s left of your life?

You haven’t got very long – a few decades at most, just a fleeting moment relative to eternity. If you’re on the point of graduating and you’re feeling that the world is your oyster, then you probably feel as if you’ve got ages. But you haven’t. It goes in a flash.

I say that with some feeling, because it just occurred to me this week that exactly twenty five years ago I was on the point of graduation myself. I remember well that rather weird limbo of joyous relief that exams were over, and sweat-inducing anxiety over what the results were going to be. Twenty five years ago! That’s a quarter of a century, in case you didn’t know. Seems like yesterday.

So, what are you going to do with your short earthly life? Now there’s only one ambition that’s worth having, and only one ambition that you have any prospect of succeeding at. And that is to glorify God by following his calling for you.

If your ambition is to do anything other than follow God’s calling, then you’ll come a cropper at some point in the future. You’ll fail. So it’s really vital that you clarify God’s calling for you. Almost certainly you won’t figure it out all in one go. It’ll come clear piece by piece. But you might get the broad outline quite quickly.

Now my prayer this evening is that God will fuel the same fire in your heart that was already burning in mine twenty five years ago: a passion to see the church grow to the glory of God. Every one of us has some part to play in that. But my prayer is that for some of you, to see the church grow for the glory of God will become the dominant passion of your lives. My prayer is that some of you will be called to the task of servant-leadership for that purpose.

To that end, I want you to see something of what that would mean, and the kind of person you’ll need to become, and the work you’ll need to do, and the concerns you’ll have to share, and the priorities you’ll have to have. You can see that in that passage you should have open in front of you – Acts 6.1-7.

It seems to be a fairly simple and short narrative, but in fact it’s incredibly rich in the number of issues in the life of the church that it addresses. I’m going to have to be selective. So I’m not going to pursue the topics of handling cultural diversity within the church, or the unique nature of the calling of the apostles, or the relative places of evangelism and social action, or how we should be going about caring for the needy in our community, or principles of effective delegation, or church governance, or the respective roles of presbyters and deacons, or the right use of ordination and the laying on of hands. All of these are important and we need to be working on them all. Just not in the next few minutes.

I want to develop three simple points from these verses. You can see them on the back of the service sheet, as usual. And particularly under point two I have subheadings that you might like to jot down and add to the outline as we go through. My three points, then, are these. First, church growth brings stresses and strains. Secondly, church growth requires leaders full of the Spirit and wisdom. And thirdly, church growth is caused by the spread of the gospel.


First, CHURCH GROWTH BRINGS STRESSES AND STRAINS

Let’s be clear about the context here. What’s happening is massive church growth. Look how verse 1 begins:

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing…

What revealing words they are! Remember this is Holy Spirit inspired history that Luke is writing. This is the life of the early church not just through the eyes of those who were part of it, but also through the eyes of God himself. Three things are immediately clear.

One, numbers matter to God. God is a good Shepherd who counts his sheep. He is a loving Father who counts his children as they arrive in the family.

Two, disciples matter to God – not just decisions. A decision for Christ can be made one day and abandoned the next. What God is looking for is disciples. Discipleship, of course, starts with a decision. But it’s a decision that’s followed through with permanent effect.

Three, growth matters to God. “… the number of disciples was increasing.” Implication: Hallelujah! That’s God’s plan. That’s what Jesus died for. That’s what the Holy Spirit’s been poured out for. There’s a long way to go before there are as many disciples as grains of sand on the seashore or stars in the sky. But we’re on the way. The church is growing.

And the growth is very fast. Let’s just remind ourselves of that by tracing the growth through Acts so far. Follow this through with me. Turn back to 1.15. This is after the ascension of the risen Jesus, and before Pentecost and the outpouring of the Spirit:

In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said..

One hundred and twenty of them. Then look at the situation at the end of the Day of Pentecost. 2.41:

Those who accepted [Peter’s] message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

That’s about 25 baptisms per disciple – or if the apostles did all the baptisms, it’s about 250 each on that one day – or, for each of them, one baptism every two minutes for ten hours, with a ten minute tea break every hour. They must have been queueing up to get baptised. Or to put it another way, that’s small church to megachurch in one day. Then look down to 2.47:

And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

This was God’s doing, not theirs. Now it’s over three thousand and rising. On to 4.4:

But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

If they had the same male to female ratio as us, which is 47% men, 53% women (revealed by our recent survey), then there would have been another 5600 women – not to mention the children. So probably there’s now a church of 10,000 plus. And rising. So there’s rapid and massive church growth going on, and the church is having a major impact on the whole community.

Now it’s important to notice two things about the impact that all of this has. First, there’s a great deal of positive reaction. The believers themselves are positive about what’s happening. They were “praising God” and they were “one in heart and mind” says Luke. And there was a great deal of practical love and care being shown within the church.

And it’s not just the believers who are positive. So is a good deal of the wider, so far unbelieving, population. The church enjoyed “the favour of all the people”, says Luke, and later: “they were highly regarded by the people”. People could see that this was a good thing. What this growing crowd was up to was attractive. So there was a lot of positive reaction.

But that’s not the whole story. There were also some pretty severe strains. By the time we get to Acts 6, the apostles – the leaders of the church – have been jailed twice; interrogated by the religious authorities; forbidden from preaching the gospel (a ruling which they promptly refused to obey); threatened – even with death; and flogged.

Then as well as that, they had to handle all the finances generated by the response to the gospel. They also had to handle the issue of disciples lieing and the necessary discipline. They had to deal with the pressure of demand to meet the physical needs of the wider community.

And then, on top of all that, here at the beginning of chapter 6 tensions arose within the church. 6.1:

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

They were pretty much all Jews at this stage – but from two different cultural backgrounds. There were the locals, predominantly Aramaic speaking. And then there were those from all around the Roman empire, mainly Greek speaking. And the Grecian Jews began to think – and say – that the allocation of the church budget wasn’t right, and the food distribution was skewed towards the locals.

And the way that the apostles react to this complaint suggests that they had a fair point. No doubt there was nothing malicious about it, but the system wasn’t working properly, and the genuine needs of some of the Grecian Jewish widows were not being met as a result. Maybe the way they complained wasn’t entirely appropriate – grumbling is constantly warned against in Scripture – but it wasn’t wrong for the attention of the apostles to be drawn to this problem.

I hesitate to suggest any possible parallels among us, but it’s as if, say, the international students start complaining that the UK students are getting more attention than they are. Or the over 50’s start complaining that everything is geared towards the students in general, and why don’t they get supper after the evening service? Or CYFA start complaining that their slice of the budget is far too low. Perhaps I should stop putting ideas into your minds. By the way, all complaints to David, please.

Any way, that’s what a growing church – and the leaders of a growing church – should expect. A lot of positive reaction both inside the church and outside in the wider community. But a lot of stresses and strains as well. Opposition, sometimes fierce, from outside. And tensions within, not least as the growth almost inevitably outruns the structures. Church growth is bound to bring stresses and strains. The question is, how are these stresses and strains handled and what kind of leadership is provided?

So that brings me to my second heading on the outline:


Secondly, CHURCH GROWTH REQUIRES LEADERS FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WISDOM

How did the leaders of the church respond to this developing situation? It’s there in verses 2-6. Let me remind you of what they did:

So the Twelve [in other words, the apostles] gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and them ministry of the word.”

This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procurus, Nicanor, Timon, Permenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

Now, the specifics of this don’t apply to us. But Luke’s emphasis on this incident suggests that we should be learning from it, not least about the nature of Godly leadership. I think there are principles here that we need to take on board. See what you think. Here are twelve principles for leaders who want to serve the growth of the church to the glory of God. One for each apostle. If you’ve got a pen, why not jot these down so you can remember them.

One: listen to justified criticism. That means that wrong criticism should be disregarded – just as, when the apostles were criticised for their teaching and told to stop, they basically said “No way” and carried on regardless. But many criticisms have at least a kernel of truth which can be a powerful tool for improvement if a timely response is made to them. That’s what they did on this issue of food distribution. Listen to justified criticism.

Two: work as a team. Verse 2: “So the Twelve gathered all the disciples…” The Twelve apostles must have had team meetings about this to hammer out what was the right way forward. And they respond in a united way, working as a team. If you’re involved in the leadership of any ministry, build a team.

Three: communicate with the whole church. Verse 2 again: “So the Twelve gathered all the disciples…” The whole church was appraised of the situation. The whole church was involved in overcoming the problem. Verse 5: “This proposal pleased the whole group…” You can’t communicate with the whole church on every detail. Everything would grind to a halt if you even tried to do that. But on the key issues, everyone needs to understand what’s going on. Good communication may be difficult – but it’s vital. We have various mechanisms for communication – the Newsletter is out today and that’s one of them – but as JPC grows we’ll certainly have to find ways of communicating with increasing effectiveness. Communicate with the whole church.

Four: recognise the need for both word ministry and practical ministry. The apostles don’t just say “Let’s forget all this practical care stuff and just concentrate on the really important thing – Bible teaching." They want to see both happening. What you don’t get in the translation here is that both are described by the Twelve in terms of ‘ministry’. There’s the ministry of food distribution. And there’s also the ministry of the word. It’s not either-or. It’s both-and. And that’s because the Bible is not just for believing. It’s for living. It’s for putting into practice. And what is more, there are all kinds of practical ministries without which no ministry of Bible teaching can take place. Take, for example, the Foundations conference that’s starting tomorrow. There’s a whole pile of practical stuff that has to happen to make that Bible teaching opportunity possible. Both word ministry and practical ministry are vital.

Five: understand that leadership is service. Because that’s what ministry means: service. The Twelve know that they are servants of the church. If you want a leadership role as an ego trip, then please don’t look for it in the church. You will be worse than useless. We are to serve Christ, one another, and the world. Leadership is service.

Six: know your own calling. The Twelve said (verse 2): “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.” And verse 4: “We … will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” What they don’t mean is that practical ministry is beneath their dignity. After all, they’ve been doing it up to the point where the church is ten thousand or more strong. But they know what God has called them to above all else: prayer and the ministry of the word. That’s what the Holy Spirit has assigned to them. We too need to figure out what is our best fit for ministry. That’s what CLASS 3 is all about: helping us to identify the particular areas of ministry for which God has shaped us through our spiritual gifts, heart for service, abilities, personality and experience. If you’re not sure about where God is calling you to in the body of Christ, get along to CLASS 3 when you can. Know your calling.

Seven: develop structures to serve the growth of the church. The apostles realise that their existing structures for dealing with finance and social care within the church are creaking at the seams. So they redesign the structure to cope with an expanded ministry and new demands. Wise leadership will be constantly reviewing whether the structures of our ministries still fit. Are they enabling expansion or acting like a straight jacket? A growing ministry needs structures that are deliberately designed to cope with growth. Develop structures that serve the growth of the church.

Eight: share the ministry. End of verse 3: “We will turn this responsibility over to them [that is, the Seven]. “ Any individual – even an apostle – can only cope with a very limited amount of ministry. So if the church is going to grow and the ministry is going to expand to the glory of God, then ministry has to be shared, spread and multiplied as more and more people get stuck in. As soon as we start to keep to ourselves ministry that God doesn’t intend us to do, we put the brakes on the growth of the church. That doesn’t mean an abdication of responsibility. This whole structure is designed by the Twelve and overseen by them. But major responsibility is turned over to others. Share ministry.

Nine: know that leaders are appointed by God and recognised by the fellowship. Verse 3: “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.” You don’t become a leader by being appointed to an office. You get appointed to an office because it’s obvious to everyone that you’re displaying leadership. That’s a matter of both character and gifting. So leaders need a Godly character that’s developed out of a deep faith. That’s what being full of the Spirit is all about. They also need the right gifting, which is basically wisdom. The essence of wisdom is knowing what to do and following through on that knowledge. Leaders need to be Godly and gifted.

Ten: realise that the right leadership is the key to making things happen. What the Twelve know is that what will make this new structure work is having the right people leading it. If it’s got the right leaders, then even if the structure’s still wrong, the leaders will fix it. But if the wrong leaders are appointed, then the best ministry structure in the world will get you nowhere. The right leaders are the key to making things happen.

Eleven: commission new leaders. Verse 6: “[The church] presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.” There are different ways of doing this, but leaders in ministry need to know that what they’re doing is not just a job. It’s a calling from God. It may be intensely practical - finance or food or whatever. But it’s God who’s called them to it, and it’s God they’re serving. And it’s God they are to rely on. So, however it’s done, commission new leaders. Which completes my round dozen. Because the final principle is this:

Twelve: rely utterly on God through prayer. The Twelve prayed for these Seven as they commissioned them for their ministry. And then they got on with giving their attention, not just to the ministry of the word, but to prayer too. Why? Because we’re totally dependent on God if the church is going to grow. And because God answers prayer. If we’re serving him, he gives us what we need. As Andrew was saying last week, it is God who gives the growth. So pray.

Is it your ambition to glorify God by serving the growth of the church through leadership? Then there are twelve principles to be going on with:

• Listen to justified criticism.
• Work as a team.
• Communicate with the whole church.
• Recognise the need for both word ministry and practical ministry.
• Know that leadership is service.
• Understand your own particular calling.
• Develop appropriate structures.
• Share the ministry.
• Know that leaders are appointed by God and recognised by the fellowship.
• Realise that right leadership is the key to making things happen.
• Commission new leaders.
• And rely utterly on God through prayer.

Now there’s one other point I want to make, which is the third heading on the outline:


Thirdly, CHURCH GROWTH IS CAUSED BY THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL

What happens after all this reorganisation? Look at v 7:

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Wrong structures can hinder the spread of the word. But it’s not right structures that grow the church. They’re needed, but there’s no power in them, any more than a skeleton powers a runner. Putting right wrong structures enables growth to forge ahead – and that’s what happened in the Jerusalem church. But the engine of growth is the gospel, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Unhindered, the gospel spreads rapidly. That’s its nature. That’s what God has designed it to do. We should assume that that kind of growth is the natural state of things.

And what happens when the gospel spreads? The number of disciples increases. And what happens when the number of disciples increases? The church grows – even, as here, among the most unlikely population, the priests, the source of the greatest opposition to the church.

All kinds of ministries are necessary. But we must never forget for a moment where the power for growth lies. It lies in the gospel. It lies in the word of God, which is what the Holy Spirit uses to change and transform lives. What causes church growth? The spread of the gospel.

You may or may not be on the point of graduation. All of us, from the perspective of eternity, have only a short time left to live. What are you going to do with that time? You may or may not be called to leadership within the church. But, whatever it is that God calls you to, will you make it your ambition to bring glory to God by playing your part in the growth of the church?