Affluence as Reason for Stagnating American Church Growth

Reference “5 Priorities That Cause Amazing Growth Overseas”

The word “church growth” was largely coined by Win Arn.  He was trying to distance himself from the word “Evangelism” because it had been so watered down.  While that argument may now be reversed,  I’d say the phraseology isn’t important.  Whoever would like to argue over it can.  There are plenty of blogs in the blogosphere to go for that.  This isn’t one.

Now, when you are looking at church growth, it is easy to see that the church is not growing in America at a pace to keep up with population growth.  In fact, I’ve read that only 6% of the churches in America are growing at a rate equal to or greater than the population of their community.

Meanwhile the Church overseas is largely exploding, especially in Africa and South America.  I believe one of the main reasons for this disparity may be that in America we have a greater reliance on our affluence than on our Savior.

AFFLUENCE

When Jesus comes to a community, the community improves.  You can call it prosperity or “redemption and lift.” We have experienced it personally.  Many of us have been lifted out of horrible situations by the redeeming grace of God.  We know it first hand.  However, in some instances our blessing may be our curse.  It would seem to me that the more blessed we are, the less dependent on God we become.  We see this in the repentance, blessing judgment cycle with the children of Israel.  Likewise, as our nation is blessed, the less reliant we are as a nation…the less likely we are to acknowledge the Creator in our daily lives…the more we fall away from Him.

I believe that until we subordinate our affluence as a priority to the mission of Jesus, we will not experience significant church growth in America.

Dr. Raymond Culpepper, Presiding Bishop of the Church of God referenced an article, “5 Priorities That Cause Amazing Growth Overseas” by John Bueno, Executive Director of AG Missions.

In that article, John Bueno listed these 5 reasons why overseas missions is outstripping American missions:

1. They emphasize and practice the priesthood of all believers.
2. They prioritize ministerial training.
3. They focus on growth rather than maintenance.
4. They depend on and expect the miraculous.
5. They focus their resources on ministry rather than buildings.

Perhaps, in every one of these 5 reasons listed by Bueno, the root cause is in some way connected to a lack of affluence, which necessitates a greater reliance on God and a more significantly felt sense of Gospel urgency.

What are your thoughts?

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