Not everything that grows is healthy.

Cancer grows.
Weeds grow.
Bacteria and mold grow.
Rust grows.
The U.S. national debt has grown to roughly $40 trillion. That’s not good.

In an era when many sound churches are shrinking, just because a church is growing does not necessarily mean it is healthy or faithful. Butts in the seats and dollars in the coffers do not automatically equal godliness or goodness. I’ve learned from talking to pastors of the “majority of churches” (churches under 100 in attendance) that there are many, many faithful, wonderful churches that haven’t shown significant numerical growth. 

Of course, growth that comes through a Holy Spirit–infused movement is good. Every follower of Jesus longs for revival. We celebrate people coming to Jesus, lives being transformed, communities being renewed by the gospel and the resulting spiritual growth.

But we should also remember that numerical growth is not the same thing as spiritual health. Paul warned Timothy: “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” —2 Timothy 4:3–4

“For the time will come” has come. Churches can grow by telling people what they want to hear rather than calling them to Christlikeness.

Churches can grow by…

• teaching people to hate their neighbors rather than love them.
• building allegiance to a political ideology, personality, or institution rather than allegiance to Jesus.
• performing trendy music without spiritual depth. (Emphasis on: “performing” not “worshipping”)
• being located in a growing community and producing fans of Jesus not disciples.
• preaching a prosperity gospel rather than Jesus’ words: “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36)
• building on fears rather than proclaiming the “perfect loves that drives out fear.” (1 John 4:18)

The bullet points above are not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

False teaching can infiltrate even the best denominations. Yes, even the Church of the Nazarene. Do not assume that a denomination’s history, reputation or past victories makes it immune to ruin.

Do not be deceived. Church growth can be a beautiful thing. But growth is never the ultimate measure of faithfulness. The question is not merely, “Is a church growing?”

Ask instead:

Does this church look like Jesus?
Does its teaching sound like Jesus?
Does the membership exhibit the fruit of the Spirit?
Does it call people toward holiness, truth, grace, humility, justice, mercy, and love?

Not everything that grows is healthy. Examine the fruit. If the messenger/institution/church does not look and sound like Jesus, have the courage to walk away and find one that does.