It is more than a bit troubling to see the emphasis in recent years on church growth. While what is being promoted and published is not all harmful, we contend that there are serious flaws in the teachings of many of the modern “church marketing” proponents. The tendency to rely upon their ideas to grow a church should be alarming to followers of Christ.
Harvest Bible Chapel has certainly been growing of late and we are not opposed in any way to the idea or reality of large churches. Our concern is for pastors, leaders and people whose sole aim is to have a large church. When this becomes the goal, the message of the gospel invariably becomes “watered-down” because of a fear of offending unbelievers. The marketing methodology adopted from the world by these churches often rests on a distortion of the gospel which results in the church’s fixation with felt needs. Often in the place of a clear, simple presentation of the truth, psychological methods are used to “help you find personal fulfillment.” These tactics are manipulative, dishonest and unbiblical. We reject this modern, crass characterization of the Apostles as those who “opened franchises (local churches) to further spread the product.” The gospel is not a Big Mac, and Jesus did not die as the first step in a marketing plan.
Interestingly, the early church appears to have placed no emphasis on evangelistic methodology. Instead, their approach was simple and powerful – they were bold! They carried a life-changing message that, when accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit, needed no slick marketing package or manipulative tactics when presenting it.
The Greek word translated “boldness” in the New Testament is a word which literally means “openness” or “candor,” or “to speak freely especially in the face of hostility.” It does not imply using a loud voice or an obnoxious presentation of spiritual truth that disregards the willingness of the listener. Boldness is the Spirit-directed conviction that one must share the good news of Jesus Christ and not fear the response or reproach of the listener. In the early church, Stephen modeled this boldness as he spoke with great courage and conviction the truth of the gospel message (Acts 6–7). The result was that he was stoned for his bold proclamation of the gospel. Who are we to think that we can share the gospel in a way that makes people feel comfortable, when early church leaders such as Stephen, Paul, James and Jesus Christ Himself were beaten, ridiculed and ultimately killed for boldly proclaiming the truth!
Modern proponents of this psychological, self-help oriented,
subtle-gospel message must consider the Apostle Peter a fool for saying, “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:13). Our prayer is that God will raise up an army of bold messengers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Messengers, who rely on God for supernatural boldness, understand that as the gospel is presented, some will receive the message with gladness while others will reject, become angry, and even attack us. When this happens, we must continue to pray for boldness in the face of opposition.
Admittedly, boldness is not the easy way, but it is God’s way. Our fear of man is understandable – even the Apostle Paul asked for prayer “that I may speak boldly as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:20). However, fear and timidity is not acceptable. Our problem is that we want to share Jesus and remain well-liked, admired and fashionable to those who reject Him. We want the approval of His hearers more than we want the approval of God (Galatians 1:10). We have opted for a pragmatic, sociological approach to sharing the gospel, rather than a supernatural one.
At Harvest Bible Chapel we will always challenge our people to be bold witnesses for Jesus Christ. We are commanded to “go out into the highways and compel them to come in.” We will not always reach the ones that we want to reach, but we will discover that all around us are people whom God has ripened to the gospel through the painful circumstances of life. Though some Christians are more gifted in evangelism than others, all believers are called to be bold witnesses for Jesus. Boldness is not something we can work up ourselves, but it is something that Jesus gives to those who persistently ask. We must obey Christ’s commission to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Matthew 28:19–20).
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