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not that anybody ever asks…or even cares, for that matter…but i actually have a master’s degree.
i got it years ago. i worked really hard for it. tons of reading. a 150-page master’s thesis/project. i got a nifty diploma…i have no idea where it is. and i got a really cool green hood.
i don’t know why, but i reminisced about it tonight.
my master’s is in church growth, with an emphasis in preaching. church growth is an area of study. there are hundreds of books written on the subject…maybe thousands. all of them dedicated to educating church leaders on the discipline and strategies of growing the church.
there are hundreds of workshops and seminars and conferences that pastors and church leaders can attend (for a pretty hefty fee…usually charged to the budget of the church they serve) to learn the newest techniques and creative ideas for how to grow bigger and stronger and even, healthier churches.
pastors of large, influential churches are always in demand to speak and teach and pass on their wisdom and proven approaches that have produced the successes they have experienced in their church leadership and the growth of their churches.
yup. and i’ve got a master’s degree on the subject.
here’s an irony: for all of our talk about church growth, jesus just doesn’t use the same kinds of words we use.
we use terms like growth…
and success
and strategy
and programs
and leadership
and design
and paradigms
and theories
and organizational shifts
and goals
and objectives
and praxis
and concepts
and operational models
and jesus said we need to come and die.
apparently, jesus’ “strategy” for “growth” was for his followers to die to self and pick up their crosses and follow.
i don’t really mean to be argumentative or judgmental…or even snarky. i guess i’ve just come to the conclusion (since i am a master of church growth, you know…) that the church’s job is not to grow. it’s really not even our job to survive. our job is to die…continually…on behalf of the kingdom and on behalf of the world.
with every death, there is resurrection and life and hope. paul writes to the corinthians that it’s god’s job to make things grow:
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7
i’m content to let god do as he wishes. big of me, isn’t it? i figure that dying to self and helping others to do the same is hard enough for me. trying to create a strategy for growing the church is something i would have probably screwed up anyway.
so get out there and die.
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