By Editor Bob Terry
If you ask a pastor to identify the three or four most spiritually mature members of the church he serves, 99 times out of 100, he will identify those who are most active. That tendency is not limited to pastors. Most church members would do the same thing. Participation in church activities is commonly equated with spiritual maturity.
Now a study of Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago and several other megachurches in the Willow Creek Association documents that church activity does not carry with it a boost in spiritual growth when spiritual growth is defined as “increasing love for God and others.”
Consultants who have worked with churches across the years have long known the difference between spiritual maturity and participation in church activities. Participation can be an endless cycle of the same type of activities. Participation can anchor one in place rather than disquiet one to the point of being open to change. Participation can be for one’s own needs or even out of habit.
Increasing in love for God and others is entirely different. But because Willow Creek Community Church has become a model for many churches across the United States in reaching people who do not go to church, an assumption had developed that if the church was effectively enlisting people, the church must also be effective in helping them grow spiritually.
Not so.
To document the finding that involvement in church activities did not signal spiritual growth, researchers found that almost 25 percent of regular participants were “stalled” in spiritual growth or dissatisfied with the church, with many considering leaving.
In another study of a different church, research found that less than one in five active participants read their Bible daily. One pastor called the finding “shockingly low.”
On the other hand, interviews with “dozens and dozens” of people who left megachurches to identify with smaller denominationally related churches revealed that they “[discovered] a level of being Christian that they were unaware of,” a religious expert noted.
One of those “discoveries” is the importance of the simple practices of regular daily prayer and Bible study times. These practices of personal piety are not fancy or innovative, but they are foundational for anyone who wants to grow spiritually. Only in communion with God through prayer and meditation and by giving one’s self to the study of the Bible, God’s Holy Word, can one begin to see with the eyes of Christ or hear with the ears of Christ.
Only then can one grow in love for God and others.
Bible study groups, such as Sunday School classes, facilitate spiritual growth when they really are Bible study classes. When they deteriorate to primarily being chitchat or fellowship, they have forsaken their purpose. People want Bible study. They want to hear from God. That is why they come to Sunday School or to worship.
Weekday small groups may serve a fellowship purpose in a large church. They might even be interest-centered, but they cannot take the place of group Bible study or group prayer sessions. And the truth is that participation in small groups generally lags far behind what most Baptist churches achieve through Sunday School.
To be clear, no church and no pastor can make a person grow spiritually. Theoretically it is possible to read the Bible every day and pray every day and never grow in the Lord. If Bible study is purely academic and prayer is a rote experience, the activities may simply take up time.
A church can offer opportunities for spiritual growth. A pastor can provide guidance toward spiritual maturity. But in the end, spiritual growth and spiritual maturity will only come when the individual believer opens himself or herself to God through prayer and Bible study. When that happens, nothing can prevent spiritual growth.
Willow Creek has made a great contribution to the kingdom of God by reminding churches of some of the necessities involved in reaching unchurched people with the gospel. Before Willow Creek, few, if any, had heard the term “seeker sensitive.” Now there is a whole movement built around that concept.
But Willow Creek itself is learning that being seeker sensitive is not enough to help people increase in their love for God and others. To do that, one needs to return to the piety of old — regular prayer and Bible study.
The smallest of congregations can provide those kinds of opportunities. Perhaps that is why many smaller membership churches continue to attract new people and to change the lives of those who attend. They practice and promote the foundational principles of spiritual maturity — regular times of prayer and Bible study — both personally and in groups.
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