Vineyard Church of Knox County
Growing Pains
We've all experienced it. Many of us have witnessed it in our children. And, though it is a necessary part of maturing, oftentimes it is difficult to experience. What am I talking about? Growing pains.
Our niece is 10 years old and in the fifth grade. Recently she began waking up at night for no apparent reason, feeling depressed. She is changing. Tears are evidence that change is difficult. As an active young boy, my heels began to ache when I would play sports, so much so that my parents took me to the doctor thinking I might have a serious injury. The prognosis? I was growing. My bones and muscles were developing. And it hurt.
Growth hurts sometimes. Change is always a sacrifice - in life and in our church. We are at an exciting place in the life of our church and in the spiritual landscape of Knox County. We are poised for growth, which means change, which means sacrifice and, sometimes, pain.
Rick Warren, founding pastor of Saddleback Community Church in Saddleback County, CA, a church that sees 15,000 people attend on weekends, wrote an informative article entitled, “10 Barriers to Growth.” Number 2 on his list is one that I believe is a danger for us right now. He writes that one attitude that will hinder proper, healthy growth in a church is the fear that growth will ruin the fellowship. “Even though your members may not say this,” he writes, “some of them will subtly fight growth because they fear that when the congregation gets bigger, they won’t know everybody anymore. So they say, ‘I like the way it is; I know everybody. If we get bigger, I’m afraid I’ll just become a number.’ The antidote to this fear is building small groups within your congregation. At Saddleback we say it this way: Our church must grow larger and smaller at the same time.”
God willing, growth and, therefore, change is coming. Let’s not hinder God’s work by considering our personal desires over the good of His church as He grows and changes us. Rather, let’s honestly acknowledge to one another that church planting is, in fact, a sacrifice, and for some of us, growth and change are difficult. That’s ok! (I like the way it is, too!) We’re working together to be the church that God wants us to be, not the church that we want us to be. So, let’s cling closely to God and closely to one another, all the while expecting growth and change and glory to God.
