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Advice for Growing Pains
Acts 6:1
"And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration."
Being a part of a growing church is one of the most satisfying things you will experience in life. The spirit of a growing church is exciting. Watching young Christians grow and souls getting saved is a great thing to experience. However, a growing church will have growing pains. The church of Jerusalem experienced growing pains. When you study this church, you find there are five things for which you should watch.
First, watch your attitude. When you are in a growing church, it can be easy to get a bad attitude. When the church is growing, the Devil will be sure to fight. One of the areas where he fights is in the attitude of the Christian. The verse above shows that there were some who were murmuring about their needs not being met. Christian, it is easy to get caught up in finding some fault in a growing church. Be careful about being caught up in the fault finding, for it will destroy your attitude. Yes, you can find fault, but you must focus on seeing the positive.
Second, watch your people. What I mean by this is you must be careful that you don't get so busy in the growth of the church that you begin to neglect the needs of the people. That is what happened to this church in Jerusalem. Though the people should not have murmured, they were right in that the needs of people were being neglected. Don't get so wrapped up in the growth that you neglect the very purpose of why we are in the ministry. When you get so busy that you help people, then you have become too busy.
Third, don't neglect your walk with God. Verse 4 shows us this church continued walking with God though they were growing. One of the things I have found in many growing churches is that people get so busy in their outreach that they have no time to walk with God. Never forget to have a daily time with God in the Scriptures and prayer. Your walk with God is very important to your spiritual health. Keep your walk with God healthy.
Fourth, don't neglect your outreach. Verse 7 shows us that this church continued trying to reach the lost for Christ. Just because you are growing doesn't give you an excuse to let up in your soul-winning efforts. Keep your soul-winning efforts active while you are growing. Often when a church starts growing they will get so busy in their ministries that they stop soul winning. Always keep focused on the main reason of why we are in the ministry, and that is to keep people from going to Hell.
Last, don't change what you've always done. The church of Jerusalem kept doing what caused them to grow in the beginning. They didn't get so enamored with growth that they looked for newer methods of growth. Growing churches must be careful about changing their pattern of success so they can see more growth. Keep doing what you've always done and you will keep getting what you've always gotten. Don't look for new methods to see growth, but rather keep working the tried and proven methods that have given you growth to this point.
When churches start growing they will experience growing pains. Christian, don't allow yourself to be part of the problem that causes your church to stop growing. Be watchful of these areas so you can be a contributor to the growth of your church.