Quite a long time has passed since we witnessed the unexpected rise of a new kind of Calvinism. Few had anticipated that in the twenty-first century, so many millions of people spanning a host of nations and traditions would find themselves affirming such old and controversial doctrines. Yet many did so because they were wary and weary of the kind of big-box church-growth Evangelicalism that had been packaged and professionalized and very nearly franchised out.
As a movement grows from infancy to maturity, it becomes necessary to ask some questions about it. Particularly, it becomes necessary to ask if it is possible that it over-corrected in response to some of the concerns that caused it to grow in the first place. It becomes necessary to ask where it may need to change before those over-corrections become too deeply entrenched to ever change.
The purpose of Andrew Heard’s book Growth and Change: The Danger and Necessity of a Passion for Church Growth is to get church leaders thinking about the connection between the two terms—between growth and change. “This book is designed to help you think about a very important and very emotional topic: change. And not just change in some generalized sense, but a kind of change that could have great significance in your life: change to our churches, our gospel ministries, and our Christian leadership.” It is change that would spur growth.
Why is such change so necessary? He explains in the introduction:
I am convinced that many of the ways we are running our churches and ministries, and many of the ways that we are exercising our leadership within our churches and ministries, has become a significant hindrance to the fundamental growth of the church, both numerically and spiritually. Or, again to put it positively, I’m convinced that with some significant changes to church life and to our leadership patterns and practices, we will see a greater penetration of the gospel into the lost community around us and so see many more people saved. I’m convinced that we can see more men, women and children come to faith in Christ and grown to maturity in Christ.
Big if true, as the young folk say. But also challenging because “we won’t change the things that need to be changed until the pain of not changing is greater than the pain of changing.” The author’s task, then, is to help us see and feel the pain of not changing to such a degree that we actually begin what could be a long and difficult process. The greatest part of that pain is the pain of knowing that the people around us are perishing and that it is our responsibility to reach them with the good news that could save them. “Unless we share God’s heart for the lost in such a way that it pains us greatly to see people perish without Christ, and unless that pain exceeds the pain that we know will accompany our efforts to make changes, we will almost always opt for the status quo. Of course, this is not the only factor that will determine whether we work to bring about change. But it’s a significant and inescapable part of the equation.”
I need to pause here to say that Heard is one of us. He’s not some church growth guru who is writing from a completely different theological perspective. He’s not one of those guys who wants to be able to start a new movement with his name attached to it or a consultant whose over-priced plan is to water down the gospel to make it more palatable to unbelievers. Not at all. He loves the gospel and would do nothing to tamper with it or adapt it to modern sensibilities. Yet he is also concerned that many churches—many of our churches—have too little concern for the growth of their churches and, therefore, for the salvation of the people in their communities. “If we develop a passion for church growth without being aware that this is one of the most dangerous passions a person can have, then the passion will destroy us and our work. What’s more, it’s one thing for the leaders of a church to be passionate about growth, but when that passion extends to the members of the church, the situation becomes even more dangerous.” In other words, he wants us to consider growth with a prudent awareness of the temptations it can bring and the many ways it can go wrong.
So the goal of his book is to create a passion for growth and a heart that is willing to bear the pain of change. It is to commit to being faithful, but also to assess whether we are being truly fruitful—to think deeply about both inputs and outputs, the things we do and the results we see in response. It is to convince Christians that it is honoring to God to consider and do those things that will spur growth, yet always in such a way that God’s Word reigns supreme over both means and ends.
Acknowledging that such talk makes some people nervous, it is perhaps worth noting here that no less than D.A. Carson provided the foreword and proclaimed it the best book in its field. “Andrew Heard,” he insists, “is a reliable guide to the biblical, theological, evangelistic and pastoral issues that will confront all Christian leaders who aim for growth, recognize the need for change, and hunger to work out of a rich and faithful biblical theology. Andrew is well known and well trusted in Australia, his homeland. Now we pray that his influence may multiply exponentially around the world.” And having read Growth and Change, I find myself echoing both the praise and the hope. I read this book with a deepening sense of conviction and with a deepening sense that I need to go back and read it again, and possibly again after that.
