I’ve heard it so often, ‘It’s not about church growth, it’s about being faithful!’ Usually, it’s spoken defensively by someone from a church that is struggling. And what they are saying is that God cares most about the faithfulness of his people, and the numerical growth of the church is up to God. And I agree 100%. Paul says ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (1 Cor 3:6-7)’ Growth is God’s work. We may be able to grow the church using human ingenuity and effort, but true spiritual growth only happens by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But the question that always challenges me in the above statement is: are we really being faithful? God gives the growth in response to Paul’s planting of the seed of the gospel, and Apollos’ watering of that gospel seed. The question is: are we faithfully planting the seed of the gospel in our local community, and are we watering that seed when it takes root in people’s lives? When Paul says that those who plant and water are nothing, he isn’t implying that planting and watering aren’t necessary, but rather that planting and watering only produce fruit by the power of the Holy Spirit.

When we say we are being faithful to the gospel, or faithful in ministry, what do we mean by that? Do we mean we are faithfully doing church the way we have always done church? Do we mean we are faithful to our Reformed traditions? Or do we mean we are faithfully following Jesus in our personal lives? Or that our church is faithfully being salt and light in our world (Mt 5:13-16)? Are we being faithful to the Great Commission, to make disciples and teach them to follow Jesus (Mt 28:19-20)?

I would like to suggest that we can’t proclaim to be faithful if we’re neglecting even a small part of God’s will. May the proclamation of God’s word always faithfully be sounded from our pulpits. May the confession of sin and the assurance of God’s forgiveness always be a part of our lives. May the praises of our glorious God always be upon our lips. But also may we faithfully plant the seed of the gospel in the hearts of people. And may we faithfully water that seed as we encourage God’s people in their faith. And may we faithfully pray to our Father that by the power of his Spirit he would give the growth, that the seed of the gospel would sprout and mature in peoples lives, and that our churches would grow to his glory.

I would like to suggest that as we faithfully serve our Lord Jesus Christ, that he will give the growth, and that like Paul and Apollos we would say ‘It’s not about us, but only God who gives the growth!’