I was reading an article about growing churches, and the author said something along the lines of “The church is a business with shareholders. If a church is not growing, it’s dying.” Is this true?

The first question to ask is if the author is referring to the holy Christian church or a local congregation. Another way of saying that is, “Are we talking about the visible church or the invisible Church?”

Visible or invisible church?

The holy Christian church consists of all believers throughout the world and throughout time. There are no hypocrites in this Church, and we call it invisible because only God knows the heart. We find it wherever the Word of God is preached and the sacraments are rightly administered. God’s people cannot be without God’s Word, and God’s Word cannot be without God’s people.

The church is called the visible church because this is a gathering of people around the gospel in Word and sacrament. Jesus tells us that there can be hypocrites in these visible gatherings (Matthew 7:21-23). In the quotation you provided, the author is speaking of the visible church.

We need to disagree with that statement: “If a church is not growing, it’s dying.” For many Christians, outward numerical increase equals growth. But churches can grow for reasons that are not God-pleasing. God’s Word says, “The time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3). Those churches may grow in numbers, but outward, visible, numerical growth of a church is not necessarily the indicator of growth of the Church.

The Holy Christian Church is always growing

This is the truth of the invisible Church: It is always growing. Jesus said of Peter’s confession, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18). Here, Jesus is referring to the holy Christian church. This is not the promise that WELS, my congregation, or any specific visible church will endure until Jesus comes again. This refers to the fact that Jesus will always have his people on this earth. He will gather his elect through the proclamation of the gospel. When the last one is gathered in, the world will come to an end. (I always thought it would be cool to be the one performing the last baptism when Jesus returns!)

The gospel is not a bare set of facts for people to make a rational decision for Christ. We do not attempt to manipulate emotions to accomplish that goal. The Church does not need bigger or better or felt-need programs to accomplish that goal. God says, “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). Jesus wants all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). God brings people to saving faith through his gospel. Even when believers die, the Church does not diminish, because those believers are now in heaven. The holy Christian church is always growing!

Is the church a business?

The church is not a business. Its motive and goal are different. Motivated by the love of Jesus, the church strives to make disciples of all nations. Coca-Cola wants to reach people of all nations too, but not because it truly loves consumers and wants what’s best for them. It does so because its shareholders are expecting a good dividend!

However, can we learn something from the way businesses organize and plan? Yes. How many of our churches have a budget? That is not a biblical concept but comes from the business world. Mission statements, vision statements, philosophies of ministry, annual ministry plans—these all come from the business world. The apostle Paul said, “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). That includes business strategies and tools. As good stewards, we can do these things to be organized and focused on our mission. Those strategies are never an end in themselves but a means to get the powerful gospel to more people.

What we can never do is dictate spiritual blessings and numeric growth. For example, I can make the goal of going on 100 outreach calls because I can control that, but I cannot make the goal that 15 of those people will come to faith and become members. That is the Holy Spirit’s work. One of my professors used to say, “As a church we use the Apostles’ Creed’s First Article gifts (including tools from the business world) to proclaim Second Article truths (i.e., Christ crucified and risen) with Third Article confidence (i.e., his Word will not return to him empty).” In other words, my confidence comes not from my planning and execution but from the Holy Spirit’s blessing.

Theology of the cross vs. theology of glory

We preach the theology of the cross, not the theology of glory. That means we understand God’s revelation of himself and the Christian life best by looking at Jesus’ suffering and sacrifice on the cross; we do not teach that Christians will be outwardly successful because of what they do. That doesn’t mean we should be complacent in our outreach or not optimistic about our efforts. Often, when a church is doing all it can to reach out and train members in witnessing, there will be visible gospel victories. That does not necessarily mean that the church is exploding with growth but that we see the gospel’s impact on people’s lives.

So what if you are doing all you can to reach out, but the hearts of most in your area have grown cold (Matthew 24:12)? So be it. Jesus warned that this would happen before the end of the world. The Church is still growing in the hearts of Jesus’ sheep as they are in his Word. The Church is invisible, but God does want souls in heaven, and those souls have bodies, and those bodies can be seen!

My confidence comes not from my planning and execution but from the Holy Spirit’s blessing.

Where the primary marks of the church are (e.g., the gospel in Word and sacrament), they will necessarily produce the secondary marks of the church (e.g., the fruit of the Spirit). Much of that can be seen as well. Some of the growth of the Church is also in that valuable maturing process, which cannot always be seen. Wherever God’s Word is preached in its truth and purity, the Church will grow, whether we can see it or not!

We need to walk in the narrow Lutheran middle on this topic. We will not fall into the ditch of saying, “If we just do the right things, the church will grow.” That’s the Holy Spirit’s work. However, we will also not fall into the ditch of saying, “We preach the gospel, so how we carry out ministry doesn’t matter.” That’s laziness or fear. Instead, we walk the narrow middle that says, “The gospel is the power of God for salvation; therefore, we will do everything we can to get that message to as many as possible.”

Ask a question at forwardinchrist.net/submit.

Author: David Scharf
Volume 112, Number 10
Issue: October 2025