2008 Shepherd’s Conference – Session #1, John MacArthur

John MacArthur opened the Conference by asking this question; If God is truly sovereign in salvation, how does church growth theory fit into His plan?

He explored this concept by asking two additional questions; (1) By what means does He build His church. (2) Has He revealed those means to us?

Christ builds His church using:

a) A transcendent message (the gospel). This transcends cultures, languages, status, everything, there is no 'global village' and cultures have no impact on the message (Acts 2). There are no language, social, racial or political barriers. All that is necessary for the power of God to be released is for the truth to be preached. The message never changes. The Jews (the religious hypocrites) thought the message was a stumbling block. The Gentiles (the unbelievers) thought it was foolish. The message of the gospel is spoken to (spiritually) dead people. If so, why change the message to make it more palatable for them? MacArthur said, "The modern cry for contextualization of the gospel is a curse! It is nothing more than a 'Zip Code' ministry. Change the zip code…change the message. …..we should never appeal to anything in people that is innate to their flesh."

b) A regenerate congregation, an assembly of only true believers. The Lord only adds believers to His church. Modern evangelism tries to appeal to non-believers, hoping to convert them "down the road". Dr. MacArthur said, "Willow Creek working with Brian McLaren to attract non-believers is not a church! A church has one mind and pursues spiritual disciplines in order to grow spiritually (Acts 2:42). "

c) Valiant perseverance. The body of Christ does not seek to become popular…it offends sinners. Still, there is a balance of respect from the world (Acts 3) which appreciates the display of the fruits of the Spirit, and resentment. The resentment comes from the proclamation of the truth. The modern idea is to get them in using the respect part of the equation and then to pull back on the truth part in order to keep them. The first church never diluted or soft pedaled the truth. The message of the first church was, "Repent!"

d) An evident purity. The early church was in danger of being leavened by the world. Unbelievers came in because of miraculous signs and wonders. The unbelievers had no fear of the Lord, no reverence. The Lord demonstrated that He expects His people to demonstrate a different level of purity than the world demonstrates (Acts 5). The church growth strategy God uses is to pursue holiness and godliness. The growth strategy of man is to pursue social connection, psychological connection and visceral connection.

e) Qualified leadership, people who are tested, tried and approved (Acts 6).

Ultimately, the Lord rejects 5 churches in Rev 2 & 3 for these reasons: Ephesus – no love for Christ, Pergamum – tolerating heresy, Thyatyra – being comfortable with sin, Sardus – all programs with no life, Laodecia – lukewarm and popular but no threat to the culture.

It was a great talk and MacArthur is always fired up and passionate about his subject matter, bringing a Scriptural perspective to everything he shares.

We went to the bookstore in the morning. They have Ed Stetzer's book 'Comeback Churches' there.