Talk of “growth” can polarise opinion in church life. For some it’s an obvious good – bigger, means better and more successful. For others, growth conjures up images of an impersonal organisational machine or the building of an empire, rather than of companionable fellowship.

kingdom growth

Jesus’ perspective on growth – as you might expect – doesn’t sit comfortably in either camp. Mark records two images...

Jesus used (Mk 4:26-32) to unpack what good and healthy growth looks like. Fundamentally, his parables of the grain harvest and of the mustard seed tell us that the growth we should be looking for is kingdom growth rather than merely church growth. In other words, Jesus calls us to look for growth in the rule and influence of the King in our lives and the life of our community, rather than being tempted to build ourselves an empire. Here are three types of kingdom growth that Jesus points to our need for…

growing deeper

The seed that the farmer sows in the first parable bears fruit only because it puts down its roots into good soil, deep enough to draw on the food it needs. In other words, it would be no good being part of a growing and (outwardly) successful church, if our roots weren’t going deeper into the One who has made us and loves us. We need to go on finding ways, in other words, of getting to know Jesus better.

For some of us, that means taking first steps in finding out more about faith, for others it will mean joining a small group or finding a prayer partner we can meet with regularly. Without deep spiritual roots, what we do as a church won’t stand the Kingdom’s “so what?” test.

growing wider

The parable of the mustard seed makes it clear, however, that God is nonetheless interested in numerical growth. Not for its own sake of course, but because each new person becoming part of God’s people represents the spread of God’s kingdom. Jesus pictures this tiny seed of God’s Good News becoming a wide spreading tree so that “many birds can nest in its branches”. That means that whilst there still remain people who don’t know Jesus, we have no option but to seek to spread our “branches” wider and therefore to grow.

Numerical growth is encouraging and exciting, but it stretches us on every level: socially (needing to reach beyond our own group of friends to welcome someone new), financially (resourcing this growth so that we can provide for people’s needs) and spiritually (taking on the responsibility to mentor and encourage others in their journey towards Jesus). But growing wider is the reason All Souls was planted in this church in this area six years ago. As long as our roots are going down, then spreading wider is something to be welcomed and enjoyed.

growing together

Both parts of the picture language Jesus uses, assume togetherness in who we are and in what we do. Church isn’t about just meeting “my needs”, but being part of God’s people to grow God’s kingdom. The problem is that belonging together takes continual and deliberate effort on all our parts. Deliberately deciding to go up to somebody we don’t know during coffee makes us feel vulnerable. inviting people to dinner or to Sunday tea feels quite a risk, but the benefits are huge.

God the grower

For me, the most encouraging part of Jesus’ words are in the first of the parables, where Jesus points out that the growth in the crop happens “whether the farmer is awake or asleep”. In other words, this kingdom growth, is primarily something God does, rather than something we achieve by good planning or hard work. We’ve often talked in All Souls about “catching up with God” and it certainly feels like that at the moment! Let’s go on enjoying the kingdom growth that God brings – determined to go deeper in our friendship with Jesus, wider in the spread of our branches and together in the way that we relate to one another.

Richard Frank
Vicar, All Souls