Needing the Holy Spirit

The following is a passage from Francis Chan in his book Forgotten God.

God is not interested in numbers. He cares most about the faithfulness, not the size, of his bride. He cares about whether people are lovers of Him. And while I might be able to get people in the doors of a church or auditoruim if I tell enough jokes or use enough visuals, the fact remains that I cannot convince people to be obsessed with Jesus. Perhaps I can talk people into praying a prayer, but I cannot talk anyone into falling in love with Christ. I cannot make someone understand and accept the gift of grace. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. So by every measure that actually counts, I need the Holy Spirit. Desperately. P.143 [emphasis his]

Some qualifying is in order. I do not think Chan is arguing that God is not interested in the size of his universal church, or in the number of people whom he saves. The Book of Acts records numbers of converts, for instance, and the numbers aren't small.

What Chan is arguing is that God doesn't care about the size of our local churches. He only cares about their faithfulness to Christ. Enormous churches can be faithful and experience God's growth, but this size can also be manufactured through charisma, talent, and the use of media. This doesn't require the Holy Spirit, and it is illegitimate growth. Some of the biggest churches in America exist quite apart from the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, and their seeming "success" masks the enormous spiritual danger.

So how does a church, even a large church, remain faithful? By desperately needing the Holy Spirit; by remembering that true regeneration that manifests itself in love for Christ comes through the powerful work of God alone. We are not in the business of church growth. We are in the business of teaching the whole counsel of God, praying faithfully, serving our members, and sharing the Gospel with everyone. If he chooses, God provides the growth.