The desire to "grow" a Church numerically is super strong. This desire can be a good desire (to see persons come to the knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ and be saved) that results in a Church that shares the gospel fervently with it's neighbors. The goal is to see people saved, not to have a "big church." On the other hand this desire can be perverted if the goal becomes growth in itself for the sake of growth. Usually this is motivated by insecurity on the part of the leadership (they base their validity on whether the Church is "big"). So they will water down the gospel, preach endless topical sermons on people's perceived "felt needs" and give people what they want to hear (Joel Osteen would be a good example). This results in the picture above: A church that is out of shape, unhealthy and shallow.
Would that Victoria Community Church be a Church that continues to grow. But may it be a Church that grows with converts to Christ based on sound teaching from the word of God. If there is growth for any other reason then it is just growth in the wrong direction.
HT: The Sacred Sandwich for the picture
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Thus since the church is a body it can grow in two ways. One, it can eat garbage, grow fat lazy and complacent, or it can have a balanced diet in the word(receive), train and workout(grow), and always be ready to help others(go).
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