What Type of Growth Is It?

I am always struct by how absolutely naive some people are about church growth. They point to the fact that their church has grown X percent over X amount of time as if that "PROVES" that God is blessing their ministry and that those who would dare criticize the false doctrine and Bible twisting that is coming from their pulpits are just not seeing the bigger picture. 

One of the dumbest examples I've seen of this is Steven Furtick's defense of Joel Osteen.  According to Furtick, guys like me and folks who understand systematic theology and the Biblical languages need to shut our mouths and stop criticizing Joel Osteen because Osteen 'packs the freaking Compaq Center 2 times every freaking Sunday'. (that's a direct quote from Furtick)

What Biblically challenged egomaniacs like Furtick need to deal with is that not all growth is good growth. In fact, if your church congregation has a weakened or non-existent immune system and isn't defending against false doctrine then the growth that it is experiencing is more than likely CANCEROUS GROWTH.

Comments

[Glenn E. Chatfield]

Joel Osteen himself is a cancerous growth on the church!

[Rev. Z. Bartels]

Good point... In fact, I can hear someone at the doctor's office asking the same question you just did about a gross spot on their armpit: "What kind of growth is it?" :D

[Elvito]

Challenging the Pharisee Card and this in the coarse of a few days. You are on a roll!!!

Were any of these seeker sensitive types ever asked to really think about anything in their lives. Certainly they have never taken a course in logic.

Islam is growing. Now Furtik cannot question that.
Some cults grow at a fast rate. Now we can't question them.

The reasoning of these guys is pathetic.

[Christopher]

I always get a kick out of the times when people like Furtick judge and criticize those who judge and criticize! According to his blog post we are to (this is a paraphrase) stop talking about what Osteen is doing incorrectly and just do correctly what he is doing incorrectly. In that same light, however, shouldn't Furtick stop telling us what we are doing incorrectly (ie. judging Osteen) and just be better than us? This is the theological equivalent to the person who says, "There is no absolute truth!" I always say, "Really...is that statement true?"

[markg]

Furtick wrote, "Who the heck do you think you are to criticize a man who is impacting a city like Pastor Joel is impacting Houston?"

You mean the city that just elected a lesbian as mayor and is planning to open the nation's largest abortion clinic?

Some impact he's having

[Ken Schmidt]

If Pastor Osteen were just some backwoods preacher in Possum Trot, Arkansas preaching to a congregation there and minding his own business, it would be a different. But Rev. Osteen invades my television set every day and tells millions of people what to believe and how to live. His PUBLIC errors should be critiqued and his theology should be compared to the theology of the Bible. Since this young man has seen fit to preach the gospel without attending a seminary or bible college, he should take any serious criticism in a spirit of humility.