BY ED CHRISTIAN

egachurches have thousands of members and many worship services. Some famous examples are Bill Hybel's Willow Creek and Rick Warren's Saddleback. These churches started with a core group of faithful friends, a lot of prayer, and great marketing plans. They reached out to the "unchurched," who belonged to no church or denomination. The unchurched came for the entertainment, perhaps, but many became active disciples of Christ.

Doesn't that sound wonderful? With our message, wouldn't you think we could draw thousands of unchurched people to "seeker services"? It hasn't worked that way.

True, there are Adventist megachurches in places with large concentrations of Adventists, such as near Adventist colleges or hospitals. They don't attract many unchurched people, though.

Planting new churches is an exciting and demanding task, and our denomination is putting a lot of effort into teaching people how to do it. Some of these "church plants" thrive, and some die, but they aren't growing into megachurches.

Conferences have made several expensive attempts to grow megachurches that will attract the unchurched, but most of these have failed. Several have withdrawn from the Adventist denomination. This has usually led to a split within the congregation. If the newly independent congregation survives at all, it is usually severely weakened.

Why haven't Adventists been able to grow megachurches by attracting the unchurched? There are several reasons.

The primary stumbling block, I think, is the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a wonderful gift, the center of our denominational identity. We can be Adventists without the Sabbath, but we cannot be Seventh-day Adventists.

The unchurched, though, are often nervous about anything that seems unorthodox or cultlike. Going to church on Sabbath can seem too weird. (This is why the Sabbath is not presented on the first night of evangelistic meetings or in Bible studies.)

Should we give up the Sabbath so that we can reach the unchurched? Of course not! This may be one reason we aren't growing mega-churches, but worldwide a million people a year accept the Sabbath.

The second stumbling block is that many founding members of potential Adventist megachurches are lifestyle liberals with no passion for souls. Small "church plants" usually have a core of deeply committed believers who work to make disciples. By contrast, budding Adventist megachurches formed by splitting existing congregations often draw those who are Adventists more in historical affiliation than in lifestyle. These members often woo back ex-Adventists by teaching that Adventist lifestyle issues no longer matter.

I have lots of non-Adventist students who love loud music, wear lots of jewelry and tattoos, sometimes even drink and smoke, yet are on fire for God. I don't worry if they are liberal in lifestyle or theology so long as they are devoted to walking with God. Then He can lead them to where He wants them.

The problem with Adventist lifestyle liberals is not their taste in music, or even their theology, in many cases. The problem is their lack of passion for walking with God and bringing seekers to Christ.

Churches grow into effective megachurches only when seekers become disciples. These seekers need to be mentored by Spirit-filled members who are themselves spiritually disciplined and so are qualified to make disciples. If a large percentage of church members are not disciple-makers, a mega-church will eventually fail or will merely entertain.

If the initial excitement dies because members aren't training new believers, it's sometimes tempting to manufacture excitement. A few Adventist attempts at growing mega-churches have adopted such questionable charismatic practices as speaking in tongues and being "slain" in the Spirit. This has always had a disastrous effect on growth in Adventist contexts.

I expect there will be hundreds of successful church plants in the next decade, but I don't expect to see any new Adventist megachurches.

However, friend, don't take this as permission to gloat. Are you really a disciple? Are you training disciples? How many unchurched "seekers" joined your church last year? Whether you are conservative or liberal, chances are the answer is none. Welcome to Laodicea.

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Ed Christian teaches English and biblical literature at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. His latest book, Joyful Noise: A Sensible Look at Christian Music, is available from the Review and Herald Publishing Association. Christian's e-mail address is: [email protected].