by Pastor Patrick Cho

I attended my first Shepherds’ Conference in 2001 during my first year in seminary. It was a big deal for me because although I knew there were some big time speakers coming to the conference, I wasn’t very familiar with any of them. I wasn’t well read and I didn’t listen to very many sermons online or on CD. As a result, that first conference blew me away. I remember walking away thinking I wanted to learn how to preach the Word like those men did. I learned so much and felt like the weekend caused me to grow leaps and bounds. I have returned to the conference each year since then and each year it seems as though it gets better and better. The speakers always faithfully preach God’s Word in a way that is captivating, instructive, and convicting. Each year I have learned things that I never knew before.

In recent years, many of the collegians and singles at church have been attending the Resolved Conference, which is also put on by Grace Community Church. Unfortunately, I haven’t had an opportunity to go, but I have wanted to since the first year they held the conference. They always invite the best speakers and have incredible themes. Each year, the collegians and singles return from the conference speaking about how much they learned and grew.

I love these conferences and believe they are super helpful in regards to encouraging believers in the faith. The Shepherds’ Conference is arguably one of the most helpful ministries for men in pastoral ministry. It is always a great encouragement and the instruction is invaluable. But as awesome as these conferences are, they fall short in providing what believers gain each week from the fellowship of the church.

Imagine you’re at a conference sitting in the seats listening to the great speakers exposit God’s Word. You’re there along with hundreds and even thousands of others all listening to the same messages. As the speaker delivers his sermon, you are learning and are engaged in everything he is saying. And that’s about where it ends. You may enjoy a couple great conversations with other attendees during meals, but essentially you’re there to benefit personally from the messages and seminars.

At church, it isn’t supposed to be that way. We don’t come to church only for personal benefit. In Ephesians 4:11-12, Paul writes that God has given gifted men to the church to preach His Word and to equip the saints. Certainly at conferences there is a great deal of beneficial equipping going on. But Paul continues that this equipping is given to the church so each saint may be given the instruction that is needed for the work of ministry. That word “ministry” comes from the same Greek word for “deacon” or “servant.” In church, the preaching of the Word of God is given so that saints might be built up individually, but this is for the purpose that each of those saints might be a blessing to one another corporately. It doesn’t work when you try to bring a conference mentality into the church. Church wasn’t designed by God that way.

Paul continues to explain that when each saint is engaged in this work of service, which comes as a result of the faithful teaching of God’s Word, the church gets built up together and spiritual growth takes place. What’s interesting, though, is that while I’m sure Paul is concerned about each person’s individual growth, his focus is more on the growth of the entire body corporately. Paul’s answer to the question “How do you know you are growing?” depends upon the amount of ministry is going on in the body of the church. Each member might be equipped, but growth doesn’t occur until each member employs what they have been trained up in for the work of ministry. Until this happens, the church doesn’t grow.

We need to be careful about bringing a conference mentality into the church. What does this look like? You might hear people complain that they aren’t growing because they aren’t learning anything new. They aren’t getting the “wow” factor from the messages they hear. They might even talk about how they grow so much more when they listen to conference speakers. But I think they’re missing the point. Paul’s response would seem to be that if you want to grow, part of that growth depends on the ministry you give to others. Church wasn’t meant to be a conference. It isn’t just about what you are learning and how you are benefitting. It is also about how you are serving and being a benefit to others.

Until you understand that you need to be investing in others, serving others, and helping others, you are stunting the growth of the rest of the church. You are hindering everyone from reaching greater maturity (Eph 4:13). Ironically as you complain about a lack of growth, you are stunting growth in the church. Paul writes that we are to grow up into Christ (Eph 4:15), but that growth is only achieved when each part is working properly (Eph 4:16). This isn’t to say that individual growth is unimportant. It is vitally important. It is just to point out that if individual growth is all you are concerned about, you’re missing the point. You should also be greatly concerned with how the body is growing as a whole.

I don’t think it is a coincidence that people who tell the pastors that they are not growing oftentimes are the same ones who aren’t doing much in church. They come on Sundays but they aren’t involved in the work of ministry. They conclude that what they need is more instruction, but Paul’s point in Ephesians 4 is that the instruction is a means to an end. It is not the end in itself.

I’m all for attending conferences. I think they can provide a wonderful boost even to the ministry of the church because people are equipped to return and further serve the body. But let us guard against treating learning like it is an end in itself. It is helpful. It is necessary. But it was meant to lead to greater ministry, which in turn leads to greater growth. So, the obvious question is, “How are you growing?” If your answer is only that you are learning new things, I would argue that you need to go further. Think about how you can serve and contribute to the work of ministry. Until each member does this, we will never grow into the stature of the fullness of Christ.