Is your church growing?How would you answer that question? What means would you use to evaluate whether or not a church really is growing? It seems unfortunately that for many the primary means they use to evaluate whether their church is growing is whether or not there are more people sitting in the seats on a Sunday morning.In Ephesians 4:11-16 we see that the kind of growth God is concerned about is much bigger than that. Paul tells us that God wants us to grow in unity, knowledge of Christ, maturity, spiritual stability, Christ-centeredness and love. That means if we want to evaluate whether we are growing the way God wants us to grow instead of talking about numbers and buildings, we need to ask questions like:• Are we becoming more and more united in the faith?Are we growing in our concern for one another?Is there less gossip here than there was at the beginning?Are we dealing with problems that come up between us in a more and more loving andgracious way?Are we becoming more and more passionate about the truths that matter to God and less and less concerned about preferences and opinions that matter to us?Are we growing closer?• Are we increasing in our knowledge of and love for the person and work of Jesus Christ?Is the Jesus we talk about and worship the Jesus of the Bible?Are we coming to a better understanding of exactly who this Jesus was and is?Is Jesus getting bigger and more important to us?Are we as a church more excited about Jesus than we were at the beginning?Is it evident to all who is the most important person in this church?• Are we becoming more and more holy in our behavior? More and more mature?Are we changing?Are we putting off sinful habits?Are we becoming less and less childish in our ways?Are we dying to self?Are we putting on the kinds of characteristics that were true of Jesus’ life like patience, compassion, love, and gentleness?Are Jesus’ priorities for life and ministry our priorities for life and ministry?• Are we growing in our ability to discern the difference between truth and error?Do we know and understand the most basic truths of the faith well enough toexplain them and defend them?Can we say what we believe and why we believe it?Are we able to tell when someone is using the Bible and religious language andsomething is not right and then go back to the Scripture and explain what is not right about what they are saying and why?Are we becoming more and more confident and certain of biblical truths?Are we able to tell the difference between good teachers and bad ones?• Is making Christ look great becoming more and more important to us?Are we growing in our desire to tell others about Christ?Are we caring less about what people think of us and more about what they think ofChrist?Are we spending less time on self-promotion and more time on Christ promotion?Are we willing to make more and more sacrifices so that others can come to know and enjoy Christ?• Are we becoming more and more characterized by radical and sacrificial love?Are we feeling more and more tender and positive feelings of affection for one another?Are we demonstrating more and more real, from the heart, not just going through the motions and checking off some sort of this is what I am supposed to do so that other people I am doing the right thing but instead because I really do love the other person, in every thing I do towards them, without being fake, without being false, without simply being polite, but really, really caring for the other person, the way that Christ cared for us as a church?Are we becoming more deeply concerned about what is happening in other people's lives? Do we hurt when they hurt and rejoice when they rejoice?When we confront others sin is it motivated by a love for them or a desire to get our way? Are we concerned about helping others succeed and are we willing to do hard things to help them succeed?Are we, is it obvious to people who develop relationships with people in the church, who begin to develop relationships with us that we are people who don’t just tolerate them, but love them?When people think about growth, they often think primarily about numbers. This is what excites them most, this is what they pray for most, this is also what discourages them most.It becomes the proof that a certain strategy is successful. It becomes the measure of a pastor's importance.Even with people who should know better.And I honestly think it is a little sad.Working in a church plant, I am often asked when I go places how many people come to your church?But what is so strange I haven’t had anyone ask me:Is your church growing closer?Is it growing deeper, stronger, more loving, more Christ-centered?And THAT is actually the kind of growth that is most important to God and THAT is the kind of growth should be most important to us.