Book samples The Vine Project (Contents and Introduction) | Page 12

‘trellises’ of our church almost seem to have a life of their own.
They absorb or assimilate or repel our attempts at reform and
change. Maybe this talk of ‘vine work’ and of every disciple being
a disciple-maker works somewhere else (on university campuses
maybe) but it doesn’t seem to be catching on here. And if we’re
honest about the numbers, we aren’t seeing much growth; and
what little growth we see is largely the result of transfers rather
than conversions.
We could multiply the examples, or tease out this sort of
scenario at more length, but it would only inflame the sense of
unease that many pastors, elders and core church members
already feel. When we work hard but don’t see growth, it hurts. It
leads us to grapple with God’s sovereignty (Why isn’t he giving
the growth?), to compare ourselves with others (What’s wrong
with me? Why they are doing so well?), and often to hop on the
latest bandwagon program or ministry model hoping for success
and growth at last.
As we’ve talked and thought constantly about these issues over
the past six years, we’ve become convinced of the need to answer the
question that the Baptist pastor from Chicago asked on behalf of
nearly every evangelical church in the Western world: How can we
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