What is biblical success and how do we measure it? Are there any papers written or books available that you can recommend to me to answer this question for us? -- San Diego
It might be good to have another look at The Purpose Driven Church. I would also recommend the book by Jim Collins Good to Great. Though this is a business book, it has a lot to offer. One last recommendation would be Ken Hemphill's The Antioch Effect.
The phrase "biblical success" is not exactly a biblical phrase, so the answer to your question I am afraid will tend to be rather artificial. If we are asking what the purpose of the church is, there are several indicated in scripture:
* To make known God's wisdom to the heavenly powers (Ephesians 3)
* To evangelize (Matthew 28)
* To reproduce Christ in others (Colossians 1)
"Success" tends to be a bottom-line word, a business word. This encourages reductionism... which has been part of our problem as church builders. Perhaps we should get away from the word "success" completely! Anyway, all the good books indicate success depends more on long-term strategy than on short-term policies.
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