We are all captive to our traditions and influenced by them more than we realize. And the effect of tradition and long practice is not always that so… - Colin Marshall

But the emphasis is not on the growth of the congregation as a structure — in numbers, finances and success — but on the growth of the gospel, as it is spoken and re-spoken under the power of the Spirit. In fact, New Testament congregations, as far as we can tell, were usually small gatherings meeting in houses. They were outwardly unimpressive, and had minimal infrastructure. But God kept drawing people into them by the gospel. Or to put it another way, Christ kept doing what he said he would do in Matthew 16. He kept building his church.

Batizando’ e ‘ensinando’ são os meios pelos quais os discípulos devem ser feitos” (pp. 19)

We will be arguing that structures don’t grow ministry any more than trellises grow vines, and that most churches need to make a conscious shift — away from erecting and maintaining structures, and towards growing people who are disciple-making disciples of Christ.