When Another Church Grows, We Should Celebrate

“Unity in the Church is celebrating the growth of other churches—even when it costs the growth of yours.”

There is a kind of unity that is easy to talk about but much harder to live.

It is easy to celebrate another church when their growth does not affect us. It is easy to pray for another ministry when their success does not seem to compete with ours. But what happens when someone leaves our congregation and begins flourishing somewhere else? What happens when the church down the road grows while ours remains small? What happens when God uses another pastor, another ministry, or another congregation to reach someone we desperately wanted to reach?

That is where our understanding of Kingdom unity gets tested.

Because true unity is more concerned with the growth of God’s Kingdom than the growth of our own house.

We Are Not Building Our Own Kingdoms

Jesus said:

“I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” — Matthew 16:18

Notice whose Church it is.

His Church.

Every local congregation has responsibilities. We should steward what God has entrusted to us. We should evangelize, disciple, teach Scripture, care for people, and desire to see our churches healthy and growing.

But somewhere along the way, it can become very easy to confuse growing His Church with growing our church.

Those are not always the same thing.

If someone encounters Jesus, grows spiritually, becomes more obedient to Scripture, develops a deeper prayer life, and begins serving God faithfully in another Bible-believing church, the Kingdom has not suffered a loss.

The Kingdom has gained.

Our attendance numbers might have gone down by one, but Heaven does not measure success by our Sunday headcount.

Paul Refused the Competition Mindset

The early Church dealt with something remarkably similar.

Believers began identifying themselves according to the leaders they preferred.

Paul wrote:

“For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal?” — 1 Corinthians 3:4

Paul immediately redirected their attention away from personalities and toward God:

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” — 1 Corinthians 3:6

That verse should completely change how we look at ministry.

Sometimes you plant.

Sometimes another church waters.

And sometimes you get to water something another pastor planted years ago.

But none of us can produce the increase.

God does that.

Paul continues:

“So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” — 1 Corinthians 3:7

Imagine how different the Church would look if we truly lived this way.

Instead of asking, “How many people are attending our church?” we would also ask,

“How many people in our community are following Jesus?”

Instead of feeling threatened when another church grows, we would thank God that people are being reached.

Instead of seeing another pastor as competition, we would recognize another worker in the same field.

Sometimes Unity Costs Us Something

Unity is easy when it benefits us.

Biblical unity becomes visible when it costs us something.

Maybe someone in your congregation connects better with another ministry.

Maybe another church has a program that can help someone in a way yours currently cannot.

Maybe God is calling someone you discipled to serve somewhere else.

There can be sadness in that. Relationships matter. People matter. There is nothing wrong with missing someone when God moves them into another season.

But we have to remember something:

People do not belong to pastors.

They belong to Jesus.

Our responsibility is not to build dependency upon ourselves. Our responsibility is to help people follow Christ.

John the Baptist understood this.

When people began telling him that Jesus was attracting more followers, John could have become defensive. Instead, he responded:

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” — John 3:30

That is Kingdom thinking.

John understood that his ministry existed to point people toward Jesus—not to keep people attached to John.

That same principle should shape the Church today.

Healthy Churches Can Celebrate Healthy Churches

There are times when leaving a church is unhealthy. People should not run every time they are corrected, offended, challenged, or uncomfortable. Scripture calls believers into community, accountability, reconciliation, and perseverance.

But there are also times when God genuinely moves people.

When that happens, we should want them somewhere they can grow, serve, be discipled, and faithfully follow Christ.

And when another biblical church is reaching people we are not reaching?

Praise God.

When another pastor baptizes someone?

Praise God.

When another ministry reaches a family we have been praying for?

Praise God.

When another congregation experiences revival?

Praise God.

Their victory does not have to be our defeat.

If Jesus is being glorified, the Gospel is being preached faithfully, people are being discipled, and lives are being transformed, then the Kingdom is advancing.

And if the Kingdom is advancing, we are winning together.

There Is Only One Church

Church buildings have different names.

Congregations have different pastors.

Ministries have different styles.

We may disagree on secondary issues while remaining united around the essential truth of the Gospel.

But everyone who truly belongs to Christ ultimately belongs to the same Body.

Paul writes:

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 12:12

Your congregation is not the entire Body.

Neither is mine.

We need one another.

The hand does not lose when the foot becomes stronger. The eye does not need to compete with the ear. When one part of the Body becomes healthier, the whole Body benefits.

That means another church's success should not automatically produce insecurity in us.

It should produce celebration.

What Are We Really Trying to Build?

This is the question every pastor, leader, ministry, and believer eventually has to confront:

Are we building His Kingdom, or are we building something that needs our name attached to it?

That question can be uncomfortable.

I believe churches should want to grow. I want to see churches filled with people hungry for God. I want pastors to reach more people. I want ministries to expand their influence when that influence is pointing people toward Jesus.

But growth itself cannot become the god we serve.

Sometimes faithfulness will produce visible numerical growth.

Sometimes faithfulness means planting seeds someone else will eventually harvest.

Paul planted.

Apollos watered.

God gave the increase.

We may not always know which role God has given us in someone's story.

And that is okay.

Because the ultimate goal isn't that everyone knows the name of our ministry.

The goal is that everyone knows the name of Jesus.

So when another faithful church grows, celebrate.

When another ministry reaches someone, celebrate.

When another pastor succeeds, pray that God gives them wisdom to steward it well.

And even when the growth of another church costs the growth of yours, remember:

We were never competitors.

We are coworkers in the same field, servants of the same King, members of the same Body, and participants in the same mission.

True unity is more focused on the entire Kingdom than just our own house.

Because ultimately, we aren't building our churches.

Jesus is building His.

Pastor Scott