Matt Chandler Emphasizes Christ-Centered Foundation for Faithful and Fruitful Churches

Megachurch pastor Matt Chandler emphasized during a conference in North Carolina that churches aiming to be both faithful and fruitful must be rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Speaking to ministry leaders at the Advance13 conference in Raleigh, Chandler stated, “Ministry begins at the laying of the foundation of Christ Jesus.” He argued that any ministry not built upon the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ cannot be considered truly Christian.

Chandler, who leads The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas, and serves as president of the Acts 29 Network for church planting, based his message on 1 Corinthians 3. In that passage, the Apostle Paul describes members of the Corinthian church as spiritual “infants” due to their division over which leader—Paul or Apollos—they followed. Chandler acknowledged the value of faith heroes but warned against elevating any individual beyond their proper place.

“Oftentimes when you get into this conversation about faithful verses fruitful, what ends up happening is you begin to have a lot of dialogue about what to do with big personalities,” Chandler said. He stressed that even the most popular ministers are merely servants of God, and ultimately, it is Jesus Christ who deserves praise.

“I get nervous when a guy operates in such a way that he puts off the vibe that God should be grateful that God grabbed him,” Chandler remarked. He later added, “There’s something about guys that lie low and exalt Christ. I find my heart drawn to them. I’m trying desperately to be one of those men. We are all but servants. We are all but servants of Christ.”

Ministers, according to Chandler, are tools in God’s hands and should, like Paul, view others as fellow laborers working toward the same goal. He also discussed “caricatures” of two different church types. The first type sacrifices doctrine for the sake of attracting large crowds, prioritizing numeric growth over robust truth. These churches often avoid divisive scriptures to maintain appeal.

Churches focused solely on growth are sometimes characterized by a lack of discipleship and mentoring, Chandler noted. They may draw people in and see them saved, but often neglect to foster spiritual maturity in their congregation.

Other churches, in contrast, focus almost exclusively on doctrine at the expense of evangelization. Chandler observed that in many robust, theological churches, there seems to be a lack of gospel ambition.

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