The Value of a Small Church
In 2002, recognizing there was no congregation of the Lord's church meeting in the area between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington D.C., a group of 6 Christians established the Columbia Street church of Christ, meeting first in an apartment. When they built it up to 12 members through intensive evangelistic efforts, they rented rooms in a local elementary school. After about 2 years they built up to 25 members! They were joyful because they felt like they had reached critical mass, and the Lord's work was being done. The enthusiasm was infectious!
Then, the letter came---a letter that included a copy of an April 2015 article from Christian Chronicle entitled"Disband With Dignity". The author of the letter said that there had already been a Columbia Street church of Christ in the same general area. And, when that congregation got down to 25 members, it was so discouraging that they disbanded the congregation, and members drove the distance elsewhere.
Can you imagine? One group got up to 25 and was excited!!! One group got down to 25 and was so discouraged they "disbanded with dignity". What made the difference? Was it attitude? Faith? Lethargy? Lack of trust in God? Disbelief?
I am reminded of two shoe salesmen who went to an undeveloped part of Africa on business. One man got off the plane and saw all the shoeless natives running around and wired back to his company: "No use to set up shop here. No one wears shoes." The other shoe salesman eagerly wired back to his company and said, "Quick! Send a boat-load of shoes. No one is wearing shoes!!!" It's all a matter of perspective.
You remember the story of Gideon, In Judges 7, going to fight the Midianites, and the Amalekites, whose numbers were described as "numerous as locusts". They were camped out across the valley. Gideon had managed to assemble an army of 32,000 to go up against this hoard. As he confidently addressed his army in the pre-attack briefing of the troops, he said, "Whoever is afraid and trembling let him return and depart from Mount Gilead."
And then, he watched with horror as 22,000 (over half his troops) took off for home. Can you imagine being a General and half your army leaves?! Well, God said to Gideon, "You still have too many", and the number got down to only 300. 300 against a numberless hoard! And God delivered the enemy into Gideon's hand without a loss of any of his army. All the way through the Bible you see God working with an individual or a small group to show the power of having faith in God and His power.
The Lord said to Paul in 2 Corinthians:9 "My strength is made perfect in weakness." And God told Daniel about a man he was going to use for His purposes. The Lord said, "He shall come up, and shall become strong with a small group." (Daniel 11:23).
A few years ago Lydia and I visited in Alaska and I was invited to preach at Anchor Point, a small town on the Kenai Peninsula on the shore of Cook Inlet. For years the brethren there tried to reach their community with the gospel, with little success. Did they choose to "disband with dignity"? No! If they could not reach their community, they decided to reach out to the world by short-wave radio, and soon radio KNLS was started with a giant antenna--to reach the pacific rim nations: the Philippines, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.
But then, they began getting responses from deep inside Russia, China and the Moslem countries of the Mideast. There is no telling how many souls have been reached by that small group in Alaska all over the world. And now, with the internet, we too can reach out to people all over the world with the gospel. Consider World Bible School andWorld Video Bible School as personal or evangelistic tools for Bible study, as well as email, Skype and other social media available at our fingertips today.
It is sad and unfortunate that brethren and others erroneously measure success in growth by how many members a congregation has in attendance. The bigger you are, the more successful you are thought to be and the stronger you are perceived to be.
But, God's concept of growth and strength is far different than most misguided brethren, who think growth is by numbers. God is not concerned about numbers. Of course, God is "not willing that any should perish" (2 Peter 3:9) , but He seeks those who "will worship Him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23).
When you search the word grow in the New Testament, it is always associated with grace, faith, love, truth and knowledge (Ephesians 4:13; 1 Peter 2:2; 3:15), having to do with maturity. Yes, Acts 12:24 says that "the Word of God continued to grow and to be multiplied" and "the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing" (Acts 19:20) implying many converts---but won by the word. The emphasis is still in agreement with Christ's commission: "Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you..." (Matthew 28:19-20).
A disciple is a person who has been convinced by the teaching of the gospel, and commits to obey the gospel. Although a full understanding is not required before become a committed Christian---knowledgeable about why Jesus died for them and that they will be a part of Christ's body, the church---is implied. A commitment to worship God in spirit (with the right attitude) and in truth (according to the doctrine of Christ) is implied.
The practice of quick baptisms of low-information, half converted from the world (for awhile) people, does not constitute true congregational growth, but is more a matter of swelling the church.
Since the beginning of the modern "church growth" movement, dating from the late 1950's, local churches have been under pressure to provide programs to facilitate church growth. Bob DeWaay, in his article, "Faulty Premises of the Church Growth Movement" from the publication: Critical Issues Commentary, says:
"The Church Growth idea is that we must study man (using the latest sociological, psychological, and anthropological insights) to determine how to create a church that will grow and a message that will be popular through appealing to a target audience. Something is wrong here. And, I do not think it is the inspired Apostle John." He refers to 1 John4:5-6 which says, "They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error."
Did you know that the brethren in a large church have a Center for Church Growth with the motto: "Think Big!" In contrast, I exhort you to "Think Small!---for the following reasons:
Thinking SMALL actually promotes true and lasting growth. Back in the early part of the 20th century through the 1950's, congregations grew quickly through frequent gospel meetings and emphasis on evangelism. But, elderships were wise to determine that when a congregation grew to about 250 to 300, it was better to encourage members to volunteer in starting another congregation across town, or in another neighborhood. This gave the church more presence in the community with the opportunity of the gospel reaching them. It also promoted more evangelistic activity, especially among the team that set forth to build the new congregation.
Thinking SMALL also promotes more of a family atmosphere among members. Lydia and I were a part of a large congregation with around 1400 members. I was on the "staff" there. One time I was sitting next to a lady in the balcony whom I had never seen before. She leaned over to ask me the name of a lady coming up the aisle. I replied, "I don't know. I have never seen her before in my life." The atmosphere during the worship services was more like we were spectators watching the performance of worship. There was a "worship praise team" of three men and a woman leading the singing (so that the basses, the tenors, sopranos and altos all had their own song leader). They wore color-coordinated outfits, and the whole thing seemed more like a theatrical entertainment. The preacher had a great sense of humor and interesting stories with spiritual lessons, but with little scripture included. I am not saying that all huge congregations are like that, but my experience in visiting many, was near the norm. I walked into a huge congregation once, into a long hallway filled with people visiting one another. No one greeted me. But when the song leader announced they were one of the friendliest congregations you could find, and asked everyone to stand and greet the ones in front and behind, all of a sudden, on queue, everyone was so friendly with me.
Thinking SMALL also promotes more member activity and on the job training. In a congregation of 1400 people, a man might get called upon to lead the congregation in prayer once a year or even two years, because of so many. I used to wonder how much talent was wasted and how many never could develop their abilities because of the sheer numbers of members, and the lack of opportunity to "grow". In a small church, men and women always have opportunity to serve in their chosen capacities or try to develop new skills. Young men are used in worship service and get used to being in leadership situations. This can lead to interest in developing song-leading talents, or preaching and teaching. Some of the brotherhood's greatest Bible scholars and most dynamic preachers grew up in small country churches and learned from on-the-job training, sometimes mentored by older preachers and teachers, or benefited from Gospel meetings, debates and extensive Bible "Readings" that sometimes lasted 6 months or more. This was all before Christian Colleges or Preacher Training Schools came into existence.
The "Church Growth" promoters fanned out across our nation in the 1960's trying to encourage brethren to "dis-band with dignity" and consolidate with other congregations (patterned after the public school consolidation mania). The idea was to have a large central presence in the community. The theory was that so much more could be done if we were big.
The idea of "big-is-good and small-is-bad is a commercial one, not a spiritual one. Naturally the church grew in the New Testament times, but the members were scattered and did not always meet in large groups. The day of Pentecost was an exception. Many of those new converts established churches of Christ in other places by spreading the gospel throughout the known world.
With the sale of all the smaller church buildings, we could be as impressive as the denominations (a "look at what we are doing" mentality) in the area with their fancy buildings, thus attracting more people--and a wealthier prospect. I know this was true, because I attended one of the promotional meetings in Albuquerque, New Mexico when a famous preacher from the largest church in the USA was touring the country urging brethren to do this. Brethren fell for this, especially in the cities, and millions upon millions of dollars started funding magnificent facilities, which could sometimes be described as "palaces" of worship.
From the Colley House blog, we read this insight:
"What the church needs today is not primarily bigger and better facilities, bigger congregations, more talent, more programs or more money. What the church needs today is more courageous leaders: more Calebs, more Joshuas, more Josephs and Daniels. We need men who are willing to do the hard things to keep the body faithfully united in Truth. We need men who are soft enough to cry about lost souls, yet tough enough to do what God says to do to keep the body pure."
Don't get me wrong. I'm not against church buildings per-se-----just going overboard----and allowing the building to be the dominate financial interest of the congregation. The early church, because of persecution, did not build church buildings until the 3rd century. But, the Lord wants the church to "come together" as a body for worship (Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 11:18). And they did---in rented halls and houses and suitable places. The typical house, in the Roman times throughout the empire, had a courtyard and/or a large portico that would be equivalent in capacity to a modest church building auditorium, that could accommodate a crown. Brethren were not necessarily crowded into little living room "cell" groups, like we sometimes imagine when we think of house churches.
In spite of possible positive consequences of the church growth movement, there have been some severely negative consequences as well:
(1) The inordinate unbalanced shift of God's money from the mission fields to extravagant multi-million dollar church buildings.
In the 1980's I returned from working with student preachers at the Jamaica School of Biblical Studies in Kingston, Jamaica. They were some of the most well-trained preacher potential I ever met, and had the yearning to return to their villages to preach and teach. The problem was there were no jobs to support them in their villages, and there was no brotherhood support for them. Unfortunately, today it is more who you know than the quality of your work that determines who gets the available support. And there are so many multi-million dollar-budgeted brotherhood programs that take up much of limited brotherhood resources. So these young men were forced to stay in Kingston to get jobs i order for their families to survive.
Well, I had just returned from working with these highly qualified and keen men to an area in the US that had larger congregations, when another preacher and I were invited to tour the magnificent new "campus" of a church building. Our enthusiastic host led us into the huge wrap-around foyer. There was an indoor fountain and a book store in the foyer area. He took us downstairs to the two adjoining gymnasiums (one an indoor tennis court and the other a basketball court). As we stood in front of the little coffee shop by the tennis court, he eagerly explained that the building cost $17.5 million (which, adjusted for today's inflation, would be equivalent to $35 million), and they were servicing a debt of $12 million back to the bank. I calculated in my mind that what they were paying each week from the contribution of God's money to the bank to service the mortgage debt, would fully pay 50 Jamaican preachers support for the whole year!
(2) Another negative of the church growth consolidation movement has been the liberalizing of the church.
As congregations consolidated together for a bigger church, preachers and elders were often displaced or relegated to "staff" positions in the new situation with the new set of elders. Those who were more conservative to faithfully teaching the whole council of God were no longer as sought after, as elderships looked more for charismatic, "well-educated", public-relations oriented speakers with a positive image and an entertaining personality. Messages were softened so as not to offend potential members and fickle donors, who might leave for greener pastures, and thus put the mortgage payments in jeopardy. In some cases, talented and popular preachers actually have come into positions where the elders were subject to them. The drift toward denominationalism was begun.
(3) Another negative of consolidation in the church growth movement is the modifying or restructuring of church organization in some congregations, because of size and "efficiency".
Elders, who were once chosen primarily because of their shepherd qualities, along with Biblical qualifications, gave way to elders selected because of their executive talent and business savvy. Thus, elderships began to look more like a corporate board of directors than shepherds smelling like the sheep they tend. (They mingle with the sheep) The driving force of this change was because of the building and program management. One deacon came to me one time in frustration and said, "I am confused. What am I supposed to do? The elders are doing the deacons work." A girl visiting from college was asked what her major was. She replied, "I'm getting my degree in worship management."
What about the future? Acts 8:1-4 "...there was a great persecution against the church...they that were all scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word..." That may be our wake-up call. As the clouds of persecution grow darker on the cultural and social horizon here in America, the possibility of loss of tax-exempt status and confiscation of property may come to our door.
Wise elderships need to take heed and plan for the storm. Jeremiah 6:16 says: "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therin, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein." I would love for us to look back to the wisdom of the brethren in the 1950's. When the congregation we were with in Yakima, Washington reached 250, the elders began to plan for a church planting in another promising area of town which would grow to eventually afford a modest worship facility. If elderships of the church-growth crowd would choose to sell their "palaces" to spread the gospel back to the neighborhoods and help the mission fields, I'm sure the Lord would be much more pleased. These congregations would be blessed beyond their wildest imagination, and might fare much better on judgement day when all things are brought into account. (Ecclesiastes 12:14).
When I was a young preacher in Canada, I became acquainted by letter with Dr. Hans Grimm, a German brother in Christ, and an early church historian. He wrote the book, "Tradition and History of the Early Churches of Christ in Central Europe." He wrote about his ancestor, Gregorius Grymn, who was arrested for his faith:
"As he stood before the judge at Ensisheim in 1117, he told the judge, 'I have been buried with Christ in the water of rebirth here in the little river Fecht by my dear grandfather 30 years ago, for the remission of sins. So I became a happy child of God." Neither the breaking of his arms and legs, nor the flame which burnt him alive could make him tell the names of the little group of Alsation Christian to which he belonged...From the year 1117, we can trace in official records of judges the story of little congregations of the Lord's church. They appear there as 'Ortliber' in Germany, 'Speronisti' in Italy and 'Patareni' in Yugoslavia. The only name they used for their congregations was "Kleine Gemeinde Christi" (little church of Christ) or "Kirche Christi" (church of Christ)." Who hath despised the day of small things?"
How can you help to stem the disappearing of small congregations?
1. Pray for their survival and that God would bring them faithful Christian families who will help them grow and reach out to their communities.
2. Visit occasionally to encourage them in their existence and growth. Some small groups would also welcome visiting song-leaders, teachers and preachers.
3. When its in your heart to increase your gift back to God from time to time, bless a smaller congregation to help them with their outreach to share the gospel. Financial gifts, to help them with radio programs, mission efforts and meeting their needs, are always received with tremendous appreciation.
Stan Sherman
29285 Lingo Lane
Junction City, Oregon 97448
Ph. 541-998-8989
Stansherman@comcast.net
Web Logs: http://faithfulmessenger.blogspot.com
www.lancasterchurchofchrist.blogspot.com
