Larger and Smaller

For years we heard "Bigger is better!"  As my children love to say, "Back in the olden days when you were a kid, Dad," it seemed that every year the new cars were bigger, faster and had more chrome than their predecessors.  As far as Detroit was concerned, bigger was always better. 

Schools consolidated because bigger schools would, naturally, be better schools.  They could offer the students a more varied and complete curriculum.  So 50 student grade schools like the one I attended merged with others to make 500 to 1000 student grade schools. 

In an effort to shave operating costs and make more efficient use of their money, like many other not for profit organizations, the Boy Scouts have merged and restructured a number of times in the past several years.  The local Boy Scout Council I used to serve in is made up of what used to be four different councils. It seems to be working. The Boy Scouts do more and more work with less and less United Way funding each year. (They have committed the unforgivable sin of being politically incorrect.)

A few years ago, in several areas, it seemed that suddenly the trend reversed. To be better, things had to be smaller – radios, televisions, cars, computers, clothes (what ever happened to the blessed mini skirt?), waistlines, and people. Thoughts, minds, and political agendas seem to have narrowed. Commitments, marriages, job security and friendships have shrunk and become limited. Then the trend changed again with huge televisions and larger and larger cell phones.

Churches have been caught in the middle. While seeing the need to grow larger, many people have also expressed a need for their local church to retain the intimacy that only smallness can offer. We all enjoy the atmosphere of "family" a small church seems to have. It is a place where we know everyone – or so we think. The reality is we don't really know everyone. We mistake being able to recognize each other’s faces for knowing each other. We can't truly know each other because we so ardently resist being known. Even so, we cling to the fantasy of what we think we have.

The church must continue to grow because there will always be people who don't know God. Our churches will grow as we help people come to know God and be a part of His family. To say no to growth is to say we don't care what happens to those outside the church. I have heard people say, "We want quality, not quantity." Are they saying that only a small group of people are worthy of being a part of the church? They don't mean to, but that is what they communicate. Others have said, "Numbers don't count." Then why do we count the offering? Is money more important than people? And think about this piece of Scripture. "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?" (Matthew 18:12 NIV). If the good shepherd Jesus spoke of in this passage had not counted his sheep, he would not have known one was missing. It is important to know who is in church and also to be aware of who isn't.

We tend to use some rather convoluted rationales to excuse the lack of growth in our churches. One of our favorites is, "I would rather be right than growing." As if being right and growing are mutually exclusive. At different times in recent church history this justification has been used by both conservative and liberal church leaders – depending on whether their "type of church" was in a time of growth or decline. We like to believe people are uninterested in our churches because our message is so godly, righteous and demanding. I’m thinking the opposite is more likely true.

Instead, their disinterest lies in the reality that our message seems meaningless, boring and having little to with the daily struggle we know as life. The message of God's love, forgiveness and healing is obstructed by our religious words, symbols and traditions. We will do little to reach others for Christ and grow if we can't get out of way and let the power of God and His wondrous message get through to those in need.

At our best moments we ask, "Why is our church not growing?" But that is not the correct question. The Church was made to grow. In the New Testament, it is described as a living organism – The Body of Christ. Any living thing naturally grows. If it is not growing, it is dead or dying. Our question must be, "What is keeping our church from doing what comes naturally – growing?"

But, if the church does what it is made to do and grows, it must also meet peoples' need to know and be known – the need for friendship and intimacy. To do this, our churches must grow larger and smaller at the same time. We will grow larger as more people come to worship services, accept Christ and are baptized. That is central to what the Church of Jesus Christ is about. Just take a look at The Great Commission Jesus gave his disciples. "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-29 NIV).

We must grow smaller, at the same time, by offering more smaller group experiences. In churches I have served, we call these groups Life Groups because it is in these groups that we learn to live our lives as followers of Christ. If one is truly interested in retaining and enjoying the atmosphere of the small church, instead of insisting that the church remain small, he or she will become a part of a small group. (The truth is, some people are more interested in bemoaning the loss of the small church than doing anything about it.) Small group ministry and spiritual growth and maturity are also central to what the church is about.

As our churches grow larger and smaller at the same time, I hope you will see the wisdom of joining the crowd at morning worship and the small group where life change happens.

Copyright © 2013, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved