Preview of Sunday's Sermon

Hypothesis: Our church is a small, family-centered church.  Many believe that small churches with few resources of members, money, facilities, and leaders are not OK. The feeling that we have nothing of value to offer is deepseated, that only big churches with multiple programs can attract people.  We begin to ask, "What is wrong with us?" The more important question may be, "What is wrong with this picture?"

 

The Jeremiah Journey is challenging us on size.  In a culture that demands more as better, how does that affect the church?  Is it a valid argument?  Is bigger naturally better when it comes to church?  Is there a certain critical mass that a church has to hit in order to be effective in its ministry?  Is it a hundred people?  Two hundred?  Five hundred? 

And it is not just the numbers of people, but what comes with more people, more programs, more opportunities, more things to do.  When a church is growing and multiplying its ministry, is it that much more effective than when it’s of a stable size?  Are there measures outside butts in the pews or dollars in the collection plate that truly mark the effectiveness of a congregation?

Those are all sociological questions.  What about some theological questions?  Like, what does Scripture have to say about this?  There are certainly celebrations when people come to the sure and certain knowledge of Jesus Christ, but is there a biblical theology around the concept of “more”?  Or does the Bible have another focus?  Is the “success” measured by how many people come to church supposed to be an end in itself, or is it the byproduct of something else that a church might be doing?  Is it even reasonable to equate “growth” with “success”, assuming growth is the number of people on any given Sunday?

The passage from 1 Peter 2 does challenge the question of numbers in the pew as the grand measure of church success.  Is the expansion of the church a human endeavor at all?  Or are we simply instruments of God’s growth of the church?  And if we are God’s instruments, can we dare to know the mind of God?  Can we attempt such a task without much fear and trembling? 

One of the presuppositions of the growth movement in the church is the division of all humanity into two camps, heaven-bound believers and hell-bound unbelievers.  Is that absolute division even supported by the Scriptures?  Peter gives us one of the clearest passages that contrasts believers and unbelievers.  But do we really know what Peter is telling us?

And if we are wrong, then the church notion that runs through so many congregations expounding on the absolute necessity of winning as many souls for Christ before they die and go to hell, does that come into question?  Is there another way?  Even another, greater purpose to being the church?

See you on Sunday to hear more.