One of the things I hear, consistently, from those who pastor or attend smaller churches, like ours, is criticism of larger churches. I think it is because there is a natural, albeit misguided, tendency, to think that to be successful in ministry, we must have a large church. You can't really find that in the Bible; but it is easy to see it that way. So, for those of us in smaller churches, we tend to make excuses for being small, as though we needed to, and we point fingers of blame at those we consider to be large.
Some of the criticisms I hear the most, cast toward larger churches are: They are all about entertainment; They are stealing from the smaller churches; They must be liberal; They water down the gospel; Sure, anyone can gather a crowd if they do the kinds of things that church is doing; They don't love older people; They can't be pleasing God; They waste money; The only way they can do all they do is because they have a lot of money; and many other criticisms I can't remember.
As a pastor of a small church, I can say that I have to fight off the temptation to be critical of larger churches. I think the key to not being critical is look at all churches, including larger ones, and including our own churches, with a biblical eye. And I cannot speak with experience, about all larger churches, but I can speak about one: Northridge Church in Rochester, NY. Because my brother is the senior pastor, I get a lot of inside information, and since I had the opportunity to visit, once again, a couple Sundays ago, and preached, I saw the church in action.
I praise God for the work He is doing at Northridge. Over the past 10 years, they have lost about 60% of their membership (that includes all the kinds of ways of losing people), including about 30% who have very negative things to say about the church, its changes, and the leadership responsible. However, there are now many, many more people who have come over the past 10 years, that have made decisions for Christ, and have been eye-witnesses to the way God has dramatically changed people's lives. Hundreds more now hear the good news of Jesus every week, and take next steps in their spiritual journey.
Just speaking from my own personal knowledge and experience, this particular larger church does what it does, not to be famous or large; but to make more and better disciples (another way of terming "The Great Commission" - Matthew 28:19,20). With that in mind, they have been willing to sacrifice tradition and comfort for whatever God leads them to do in order to communicate the never changing gospel to an ever changing world. That also means, unfortunately, that they take the risk of being a target for the critical ones out there (mostly other Christian churches) that will cast a critical eye, simply because Northridge is growing in numbers, have built a new building, and are gaining more recognition among others.
As a small church pastor, my concern cannot be on trying to be large; but on doing the same thing that Northridge is doing: making disciples. That is my heart's desire. And regardless of how large we grow, we will be successful as long as we are seeing people take the next steps in their spiritual journey. And as for the larger churches out there, God bless them, as long as they are doing what they do, for the glory of God! Today, I am thanking God for Northridge Church.
Check them out, and say a prayer of blessing for them as well: www.northridgerochester.com
No comments:
Post a Comment