Recently a friend of mine invited me to "like" his new company. A pickle company. In the info for said company it made known that he lost his job as a graphic designer in August and he decided to do something "new and exciting"...perhaps not what I think when I think of pickles, but whatever floats your boat.
I'm not Donald Trump, but in a way I am a skeptic when it comes to smaller companies, and lately, smaller churches. My skepticism (which I'll address first in terms of the pickle company) is as follows; what sets your pickles from other pickles? That is, what do you have to offer that isn't currently available for people who purchase pickles? Why would compel someone to purchase your pickles over an established brand, say Mr. Pickle or Claussen?
I also inquired of my friend that I bet he rather have investors over someone liking his Facebook page for his company. Word of mouth is important, but you have to have a product to back up people liking it, and even when word of mouth gets out, negative word of mouth will spread faster than positive, so is his product up to snuff to compete in the "pickle industry" as it were? I hope he gets back to me and my questions.
Now here's how churches are added to this mix in this post.
Church size, while not a true indicator as to how well a church is doing, is in a way a barometer to a church's function within the local community, the community at large and even on a global scale - is the church and its members there for themselves or for others?
Now in my church experiences over the years I've been to a LOT of diverse churches; for a semester I attended Willowcreek and I actually got something out of the "mega church" scene, in another semester I attended a church that had less than 40 people in attendance.
Yet in both cases, the body of Christ in attendance was very involved
outside of the building in which we gathered on the weekends, granted on a smaller scale in the smaller church, but still they did what they could to add to the quality of life to those who weren't in attendance and who didn't show up on Sunday mornings.
My issue is this, when small churches exist only to fulfill their own needs, when they're intentionally
apart of what's going on outside the church building instead of being
a part as they and we who are followers of Christ -- that isn't what the function of the church should be and that is NOT why Christ came in the first place; the petty self-serving natures of some churches pisses me off, and personally (personally mind you) I think churches like that should close if they're doing that.
Yet, if small churches could strip the layers of prejudice and church politics, and come together in consolidation and unification to bring honor and glory to God, to serve Christ by way of serving others, to act glocally (locally and globally) there may be hope for small churches of this nature yet!
I think that this isn't some pipe dream, but an achievable goal for churches that are small and want to change, that want to do as Christ did and take the message
outside the building to where it truly belongs. Ego's need to be cast asunder, attitudes and behaviors need to be examined and possibly reexamined.
Being a follower of Christ isn't so much about what I want to get out of it, but what I can do to give back, to be the hands and feet of Christ where needed be, to be a voice for the outcasts and marginalized in society where I can.
I do have plans to further my education in the form of an M.Div, and while it is not necessary, I find that it will be beneficial to me and those I minister unto even more so than if I didn't have the degree.
I have hope that small churches who are
apart rather than
a part have a chance at getting it right. It may be a season or two of change that's painful, but sometimes change is painful but necessary, and if change didn't hurt we'd be more apt to change. To root out desires and traditions that get in the way of loving God and loving others is necessary, furthering the work of God, now that's what we're called to do!
Do you feel like your church is apart or a part of what's going on in your community? What ways can churches -- big and small -- become more a part of what is going on around them?
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Comments (10)
Quality of life?
Church isn't about making people's lives better. It's about following the risen Christ, getting to know him better as Lord, and preaching the gospel. I find that smaller churches usually do that MUCH better than big entertainment church, which usually are big for a reason. They try to be the biggest and best...more lights, fog machines, worldly music...more high tech than any theatre I've ever worked in. It's very for the focus to slip off the Word of God and onto the people who are attracted to come there.
I regularly attend a rather large church(800 or so congregation), but my father is the pastor of a smaller church(maybe 50 people in the congregation) and my maternal grandfather just retired from the ministry after serving for decades upon decades in small churches. In my opinion, each and every one(that I attended) had life to the church and life in Christ. That's what sets them each apart from the rest of the 'pickles'.
This is what happened to my own church:
When I was a teenager, we had this awesome pastor and the congregation grew...when he left, so did many of the other members. There was talk that our building was the reason (we can hold about 40 comfortably). I mean, lets face it....one bathroom for each sex isn't nearly enough when you have 15 families that have kids under 10. Unfortunately, though, I think what ultimately hurt my church the most was the fact that the congregation decided after having a taste of what it would be like to have more members, that they didn't like it all that much because they couldn't really control things.
At this time, I was voted onto the church council, so I was at the heart of watching my church essentially, close their doors towards new members. I was also the church musician and played the piano for them; the first thing they did was tell me that I was no longer permitted to play music from other hymnals besides our own. Don't get me wrong, I love our hymnal, but it was printed before WWII (not kidding) and because I'm Lutheran, alot of the hymns were of German origin...which was confusing to alot of new families. I used to play things like "As the Deer" during communion or "More Precious than Silver" during the offering...and everyone had very nice and pleasant things to say about it until some more of the congregants who were unhappy with our growing church said something about it being "almost blasphemous and in violation of our churches' constitution."
There was also the continuous voting to stop helping the more needy kids in the congregation attend youth conferences (in the beginning, this was in the budget, however later they voted to use the money for other things--which was allowed in our church constitution, apparently...). When the council voted to stop purchasing Sunday school and VBS material, I graciously resigned my term on the council. I remained church pianist until I left for college.
When I came back for Christmas break, I had been informed that they stopped doing the Christmas play as well because it was "distracting" from Christmas Eve service, which I suppose was not "reverent" enough for them.
The church is still operating, but barely.
And I heard from other members that the council recently voted to stop paying the Pastor's family medical insurance so that they could all go on Medicaid and save the church money since offerings had significantly decreased because of their own actions....and after working in social services, I can't even begin to tell you how disappointed I was in my church for not only moral and religious reasons, but also, for rather practical ones.
They put themselves and money over ministry...it broke my heart...and still does.
@NightCometh@xanga - Yes it is about following Christ, but within following Christ isn't it about helping out those who are in need of help? Jesus made it clear that by doing things for the least of these, the marginalized, the naked, the hungry, the destitute, the widows, the orphans, the imprisoned, et al. I find that as I work with others, I am working with Christ, and so often I see Christ in humanity.
@Shadowrunner81@xanga - Good to hear! :)
@Xbeautifully_broken_downX@xanga - I'm sorry to hear that :(
@NVPhotography@xanga - Thank you for your response. I am very sorry for it too. I was passionate about my faith and my church. Hopefully, though, I'll find another church where I can use and spend my talents elsewhere. :)
@Xbeautifully_broken_downX@xanga - God bless you on the journey you're on! :)
@NightCometh@xanga - And you don't think following Christ has anything to do with the Quality of life?
Sometimes a smaller church has the ability to mature people up spiritually in some way than a large church. It is easier to pastor a few than a flock of a couple hundred. Everyone wants a mega church but most mega churches started small. There is nothing wrong with a church being small as long as they are seeking after God and doing his will.