Small Churches (Part II)

Wow, Several of you have responded to my last post with some of the most thoughtful heartfelt Kingdom minded thoughts I had to date. Thanks! It means a lot to be able to feel connected with so many friends and family outside of my immediate hometown of Gadsden Alabama.

I feel like some context might help give my questioning of small churches some, uh... context. First of all I hope everyone understands that I like hard thought provoking questions. Sometimes I post things with a certain amount of righteous concern or irreverent questioning. That doesn't always mean I'm actually having a crisis. Usually I don't feel able to talk about my crisises online until they are past. Perhaps some of you saw through this one to my currant struggle to bring life and growth to a small church in Alabama. Perhaps you were right this time. Perhaps though God is showing me that I may be feeling a righteous anger (over struggling to grow) that he never asked me to have. These are things we have discussed somewhat openly in our church so I feel free to share them here.

But the context of my questioning small churches was a little different:

First, They are for the most part all I have ever known. (So file this under young man questioning his roots)

Second, In the midst of a conversation with a good friend we began to talk about one's own life as a thing that one must be a good steward of. A Christian doesn't just need to be good and go to church, etc, but must also be one that directs his or her life in a way that will hopefully have us hearing the words,"Well done..." at the end of our lives.

Third, This led to the question. Could a pastor ever be said to be investing his or her life unwisely by placing it in a small church where the potential to reach many people was shifted instead to deeply impacting a few?

Fourth, This led me to challenge myself. Has my long held discomfort with mega churches been in part a result of my life long comfort with small churches and most importantly for myself... Does God want to challenge my sense of safely and comfort around small ministries with the possibility that I may be better used by Him from time to time in much larger ministries.

This lead to my question for you, purposely intended to spark your thoughts... Are Small Churches a Good Place to Spend Your Life?

For two of the best answers I have heard, you simply must check out the responses to the previous post. The first by David Morris, of Hope Presbyterian (Cordova TN) notes that to answer that question one must seek the heart of the church in question. The second is by Dr. Doug Groothuis, my former Professor at Denver Seminary. Dr. Groothuis has his own very worthwhile Blog that can probably be found with a quick search.

As always please let me know your thoughts!
In Christ
Aaron

Are Small Churches a Good Place to Spend Your Life?

I believe God likes it when we take big risks.

I believe God wants us to be good stewards of what He has given us.

I believe that third servant wishes He'd risked more and worried less.

I believe God doesn’t want me to waste my money on the lottery.

But I do believe He wants me to pour my life into small churches with little hope of a turn a round?

It doesn't add up, but...

If I don't then who is going to serve these lifelong disciples?

Is the kingdom of God a capitalist enterprise? Are we to measure the value of a church in its ability to grow and impact the world in a measurable way, or do we rather value churches by the inestimable worth of the souls inside?

What if that third servant had put all that time and money into caring for a church that was unlikely to ever grow? What would the Master say? Would it be a life buried in the ground or life wisely invested?

Could the answer be both? Could God absolutely love these people even as He expects far more effectiveness in ministry? Would Jesus admire the faith of the American small church on the country road with the steeple or would he criticize it? I think he might just do both.

-Aaron