Getting Over Small Church Syndrome

Last week I went to the Leadership Summit hosted by Willow Creek and it was a fantastic experience! I have almost ten pages of notes from the various speakers and it will take a long time for me to process and apply all the wonderful things that I learned. And I wasn't even planning on going initially--it's quite expensive when you have to travel to attend--but the opportunity opened up in a way only God can orchestrate. The guy my brother-in-law was going with dropped out at the last minute and I was offered the spot. How could I not go?

To be honest, cost wasn't the only thing holding me back from going. Even when I had this chance to go at less cost, I wasn't sure at first. I thought I'd be intimidated by all of these super-pastors talking about their mega-churches. But in the end it was encouraging. There are lots of areas for me to grow in. And there are things I learned there that, I believe, I can start applying to our church situation almost immediately. I came away with a sense of nervous anticipation and hopefulness.

Of course, the real trick is to keep that spirit up when back home in ministry--at a conference it's a lot easier to feel on top of things, and to feel that anything is possible. But once you're back to the home situation all kinds of things can drain that initial enthusiasm: routine, laziness, doubt, discouragement. I pray that the Lord will help me to keep that particular fire burning (Leviticus 6: 13).

I know that I struggle especially in the areas of courage and confidence--I tend to be tentative rather than brave and upfront. To that end, I need to pray that the Lord would really grow me as a leader. This Summit made me realize more than before what is likely obvious to most in churches: the key importance of leadership in the growth, health and direction of a church.

As a pastor of a small, rural church, this Summit also helped me to grasp the fact that it is possible for even a church like ours to grow--both in spiritual depth and in numbers. So for all of you small church pastors out there who wonder and doubt, God both desires to grow your church and He has the power to do so.

When I got back from the Summit--which went from Thursday to Saturday--I hadn't yet prepared my sermon--I went at the last minute and hadn't yet gotten to final sermon preparation point! Now I am in the midst of a sermon series, so I knew where I was going with the message, but when I was at the conference I felt that I ought to speak on something different this particular week. I wanted to bring something back from the Summit to my congregation immediately so they could see something of the value of my going. The main points of my message, "Getting Over Small-Church Syndrome", were:

1. Smallness is not about arithmetic but attitude. In other words, it's not about size and numbers. God uses the small to accomplish the big and the weak to accomplish the mighty. The people of Israel were nothing before God gave them purpose and identity. God does not judge by the worldly standards of greatness or appearances but by the heart. He chose David out of his more impressive looking brothers. God does not only use people of standing and influence. Jesus' disciples were fishermen, tax collectors, and sinners. Look at Deut. 7: 7-3, 1 Sam. 16: 7, Matt. 13: 31, and 1 Cor. 1:26ff.

2. Growth can begin when we entrust the growth to God. Look at Matt. 16: 18, John 15: 4-5, Acts 2: 43-47, and 1 Cor. 3: 7. We can't evaluate our potential for growth as a church by looking at our limitations. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, says that "greatness is not a function of circumstance but a function of discipline and choices." If we have small-church syndrome, this is the result of paying too much attention to what we cannot do and not enough attention to what God can do. "For God all things are possible." The above passages remind us of our ultimate dependence on God for growth and life as a church. From John 15 we learn that apart from Jesus not only do we not have life but we also can accomplish nothing. Growth is not about having confidence in ourselves as much as it is having confidence that Christ will build his church.

3. Realizing God gives the growth gets us back to grace. Just as we are saved by the grace of God as a gift, so our church grows by God's grace. Our attitude about our potential for growth is an extension of our core message that we see in Eph. 2: 8-10. While we do work and serve, our work and service are not what build and grow the church any more than our work and service save us. That this is the case also serves to motivate us in service in the right ways with the right attitudes--we serve and work as the church because we want others to know the grace of God and the forgiveness He offers through Christ. It also means that we should be grateful and praise God for all the encouraging victories, no matter how small they seem. This also means that we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12: 2), in order that, like the apostle Paul, we will be able to say "I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Christ Jesus."

I recall talking to an older pastor once about rural church growth and he said something to me that has stuck with me. He said, "You know the only thing that grows fast in the country? Weeds! Everything else is slow growth." How true! So if you're in a small church or you're the pastor of a small church, and you've found yourself discouraged, I hope that some of these thoughts encourage you and that God will lift your heart and your head toward Him this day.