What Has Happened to Our Small Churches?
Priscilla and Aquila started their churches without the influence of mass media and entertainment. Their churches were centered on the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today we see mega churches taking center stage and their focus is on the ego and money. We need to get back to the basic teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and forget about the great “I and me“ that plagues our society today. Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Times have changed since Priscilla and Aquila started their churches. The main focuses of churches of today are on becoming the hug mega churches. The term mega church is the name given to a collection of very large, Protestant congregations that share several unique characteristics. These churches generally have charismatic leaders, they have many outreach and social ministries, they average at least 2000 total attendees for Sunday services. (Thumma,2007).Mega churches are growing leaps and bounds.
These Goliath mega churches of today can put the smaller churches out of business because these small churches cannot compete with the entertainment aspect of the mega churches. These Goliath mega churches do not offer guidelines to help this hurting people to endure another day. This can only come in smaller churches where the pastors know your names. The mega churches cannot offer healing of a broken spirit this takes a small church where there are people who care and can reach out. The larger the mega church the less the pastors are able to provide the pastoral care and even counseling that is need by their congregations. This is what the family of God needs a pastor who can pray with them and nurture them not just entertain their congregations. We as the family of God are more than just dollar signs.
What does the Bible tell us about what a church should be considering?
The Greek word for church used in the King James Bible is εκκλησια ekklesia which means a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly of the people convened at the public place of the council for the purpose of deliberating. It also means in a Christian sense an assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a religious meeting a company of Christians, or of those who, hoping for eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, observe their own religious rites, hold their own religious meetings, and manage their own affairs, according to regulations prescribed for the body for order’s sake . (Strong’s, 2001).
Matthew 18:18 speaks about Peter being a rock that Jesus will build His church upon and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The Rock is metaphorically a man like a rock, by reason of his firmness and strength of soul. Our church should be built on sound reasoning and firmness and strength of our souls. Jesus tells us the church “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”(Matthew 18:18-20). Jesus is speaking about a brother who wanders from the LORD God into sin. If your brother does not listen to you, take two more and speak to the sinner. If he does not listen to the three then bring if unto the church; if he neglects to hear the church, let him be as a heathen man and a publican.
Peter spoke to the house of Israel about what Jesus Christ has done for them. The house of Israel wanted to know what they could do to receive the promises of the LORD. Peter said to repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ or the remission of sins, and they shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “This is the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” (Acts 2:38). All that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. They, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:38-47).
Even though there were at times large numbers around Jesus those who worshipped Him were individuals. It was a one on one encounter. If the work of the Lord is going to be done and people are going to be helped spiritually it is not going to be in a mega church. It is going to be in small groups where you can have the intimate relationship with Jesus.
Churches should be safe places to come and worship the LORD; not worship man or man’s doctrine. The problem is churches focus more on teaching doctrine than teaching about how to have an intimate relationship with the LORD God. It is crucial to have sound doctrine in our faith and it is equally important that we read and know our Bible. It is also equally important that we seek to build a healthy relationship with Him to communicate with the LORD.
This is done in silence and solitude not in a huge mega church where there are more distractions that keeps a personal experience at arm’s length. Reading of scripture need also to be in a quiet meditative experience it is after all the Word of God. Even prayers should be an individual conversation between you and the LORD not you and 2,000 other strangers.
Just learning sound doctrine is not enough it is important to develop an accurate and intimate relationship with the LORD it is a knowing in our heart about the LORD that is beyond the function of the brain and beyond the senses that comes from being entertained. of “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19).
Mega churches run off creating a “high” of emotions using technology and the emotional appeals. It is in the upbeat music beating and pulsating that encourages the great emotional outbursts of dancing, smiling, and singing, laughing, and even crying. When you add the panning camera’s that are projected on the overhead projectors you are feeding the ego not the worship of the LORD God.
Churches are more about what you can do for yourself, how you can be more by going to church and by improving your employment and gaining prosperity. They preach that the more you give to the churches the more you earn for yourself. The prayer of Jabez is an excellent example. It is based on 1 Chronicles 4: 10 “And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.” There really isn’t much known about Jabez except he was a descendant of the tribe of Judah, he was an honorable man.
Jabez prayed to the LORD God for a life that might not bring him pain. Those praying the prayer of Jabez are praying for more influence, more responsibility, and more opportunity. These are okay to pray for but they are not based on 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.
I heard it said once that church is not somewhere you go; church is something you are. We are members of the body of Christ not the body of men. A small congregation gives more opportunity for close fellowship, allows for access to the pastor that is impossible in the huge mega churches, and brings together all age groups in one setting. Most of all in small churches like Priscilla and Aquila started it is Christ centered and Christ minded.
1 Peter 1:13 tells us to; “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;” We need to gird up our minds with the mind of Christ. The way we think in our heart is what we are. Truth and having a mind of Christ is thinking it, knowing it, believing it and living it. It is the lies that destroy us and keeps us in bondage. We need to build a relationship and keep building a relationship with Jesus and learning to do life with Christ as our center and our priority. Church is not about us and about pleasing us it is about putting our hope and trust in the salvation of Jesus Christ not in man.
References:
Strong’s, James. (2001 )The New Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001.
Thumma, S., Travis,D., (2007). Beyond Megachurch Myths: San Francisco, Ca; Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint
Vaughn, John. (2006). Church Growth Today. Hartford Institute for Religion Research.
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “What Has Happened to Our Small Churches?.” Becker Bible Studies Library Jan 2015.< https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2159,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015, January) “What Has Happened to Our Small Churches?.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2159,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015) “What Has Happened to Our Small Churches? .” Becker Bible Studies Library (January), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2159, (accessed).
