Wednesday, March 03, 2010

HEALTHY CHURCHES

This last weekend I had the privilege of attending a pastors' retreat with my fellow ministers in the Treasure State Baptist Association in Montana. It was a good time of fellowship as well as being sharpened in ministry. Glenn Daman, author of several books, including Shepherding the Small Church, was our speaker for the retreat. I really enjoyed hearing from someone who had a passion for ministry to small churches in small areas.

Although I enjoyed Glenn immensely, there was a spirit in the discussion that caused me some alarm (and this was not Glenn's take on things). It seemed to me that many of the participants were applying the truths of a country song to the church, you know the one, "It's Alright to be Itty Bitty." It is alright to be small. I served in a church plant that had 12 charter members and met in a storefront. We were small. But God honored His Word. Wherever, whenever the Gospel is preached, God will save some and will build His church.

I believe that the pendulum has swung away from the excesses of the Church Growth Movement that placed more weight on pragmatism than on Scripture (a needed correction), and is now swinging to far. We live in a nation that is growing more lost every day - in this setting it is NOT okay for baptism's to continually decline. Montana is often listed as one of the least evangelized states in the country, so it should be ripe for healthy, growing churches. My goal is not a mega church. Dr. Steve Wilkes was my D.Min adviser at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. His second Doctorate was in Church Growth from Fuller Seminary. He was a church growth guy. He also said to me, "God did not call us to plant mega churches. He calls us to plant churches. Some of those may grow to be large churches, but it is a sovereign act of God when they do." He went on to say that the goal should be healthy churches and healthy churches will grow. A good book is Ken Hemphill's book, The Bonsai Theory of Church Growth.

It is okay to be a small church, a good thing since most churches are small, but it is not good to plan to be small. Being small is not a badge of honor (nor is it a dishonor). We all need to trust God's power to save the lost and build His church when His Word is preached. To do that we must make sure that there are lost people hearing our message, and that happens when we get out in the community. This is a challenge to my heart more than a challenge to anyone else. The Great Commission is a command to go - it is not a theology to be discussed behind the walls of the church, it is not a doctrine to be studied in order to gain a certificate, but it is a Christ given command that must be obeyed - and to obey we must GO!

Pray for me that I will GO this week.
Steve

2 Comments:

Blogger Mark King said...

Hey, Steve.
I want to be sure the quote on your blog is right..."God did not call us to plant churches. God calls us to plant churches." (Wilkes) Something seems amiss with your quote or I'm not reading it correctly.

Totally agree with everything you are saying. We are considering a new vision here to "multiply" ourselves here in Cody such that we are planting new works into the cultures around us. Pray that God would supply the wisdom necessary and the burden for lost souls needed to join Him in such work.

2:04 PM  
Blogger Steve Young said...

Hey Mark,
Good catch. Wilkes said "God did not call us to plant "mega" churches. He called us to plant churches. I will pray with you guys.
Stevew

3:39 PM  

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