It can be good to have a "tribe" (e.g., Acts 29, 9Marks,
SGM, the PCA) where you resonate with the philosophy of ministry and
get good resources for your work. I'm also glad for what God is doing
to bring people together across Reformed "tribes" through movements like
T4G and The Gospel Coalition. Part of what God seems to be doing is forging trust and partnerships between groups that do things differently.
But from my observation (at conferences and in personal
conversations), there seems to be still be a fault line running through
us: church size. I've sat in conferences where the
speakers talk as if you aren't a good pastor until your church hits
2,000 people in attendance. I've also heard small church pastors who
seem to assume that large crowds always indicate that the message is
being watered down.
A few suggestions on the matter:
-
Drop the "better than" language.
Large churches aren't better than small. And vice versa. I don't
care what your surveys say, you can easily find examples and statistics
to show the superiority of whatever it is that you happen to be doing.
The fact is, some churches grow big because the ministry is faithful and
the Lord is blessing. Others grow big because the itching ears of the
masses are being appeased. Some small churches are doing great work in
difficult places. Others are small because they are lame and
ineffective. Most churches (big and small) do some things well and
other things less well. Keep Reading >>>
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