John 6:66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
When
someone asks another brother or sister in Christ, "how was your church
service today?" The very next question is most often, "How many
people were there." The measure of success of any church is gauged by how
many people come out to the services. When God saw that the world had evil in
their hearts and decided to destroy His creation, He did not choose a large
number to save; He chose eight people. It would have been impossible for anyone
to ask Noah, "How many people did you have on the Ark?"
Having
large crowds show up for any church service seems to have become the primary
focus of many churches. Many judge the effectiveness of the Pastor according to how
many people there were in attendance for the worship service. This dangerous
trend has driven many a good Shepard of Christ to seek and implement creative
ways to increase the numbers. Today, many local churches are putting strategies
to increase numbers without considering what the spiritual impact will be on
the church today and into the future. I had a good friend that was a Deacon of
a church in Chester, Va. for many years, until he went home to be with the Lord
a few years ago. I have heard him say
many times, "if you bring em in with a hot dog when the hot dog's gone,
they'll be gone."
Jesus
taught and preached to large crowds on many occasions. He went to the home of
Simon and Andrew and healed Simon's mother-in-law of her fever, and "The
whole town gathered at the door." There was a time that 5000 people came
out to hear the Master speak. The stories are plentiful in the Bible about
Christ Jesus preaching to large crowds (Mark 1:29-33).
There
was a point when the crowds no longer followed Jesus, as we see in our text
today. Nowhere in the bible tells us that he tried to increase the masses or
complained and moaned about not as many people coming out to hear Him preach. Jesus
cared about every one of us and the mass crowds that came to hear the Word from
the Word Himself. It never did bother Him that the numbers were decreasing, a
pattern that would throw most today into the panic mode. Jesus continued to
minister to the ones that the Father sent Him.
We
live in a world today where "the more, the merrier," where higher
numbers of people setting in the pews are the measure of success of the church
that reflects on the Pastor. There were many times that the Apostle Paul
preached to large crowds, but there also were times he preached to only a small
number of people in the jail cell where he was confined. Paul never did stop
following the will of God for his life (2 Timothy 4:7).
The
congregation's size is not the pertinent factor; what is of most importance is
the question, "is God's Word preached here today, or is the preacher trying
to tickle the ears so that the numbers will increase?"
If you
are preaching at a church with great numbers or only has a handful in
attendance, the message, God gives you should be the same. Its substance should
be complete, and the delivery should be as passionate for two people as for
2000. Preacher, the small church where you serve as a Shepard is not just a
stepping-stone to a larger church with bigger crowds. Preach, teach, love as
Jesus did when the numbers are high or when they are low. God will send the
ones to any service that needs to be there.
It is
not to say that a small church is better than a large church or something wrong
with a large church. The target we should be shooting for in any church is a
spiritual matter, not just how many people fill the pews, or how much money
comes through the collection plate.
Matthew
18:20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I
with them.”
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