MYTH #9-JESUS PREFERS THE MEGA-CHURCHES AND MEGA-MINITRIES
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We live in an age of mega-sizing! Bigger is better! Whatever is mega ought to be better than what is small-especially is this true with respect to ministries. The killer question that is always asked of a church or a ministry is: "How many?" The living myth is that Jesus is pleased with these numbers and the masses, too.One of the great leaders within the mega-church movement, Bill Hybels, has acknowledged that he has been asking the wrong questions. One of those wrong questions is the "How many?" question. It just hasn't produced the transformational change within the church fellowship and has robbed us from asking the right questions. Now, after having participated as pastor of one of the early mega-churches in the US, as a staff member of one of the largest para-church ministries and as a speaker on the largest corporate seminar platform, I have come to understand the great limitations of working with the masses.
The damage of buying into this myth of mega-sizing is threefold: FIRST-The mega-sizing of the Church hasn't brought about cultural transformation within the US. Rick Warren posed a question that ought to haunt anyone who is concerned about advancing the Jesus movement: "Tim, why is it that, even though we have trained thousands of pastors and now have more mega churches in our country than ever before, we are not making any significant penetration into our culture?" We basically remain at the same numbers within the Church in the US, year after year.
SECOND-The mega-sizing myth of the Western Christian culture serves as a bad example to the followers of Jesus around the world. If we are essentially failing in our country, why export this thinking to the many cultures of the world?
THIRD-The mega-sizing myth has produced thousands upon thousands of spectators who believe they are doing the will of God on planet earth. Spectators-not participators! Ministries then become like the football game-50,000 spectators in the stands, badly in need of exercise and 22 people on the field, badly in need of rest. When you serve as a spectator, it's too easy to substitute attendance for participation-watching and not doing-hearers of the word who delude themselves rather than doers of the word.
I want to make three observations in order to debunk this myth that Jesus prefers the mega-church and mega ministries. FIRST-Jesus spent most of His time and energy with the few and avoiding as much as possible the masses. Now, to be clear, Jesus spoke and fed the masses, but His more common practice was not in that kind of venue. One of my mentors really worked me over on this. I was continually referring to the masses, but he kept correcting me to focus on the individuals. He said, "You don't change the masses; you change individuals one at a time."
SECOND-Jesus spent most of His time with the poor and disenfranchised rather than the powerful. There were powerful people who came to Jesus and were changed, however Jesus tended to seek out the leper, the lame and the blind. When you're into the mega-sizing of your ministry, there will be a tendency to show off the celebrity-the actor, the athlete, the rich and successful as examples. There is nothing wrong with the powerful and influential, but the crowds may not flock in the direction of the poor and disenfranchised. Jesus went there!
THIRD-Jesus was into the power of the few! Instead of going on CNN and seeking to produce mass seminars, mailers and email blasts, Jesus sought out three religious rejects to come and be with Him. And, from this relationship with the three, then the twelve and the seventy-two, the Jesus movement rippled throughout the world and the revolution is still on today!
We are seeing this play out in our ministry. We are focusing on the few and as those few really get it, the message of Jesus spreads like a wildfire. You see, within the context of the few, you are able to really get to know one another and put the principles and teachings into practice. This kind of experience is the taste of reality everyone is longing for. This is the Jesus movement at its best!
Jesus taught: "Where two or three are gathered together in His name, He will show up." This is what we want. This is what we desperately need. We need Jesus to show up among us and lead out with His orders and opportunities. You see, Jesus won't be found within the mega-church or mega-ministry as easily as within the context of the few. There's nothing wrong with the mega-church or mega-ministry, but there is something far better that Jesus had in mind.
Jesus prefers showing up when a few are gathered together in His name. If you knew Jesus was going to show up some place this week, wouldn't you want to be there, too?
