We are living, like never before, in the season of bigness. Not greatness but bigness. It is a plague that affects so many that are trapped in a 3D illusion. All over the place we see people looking for big things; big houses, big cars, big cities, big stores, big this and big that, and also… big churches. Some people that I know, they can’t be part of a small church. It just doesn’t work for them. There’s a mindset that many have developed and nurture it on a daily basis, that if it isn’t big, it’s not good, it is not great. For many, big is the symbol of good. And this mindset cancels any possible discernment to analyze, to find out, how good it really is in proportion to its… bigness. And that is; If there really is any possibility, if there really is any parametric equation that will show what measurements are required, what size, that will equal… good.
What many people don’t see, don’t get, is the fact that NOTHING in this entire world, starts big. Great things start small. Big churches started small. And for them to be big TODAY, somebody (many) paid the price of growth. For sure, in most cases, the price was always a high price. But they paid it and God honored it.
Big churches never started big.
Question: What is a big church? How can we describe or define a big church?
Answer: Big churches do not exist.
First of all we cannot define a church by the size of its building. The word church in the Greek is “ecclesia” which (in a very simple way) means “assembly”, an assembly of people, a group, more specifically, a congregation. So by this, the size of a building is irrelevant.
Now, what we really see is churches, congregations, with a small amount of people, others with a substantial amount of people and then we have others with a large amount of people. This is the only difference that we can find from one church to another - The amount of people. But if the concept and the purpose of a church changes by how many people it has, then we have a problem.
The church of Jesus Christ is many times (through biblical context) called; the Body of Christ, being He the head. Now, the body is always subject to the head, which makes the head superior to the body. Many churches get so big that they become head and body. Here the ends don’t justify the means. It’s like going to a school and trying to analyze students’ knowledge by how big, how large or how tall they are.
This boils down to one thought.
From the beginning God always did great things with just a handful of people. He always moved forward with just a few. With only twelve Jesus changed the world.
We don’t need "big" churches (don’t get me wrong), what we need is committed people to do great things. As I said in the beginning, many are not comfortable in small churches. Small churches usually don’t have all the entertainment, all the programs, all the fascination, all the attractive features, etc. etc. Many go, because many are going. It’s an influential impulse. There is no purpose. At this point any result obtained has no effect. It is useless. Impulses die, but purposes, become goals that when active in the spiritual realm, impossible becomes possible. I say a lot of times that "if ten thousand people are doing the same exact thing, that doesn’t mean that thing is right".
Jesus compared His church to a bride. I’ve seen others comparing it with an umbrella, meaning that when you’re under it, you’re protected. Others have compared it with a hospital. I compare it with a table, where you go and you sit and you’re fed with the Word. The rest is irrelevant. This means that the size is not subject nor is it dependent of the purpose.
In Matthew 19:30 Jesus said... “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” Then in chapter 20:16 He makes the final statement: “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.”
What many people don’t see, don’t get, is the fact that NOTHING in this entire world, starts big. Great things start small. Big churches started small. And for them to be big TODAY, somebody (many) paid the price of growth. For sure, in most cases, the price was always a high price. But they paid it and God honored it.
Big churches never started big.
Question: What is a big church? How can we describe or define a big church?
Answer: Big churches do not exist.
First of all we cannot define a church by the size of its building. The word church in the Greek is “ecclesia” which (in a very simple way) means “assembly”, an assembly of people, a group, more specifically, a congregation. So by this, the size of a building is irrelevant.
Now, what we really see is churches, congregations, with a small amount of people, others with a substantial amount of people and then we have others with a large amount of people. This is the only difference that we can find from one church to another - The amount of people. But if the concept and the purpose of a church changes by how many people it has, then we have a problem.
The church of Jesus Christ is many times (through biblical context) called; the Body of Christ, being He the head. Now, the body is always subject to the head, which makes the head superior to the body. Many churches get so big that they become head and body. Here the ends don’t justify the means. It’s like going to a school and trying to analyze students’ knowledge by how big, how large or how tall they are.
This boils down to one thought.
From the beginning God always did great things with just a handful of people. He always moved forward with just a few. With only twelve Jesus changed the world.
We don’t need "big" churches (don’t get me wrong), what we need is committed people to do great things. As I said in the beginning, many are not comfortable in small churches. Small churches usually don’t have all the entertainment, all the programs, all the fascination, all the attractive features, etc. etc. Many go, because many are going. It’s an influential impulse. There is no purpose. At this point any result obtained has no effect. It is useless. Impulses die, but purposes, become goals that when active in the spiritual realm, impossible becomes possible. I say a lot of times that "if ten thousand people are doing the same exact thing, that doesn’t mean that thing is right".
Jesus compared His church to a bride. I’ve seen others comparing it with an umbrella, meaning that when you’re under it, you’re protected. Others have compared it with a hospital. I compare it with a table, where you go and you sit and you’re fed with the Word. The rest is irrelevant. This means that the size is not subject nor is it dependent of the purpose.
In Matthew 19:30 Jesus said... “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” Then in chapter 20:16 He makes the final statement: “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.”
