{"id":1191,"date":"2011-04-12T23:45:07","date_gmt":"2011-04-12T23:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/april-qa-word-about-small-churchesq\/"},"modified":"2014-01-16T18:57:28","modified_gmt":"2014-01-16T18:57:28","slug":"april-qa-word-about-small-churchesq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/april-qa-word-about-small-churchesq\/","title":{"rendered":"A Word About Small Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is no more satisfying statement to the New Testament believer than John\u2019s on the Isle of Patmos, \u201cI was in the Spirit on the Lord\u2019s Day\u201d (Rev. 1:10).\u00a0 That says everything to us.\u00a0 John was a believer who possessed the Holy Spirit, who, though no one else cared what he did that day, made special effort to prepare himself for worship on the day commonly recognized by believers as the day of Christ\u2019s resurrection, or the Lord\u2019s Day.\u00a0 The circumstances of his confinement on Patmos had been of God\u2019s providence.\u00a0 He was there \u201cfor the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ\u201d (1:9).\u00a0 But circumstances, whether difficult or easy, do not detract from the believer\u2019s primary focus, that of worshiping God through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.\u00a0 And this John was determined to do!<\/span><\/p>\n

Would I be far off if I surmised that most Christians today, faced with the same circumstances as John, would not have \u201cbeen in the Spirit on the Lord\u2019s day?\u201d\u00a0 It would have been bad enough knowing that no one else was going to be at church except you, but add to that the fact that there would be no coffee and donuts (in itself enough to stop many Baptists); no tailor made class time to be led through an easy five-step lesson; no praise team to give a mini-concert in the main service; no power point presentation; not much of anything except you, your Bible, and the Lord.\u00a0 And I am inclined to believe that John had attended many services already on Patmos with no other added attraction than that.\u00a0 John\u2019s Lord\u2019s Day service, however, was more profitable than any before because the Lord Himself was there in person and John fell at His feet as dead in reverent worship. <\/span><\/p>\n

It has been an observation of mine for some time now that if we reduced church services to the irreducible minimum of what a service could be, few would be interested in it at all.\u00a0 If we were forced by circumstance to experience Jesus\u2019 hypothetical, \u201cWhere two or three are gathered together in my name\u201d (Matt. 18:20), I\u2019m not sure that many would still attend even though they believed the related promise, \u201cthere am I in the midst of them.\u201d\u00a0 Would we be truly warmed and filled in a church service with two or three people singing a simple song, having a time of prayer, and someone bringing a lesson from God\u2019s Word?\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying that we should only create such a format, I\u2019m saying that if we are true worshipers of Jesus Christ, we should be satisfied if that\u2019s all we have.\u00a0 Sure we would like to have some more things going on, but do we attend for those \u201cthings\u201d or for the pure worship of the Lord?<\/span><\/p>\n

Not long ago I read an article from a man who makes it his ministry to revitalize \u201cdead\u201d churches.\u00a0 What is usually meant by \u201cdead\u201d is that there is little else going on there besides simple (pure) worship.\u00a0 If the church once had 200 and now it only has 50 attendees; if the church building once looked new but now it looks run down; if there were more visitors in the past than now come; if the average age has gone from 35 to 55; and if the pastor still preaches 45 minutes without any electronic help in what amounts to a long lecture, then that church is a \u201cdead\u201d church.\u00a0 Evidently, in this definition, fewer can\u2019t worship as well as more; older aren\u2019t as valuable as younger; up-to-date trumps out-of-date; and visual experience is always better than audio experience.\u00a0 This is why many of our rural churches are looked down upon and why few young ministers would consider pastoring in such a setting.\u00a0 It is also why many so-called revitalizing ministries make grand assumptions as to what the church needs with little thought of mere worship.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently I had a wonderful lunch with two young brothers, Dan and Ben, who are both seminary graduates and are both now pastoring small rural churches in Iowa and loving it.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t grow up there, but God led them both to their respective churches and they have grown to love the people and are working hard in both shepherding and evangelizing.\u00a0 I thought to myself, \u201chow many young people would even consider such ministries?\u201d\u00a0 I can imagine it at my age (61) because I have come to a place where I no longer care about the bells and whistles of larger ministries, but for these young men to be satisfied with Jesus simply being \u201cin the midst\u201d was truly refreshing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus commissioned John to write to seven churches in Asia which were probably very similar to our rural churches.\u00a0 At least they weren\u2019t mega churches by any stretch of the imagination.\u00a0 In fact, the Jerusalem church, due to its unique history and geography, seems to be the only really large church in the New Testament.\u00a0 Yet these Asian churches were important to Christ and became the examples (positive and negative) for all churches in the coming church age.\u00a0 Here are a few observations about these churches.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Size was not important<\/span><\/h2>\n

We cannot know the exact size of these churches but we do know that John places no emphasis on it.\u00a0 Wm. Ramsay, in one book, describes the cities as \u201cspots here and there, showing only as dots on a map, small islets in the great sea of stagnant, unruffled, immovable Orientalism.\u201d<\/span>1<\/sup><\/span> In all of the Lord\u2019s admonitions to these seven churches, nowhere does He speak of their success or failure due to the size of the church.\u00a0 He does, however, encourage faithfulness regardless of the amount of opposition.\u00a0 \u201cand unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine\u201d (2:24); \u201cThou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments\u201d (3:4). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe it is just our human nature to measure success by size.\u00a0 I remember being very happy when my home church was listed as one of the ten largest Sunday Schools in America by Elmer Towns!\u00a0 But we were more like Vance Havner said, \u201cThe church has moved from the catacombs to the Coliseum in its emphasis on size.\u201d<\/span>2<\/sup><\/span> Yet still today the first question a pastor is asked is, \u201chow large is your church?\u201d\u00a0 Jesus never asked that question.\u00a0 The Bema may inquire \u201chow\u201d but not \u201chow much?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Notoriety was not important<\/span><\/h2>\n

Laodicea was perhaps the richest and therefore most well-known city, but this surely wasn\u2019t an asset to the church of Laodicea.\u00a0 Smyrna and Philadelphia are the only two churches which receive no rebuke, and to Smyrna Jesus says, \u201cI know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty (but thou are rich)\u201d (2:9).\u00a0 They were rich in spirituality, though poor in earthly goods.\u00a0 To Philadelphia He said, \u201cFor thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and not denied my name\u201d (3:8).\u00a0 Notoriety with the Lord has to do with faithfulness, not with worldly popularity. <\/span><\/p>\n

Paul reminded the Corinthian church that, \u201cwe dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise\u201d (2 Cor. 10:12).\u00a0 Paul told Timothy that some think that \u201cgain is godliness\u201d (1 Tim. 6:5), or literally, \u201cgodliness is a means to gain.\u201d\u00a0 If the pastoral ministry becomes only a road to success, then we have our reward. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Busyness was a side issue<\/span><\/h2>\n

Too many times we associate busyness with ministry or worship.\u00a0 We get so intent on making sure that everyone has a place of \u201cservice\u201d that no one is going to church!\u00a0 In fact, I think we have forgotten how to just go to church.\u00a0 It ought to grieve us that it takes so many helpers to put the average church service together.\u00a0 The number one intention of every church attendee ought to be\u2014to be in church!<\/span><\/p>\n

To every church in Asia Jesus said, \u201cI know thy works.\u201d\u00a0 Yet five out of those seven times He also says something like, \u201cnevertheless I have somewhat against thee\u201d (2:4), or \u201cBut I have a few things against thee\u201d (2:14).\u00a0 A.W. Tozer wrote, \u201cOur meetings are characterized by cordiality, humor, affability, zeal and high animal spirits; but hardly anywhere do we find gatherings marked by the overshadowing presence of God.\u201d<\/span>3<\/sup><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Purity was important<\/span><\/h2>\n

For some reason we tend to think that purity, holiness, or righteousness are enemies of a \u201crevitalized\u201d church.\u00a0 But the fact is,\u00a0 \u201cvital\u201d means \u201clife\u201d and there is no life for the church without holy life.\u00a0 For the true worshiper of Jesus Christ, no amount of people, activity, or possessions can take the place of a pure walk with God.\u00a0 And this pure walk ought to be manifest in church as well as anywhere else. <\/span><\/p>\n

Nothing stands out in these seven letters more than the Lord\u2019s scathing rebuke for the intermingling of ungodliness within the church.\u00a0 Pergamos had within it the doctrine of Balaam and of the Nicolaitans, \u201cwhich thing I hate\u201d says the Lord (2:15).\u00a0 Thyatira had allowed a prophetess He calls \u201cJezebel\u201d to seduce God\u2019s people yet Jesus is the One Who \u201csearches the reins and hearts\u201d (2:23).\u00a0 Laodicea needed to buy white raiment (purity) \u201cthat the shame of thy nakedness do not appear\u201d (3:18).\u00a0 It seems the lack of separation from the moral evils of the world began early in church history.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ were central<\/span><\/h2>\n

Not only was John on the isle of Patmos for this reason (1:2, 9), the churches are either commended or reprimanded for the same reason.\u00a0 Philadelphia was a good church with an open door from the Lord, \u201cfor thou has a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name\u201d (3:8).\u00a0 To them He also said, \u201cBecause thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth\u201d (3:10).\u00a0 The promise of rapture is to those who know and hold the Word of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

What could be more central to local church worship than these two things?\u00a0 It was all John had on Patmos and those in prison at Smyrna had little else except the expectation of a martyr\u2019s death (2:10).\u00a0 Could we come to church week after week just to sing a hymn about Jesus Christ and to hear a message from the Word of God?\u00a0 Would our kids come for the same reason?\u00a0 Would the youth group be as large?\u00a0 Or would we just have a few older saints who would be seen as a \u201cdead\u201d church?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A fortress mentality was commended<\/span><\/h2>\n

It is interesting how we have twisted such wording today and made it a bad thing.\u00a0 We seem to think that a church cannot \u201chold the fort\u201d and also keep the faith; that we cannot be a \u201choly huddle\u201d and also a city set on a hill.\u00a0 I think such thinking reveals its own narrowness.\u00a0 If our churches cannot be strongholds of safety for believers, and shelters in which we can hide from the world, then we certainly cannot be Biblical churches.<\/span><\/p>\n

To the church in Philadelphia Jesus said, \u201cBehold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown\u201d (3:11).\u00a0 To the church at Thyatira (at least to the \u201crest in Thyatira\u201d) Jesus said, \u201cBut that which ye have already hold fast till I come\u201d (2:25).\u00a0 We still have P.P Bliss\u2019 song in our song books, \u201cHold The Fort\u201d and it is in the same section as Luther\u2019s \u201cA Mighty Fortress Is Our God,\u201d both in the Christian Warfare section.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

And So . . . .<\/span><\/h2>\n

I have been in John Bunyan\u2019s church building in Bedford, England.\u00a0 I have seen the roll sheets of services in his day:\u00a0 Twenty five, maybe thirty names.\u00a0 Yet no man was ever so glad to meet with those few precious saints as the man who had been in jail for his faith.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He once wrote, \u201cWhen a company of saints are gathered together in the name of Christ to perform any spiritual exercise, and their souls be edified, warmed and made glad therein, it is because this water, this river of water of life, has in some of the streams thereof, run into that assembly.\u201d<\/span>4<\/sup><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I have seen similar roll sheets for William Carey\u2019s church and even John Newton\u2019s.\u00a0 I doubt that any of those attendees believed their churches were in need of revitalization!\u00a0 And indeed, they were not.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Notes:<\/span><\/address>\n
1. Wm. M. Ramsay, <\/span>The Letters to the Seven Churches<\/span> (New York:\u00a0 Hodder & Stoughton, nd) 134-135.<\/span><\/address>\n
2. Vance Havner, <\/span>Hearts Afire<\/span> (Old Tappan:\u00a0 Fleming H. Revell, nd) 113.<\/span><\/address>\n
3. A.W. Tozer, <\/span>Worship and Entertainment<\/span> (Camp Hill, Penn:\u00a0 Christian Pub, 1997) 30.<\/span><\/address>\n
4. John Bunyan, <\/span>The Water of Life<\/span> , 60.<\/span><\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is no more satisfying statement to the New Testament believer than John\u2019s on the Isle of Patmos, \u201cI was in the Spirit on the Lord\u2019s Day\u201d (Rev. 1:10).\u00a0 That says everything to us.\u00a0 John was a believer who possessed the Holy Spirit, who, though no one else cared what he did that day, made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[143],"class_list":["post-1191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-church"],"yoast_head":"\nA Word About Small Churches - Aletheia Baptist Ministries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/april-qa-word-about-small-churchesq\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Word About Small Churches - Aletheia Baptist Ministries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is no more satisfying statement to the New Testament believer than John\u2019s on the Isle of Patmos, \u201cI was in the Spirit on the Lord\u2019s Day\u201d (Rev. 1:10).\u00a0 That says everything to us.\u00a0 John was a believer who possessed the Holy Spirit, who, though no one else cared what he did that day, made […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/april-qa-word-about-small-churchesq\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Aletheia Baptist Ministries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AletheiaBaptist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-04-12T23:45:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-01-16T18:57:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Book-Reviews-1024x1024.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rick Shrader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rick Shrader\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/april-qa-word-about-small-churchesq\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/april-qa-word-about-small-churchesq\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rick Shrader\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/#\/schema\/person\/588b75c574dc86d40cf5fb13774181b2\"},\"headline\":\"A Word About Small Churches\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-12T23:45:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-01-16T18:57:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/april-qa-word-about-small-churchesq\/\"},\"wordCount\":2160,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Church\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/april-qa-word-about-small-churchesq\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/april-qa-word-about-small-churchesq\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/april-qa-word-about-small-churchesq\/\",\"name\":\"A Word About Small Churches - 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