Stinkin’ Selfishness in the Small Church and the Big

In an interview with Christianity Today, Stanley went into more detail, and again apologized for his comments.  In the interview, he talks about having interactions with people in his community, and that being the focus of what he was trying to get across.  But, as happens with all communicators from time to time, it didn’t come out right – even the best ones slip up.  At the core of his statement, however, we see a mentality that some people have regarding the church – actually, a couple.

First, there’s the “bigger is better” mentality.  Stanley talks about how the church was just coming off a weekend where 4,600 middle school students – from the 6 North Point campuses – were able to take part in some powerful spiritual conversations.  Imagine the impact that occurred that weekend with so many young people able to learn, hear and share about faith.  That’s something that cannot happen in a single, small local church.  (Actually, it cannot happen unless you have a church of several thousand!)  Certainly it was a powerful weekend that changed some lives in significant ways.

There is some truth to the “bigger is better” mentality.  The amount of resources and the ability to do bigger things increases as the church size increases.  A church of 200 simply doesn’t have the resources to pull off what a church of 27,000 (like North Point) can.  But, here’s the thing, and make sure you catch this: God can work in people REGARDLESS of the size of the church they attend.

Bigger is better in terms of being able to pull of special events, but bigger is not necessarily better in terms of actual spiritual growth.  In fact, what you often see is that bigger churches try to get smaller by implementing things like small groups, multiple campuses, etc. because they realize that spiritual growth is difficult when it’s a group of several thousand.  A big church is a church that has something to offer people, but it does not have a monopoly in that department, which brings me to the second mentality that I want to talk about.

Stanley had in mind particular interactions with people who preferred smaller churches BECAUSE they felt like they could know everybody.  Now, there’s two ways this can go:

• one, a person goes to a smaller church, is involved, actually does know everybody and is building relationships that are vital to his/her spiritual growth;
• and two, a person goes to a smaller church, doesn’t actually get involved, only knows a handful of people that sit near them every week, but feels more comfortable because deep down they don’t really like crowds.

I know I’m getting into a bit of mind-reading here, but I think it’s that second group to whom Stanley is referring when he calls them “stinkin’ selfish”.  And, frankly, I can’t blame him.

People who “prefer a small church” because it makes them feel comfortable socially are less likely to be involved in fulfilling the Great Commission.  After all, if we’re reaching new people, then there’s somebody who might take my seat in the pew on Sunday morning, and we can’t have that.  If we get too big, then it could get uncomfortable for us.

Here’s the thing: you don’t have to know everybody in your local congregation, but you should know somebody.  You should be getting involved.  You should be building relationships.  You should be making connections.  Because that’s where we find our spiritual growth.  And it doesn’t matter the size of your church.

If you want to go to a big church because worship is a high quality production, you can get lost in the crowd, and it doesn’t require anything of you, then that is just as selfish as being uninvolved in a small church simply because it doesn’t have a crowd.  If you’re not going to be involved in the local congregation, if you’re not going to be invested in the local congregation or your spiritual growth, then the size of your church is irrelevant.  As I read on Twitter once, “It doesn’t really matter which church you don’t go to on Sunday morning.”

I have a lot of respect for Andy Stanley, and I still do – even as a pastor of a small church who could easily jump on the “I’m offended” bandwagon.  I’ve listened to a lot of his stuff in the past and I know his heart for the local church and for pastors. I fully believe him when he apologizes.  Even the best communicators miscommunicate from time to time.