What Makes A Church Big?

Some people love big churches. Others can't stand them. Those that love big churches point out how a big church can offer more programs & events. Those that don't like the idea of a big church point out how once a church gets to a certain size, you lose that sense of "everybody knows everybody." What if the things we use to define & judge big churches aren't really what makes a church big? What if attendance or number of programs really has very little to do with whether a particular church is really big? What if a church of 100 in attendance were actually a big church? And what if a church of 10,000 in attendance were actually miles away from being a big church? What if it's not just the "big churches" that can have a big impact or a big ministry footprint? What if big has less to do with the size of our congregation & more to do with our vision of the Gospel?

"You Don't Need To Be A Big Church To Have A Big Footprint.

You Just Need To Serve A Big God & Have A Big Vision."

Big as the world defines it, & usually as the Christian sub-culture defines it, is all about numbers. It's about the number of people in attendance & dollars in the bank. However, that's not big. A big church is a church that leaves a big impact wherever it goes for the Gospel. It's a group of people who seize their opportunities to have a Gospel influence at their jobs, in their neighborhoods, & yes, even to the ends of the earth. It's been said that the true measure of a church isn't its seating capacity but its sending capacity, & that truth hasn't changed. A church of 100 that mobilizes those believers to advance the Gospel & make disciples is a bigger church than the one that simply draws 1000 to a service. In Revelation 3, Jesus speaks to a church in the ancient city of Philadelphia who on the surface doesn't look very strong, but they are faithful. As a result, Jesus says He has opened a door for them to be a Gospel influence in the world. They're not "big". They're not impressive, but their faithfulness makes them far more fruitful than a church that may be bigger & more impressive on the surface.

Here's the tension for us church folks though. If you're that church of 100 who is mobilizing people for ministry, you probably won't be a church of 100 for very long. After all you're reaching people with the Gospel & inviting them to connect to God's Church as they learn to follow Jesus. That means we have to hold on to our programs, ministries, structures, methods, & buildings with a loose grip so that those we've reached with the Gospel can come on board & find their place in the Body & in the mission. We're not calling people to follow our church or our way of doing ministry. We're calling them to follow Christ. If our vision & mission can be contained by our methods & our traditions, then our mission is too small. The mission of advancing the Gospel is bigger than all of our churches & all of our models & methods. 

So let's strive to be big churches, but not big by the world's standards. Instead let's pursue big by Scripture's standard. A big church is a faithful church, & a faithful church will be fruitful. What's a faithful church look like. First, according to Revelation 3 it's faithful to Jesus' word. Broadly that means being faithful to Scripture, but more specifically it means being faithful to the Gospel. Secondly, it means not denying Jesus' name. It means standing boldly for Jesus & putting all things aside in order to serve Him, know Him, & make Him known. When we do that our ministry footprint can become bigger than our ministry facilities. When we do that being a big church take on a whole new meaning.