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Why join a small church?

Part 2: Problems you may face

Estate agents, in their endeavour to sell properties, have earned a reputation for writing some rather deceptive descriptions of the houses and flats on their books.

A small, poky little dwelling may be described as ‘compact.’ A house that is very run down and in need of major repair work can be marketed as ‘with potential for development’. Something of an old shack which is downright odd and has an unfortunate odour is sometimes advertised as ‘having character’. I need to be upfront about trying to get you to join a small church. There can often be problems. I do not want to fall foul of the Trades Descriptions Act! You need to be clear about what you might be taking on.

Therefore I need to list some of the problems you may face if you help a small church.

1. Bad facilities

Small churches rarely have much money. There are only a few to support the work financially. We live at a time when generally speaking the standard of living has increased markedly. People have become used to buildings which are well-maintained and smart. Often it is not like that in a small church. Further, there will not be many up-to-date resources. Those who are brave enough to join a small church may not be ashamed of the gospel, but might well find themselves ashamed of the premises. Will you invite non-Christian friends along if they will be put off by the state of the building before they ever hear the good news? What can be done about that?

2. Nothing for the children

I was talking to a pastor recently who commented that if all the people over 50 years old were taken away from the churches in his area most of them would cease to exist. Usually the congregations of small churches are ‘getting on’ in years. If you are a young family with little children, you may well hesitate before joining a small church. ‘There’s nothing for my children here,’ you realise. ‘What effect is that going to have on them in the long term?’ Of course, it may be that if the little church has a warmth about it then your children will be taken to the hearts of the congregation and accommodation somehow made for giving them a helpful and happy time at church. In such a case the greater danger might be that your children will be spoiled by soft-hearted older saints who are so pleased to see youngsters among them! However, it is not always like that. How can you get involved with a church which is not, at least initially, child-friendly?

3. Discouragement

It is tough for all Christians at the present time in the Western world, whatever the size of our congregation. Aggressive secularism rules the roost and even though under this regime society is disintegrating with the break-down of family life and the increase of all kinds of anti-social behaviour, nevertheless the majority of people think Christianity is totally implausible and not worth giving a second thought. To be a Christian is to swim against the tide. But clearly people in a little fellowship feel this tide most keenly. They feel discouraged. In reaction they may well adopt a siege mentality. Small churches become very defensive. They feel victimised and helpless. They can be over-sensitive to any perceived criticisms. Their agenda is about surviving rather than reaching out with the love of God to a lost world. How do you encourage them to snap out of that and take some risks for God?

4. Resentment and suspicion

The siege mentality can lead to resentment of anyone who joins the church and tries to change anything. By implying that change might improve things for the church we can be taken as condemning what has gone on in the past. Over-sensitive about their inadequacies, even Christians may react negatively. Pride often enters the equation too. Sometimes they would rather see the church die and to identify themselves as ‘the faithful few’ who stayed true to the end, than be prepared to listen to people who have only recently started coming to the church. How do you get around that? It is a matter of winning hearts and fostering trust. Real fellowship has to be built before a church can move forward. This is not always possible. Even where it is possible it may take a long time.

5. Lack of spiritual life

Obviously there are some churches which completely turned away from the gospel and godly living and promote heresy. I could not encourage you to get involved with them. But this is certainly not true in many small churches. Often little fellowships are full of faith, hope and love and can be a positive tonic to be involved with. However, I want to paint a worst-case scenario. We must face the fact that there are other little congregations where the spiritual flames are burning low. The teaching is far from dynamic. The people have begun to live in the past and find more security in their traditions than in Christ himself. Formalism has begun to have its deadening influence. Spiritual deadness may even begin to affect your own spiritual life if you are not careful. Are you strong enough, with God’s enabling, to bear the load and to wrestle prayerfully until the Lord revives his people? Would it be good to supplement your spiritual intake through some of the many downloads, MP3s or tapes available from ministries such as that of John Piper or Tim Keller or others in order to stay strong?

6. Idiosyncrasies

By the very nature of what it is, every church attracts vulnerable and needy people. In many ways it is the glory of the church that we do. The love of God is there. People who are disabled or lonely or unlovely can gravitate to the church. In many large congregations such people (to the church’s shame) get ignored. The church doesn’t need them. But smaller churches tend to have more time for these folk with their idiosyncrasies. That being so, smaller churches may well attract more than their fair share of such people. This can give a strange ‘air’ to the church to any new visitor. We can easily be put off by such an atmosphere. It is not ‘cool.’ It is not ‘slick and presentable’ by today’s standards.

7. Unimpressive worship

There is a great encouragement from singing together in a big congregation. The emotion of it all can make the hairs on the back of our necks stand up and thrill us deeply. Contemporary music styles can leave us with a song full of helpful truth which we remember for the rest of the week. Big congregations tend to have a surfeit of people with musical gifts. But it is seldom like that in a little church. Hymn singing is not the essence of worship. But when there is just a broken down organ or piano to accompany a few voices trying their best, it hardly feels as if we are making the praise of God glorious.

So here are some of the problems which we might well meet if we rise to the challenge of getting involved with a small church. Seeing such problems might be enough to put us off. But nevertheless, the reputation of the Lord is at stake over the future of every one. Every time a little church closes it gives the watching world one more reason to think that Christ is non-existent, powerless and can be ignored. What reason can I give you, despite the problems, to go and get stuck in? Ultimately none; except it has to be done.

Easier to plant?

Seeing the difficulties many would counsel that it is easier to plant new churches than try to restore old failing ones. Sometimes that may be true. You can start with a clean sheet of paper and without having to deal first with difficult old members and out of date traditions. But still there are reasons to believe that helping existing small churches is better.

* Witness. To start another church where there already is one is to undermine the unity of the church in the eyes of the watching world. ‘Why should we believe what you are preaching? You Christians can’t even agree yourselves or worship together?’ they say.

* Finance. When a small church closes often its building is sold. Even apart from the shame of it now becoming a carpet warehouse or a temple of another religion, what happens to the money from the sale? Frequently it gets lost in the central coffers of a failing denomination, while the new church plant is either spending money every month on renting a school or trying to get many thousands of pounds together to buy a venue. What a waste of resources.

* Message. When we church plant while ignoring an existing small church the message being given is not that Christ is the answer, but that our particular brand of church is the answer. This smacks more of our own empire building than building God’s kingdom.

Obviously there are situations which genuinely require planting new churches. But where there are small struggling churches already in existence, it is far better, if we can help, to build up what is already there.

To be continued…
John Benton