Size doesn’t count in the church
by Stephan Joubert
Local churches are growing or shrinking. It just depends your viewpoint. If you’re looking for flaws, you’ll always find them. If you’re looking for life, you'll find that. Speaking of looking, a large blind spot concerning the question of life in the church, is the contemporary definition of success. As long as ideas such as “bigger is better” or “numbers equals life” are at the order of the day, local congregations will fail the success test. To say that the number of people on seats in churches on Sundays is a great barometer for church success is to miss the point. This isn’t correct. Life never equals numbers. Individuals who know and follow Jesus as their Lord serve as proof of the inexorable march forward of the kingdom of God in this world. Individuals matter to God. Or did we perhaps forget Jesus’ words that where two or three are gathered in his name, there He is in their midst.
Church happens wherever a handful of followers of Jesus get together. Church happens everywhere that people experience the community or fellowship of believers, even if they’re sitting under a tree. Maybe it’s time for all of us to expose our blind spots to the light, and to see what the Lord is doing below the radar in small churches and faith communities. He’s at work everywhere — even in churches, large and small. Just look carefully.