I could have written the following paragraph and in fact, I wish that I had, but Joshua Gilmore beat me too it . . . .
"I grew up in an “uncool church.” The sermons were not slick. The music was not modern. And the church’s position on societal issues certainly was not politically correct. But back then, churches like this were totally OK." -- Joshua Gilmore
I'll just add that it would not hurt my feelings to see the Pop Churches of our day just fade away and the uncool churches of yesteryear return. I cannot help it . . . . what I know and what my experience and feelings all tell me is that 10 churches with 500 members will develop more committed followers of Jesus Christ than a pop church with 5000 members.
Even Nature tells us that real growth comes by dividing not multiplying. Freddy Gage was justified in saying, "Thank God for split Baptist churches." Life starts as a single cell and it continually divides until it becomes an independent being. It may be nurtured first in the womb . . . then in the home but at some lont it is declared grown and sent out to replicate the process. So, it should be with church.
I remember what Darrell Robinson when he was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Pasadena, Texas said to me on one occasion. It was in the early 1980's and the church was running somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 in Sunday school. He said that they were really about five churches who met under one roof on Sunday for group worship. As I reflected on that I realized that the phrase “five churches meeting under one roof for worship” followed what I believe is the optimum principle for church membership, I.E., About 500 members.
I grew up in one of those “uncool” churches of the 1950's-60's. Truth is, unless you are my age you probably have no idea what those now called “uncool” churches were like. I can only speak from my experience here.
First, those churches were intimate. They were in some cases like the sitcom bar Cheers on television . . . a place where everybody knew your name. You couldn’t get lost in an uncool church because someone would notice and come looking for you.
Second, those uncool churches saw their members as family and not just fellow church members. The reason they felt this way is because they still spoke of the church in biblical and not marketing terms. The church is the body of Christ . . . she is the Bride of Christ . . . . together we are the children of God . . . . . We are each one saved by the blood of Christ and that makes us blood kin and that makes us family. This is a significance that matters. As family we know one another, we support one another, we pray for one another and we help one another. “We are all family. “I've got all my brothers and my sisters with me. We may not always get along but in our weakness, we can be strong”
Third, uncool churches did not have moral or ethical ambivalence. Moral and ethical issues were resolved by asking the question, “What saith the Scriptures?” If the Bible said don’t do it then you simply don’t do it. Uncool churches were not interested in a bunch of psychological or sociological theories. The guiding principle was, “God does not regulate what he prohibits nor does he prohibit that which He regulates.” In the uncool church the Bible was the standard for both faith and practice (conduct). If God’s word defined something as an abomination, then the uncool church agreed. There is no situationism or relativism in the uncool church.
The uncool church had its share of great preachers but admittedly most were mediocre at best. However, as my preacher friend, the late Lester Collins, would say, they were adequate. They got the job done. I suppose that was because in their weakness they were strong - “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (II Cor. 12:10). These men knew they were just adequate and felt totally insufficient. So, they leaned not on their education but rather on the Holy Spirit. They poured their hearts out to God literally begging God to use their feeble attempts to glorify Himself . . . and He did.
I hate to take the wind out of anyone’s sails, Naw not really, but God is not impressed by your or my gifts, talents or cognitive acumen. Biblically we might express it thusly, “Paul planted, Apollos watered” . . . . but you know what? It was God who gave the increase. The same is true today.
In the uncool church there is far more dependence upon the working of the Holy Spirit than in the Pop Church. I will add that where we lean the hardest on the Spirit it is there that the Spirit works the most. We need to remember that it was God who said, “Not by might nor by power but my Spirit says the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6).
This reminds me that in the uncool church the minister/preacher is answerable to God. He is called of God and he answers to God. He does what He does because to do otherwise is to be outside of the calling of God on His life. The only reason to become a preacher, pastor, missionary or whatever is because God has called you to do so. One of the tests applied to this “calling” in the day of the uncool church was, “If you can do anything else in life and be happy then you are not called of God.” It is the Jeremiah principle, “But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name. his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”
While I am venting, as far as I can tell the satellite model of church growth is nothing more and nothing less than empire building. The audacity of those who think their “satellite churches” cannot function without the guidance of the Right Reverend Dr. Captain Kirk. I guess the Holy Spirit is not capable of speaking to and leading the members of a satellite church so the mother ship has to maintain control.
That's a far cry from Paul preaching in a strange city, baptizing a few converts, organizing a church and then leaving for next town and letting the Holy Spirit do His work. I always thought my job was to prepare and preach the sermon but that the heavy lifting was done by the Holy Spirit during the invitation time. It is God’s church not our kingdom.
Instead of 5-10 satellite congregations why not start 5-10 independent churches with their own pastors and their own staff and answerable to the Holy Spirit and not the "mother ship." God is the captain of the mother ship and the resources in all His churches belong to Him.
The Bible teaches that churches, real churches, are built on the model of the family and not the corporate model of the business world.
As indicated earlier ministers are servants, not employees and not CEO's. But we have descended from servants to servant minister to celebrity leaders. Yes, I did mean descended as in "gone downhill."
Well, so much for what I think . . . .Oh, I know, your mega-church with its pop culture and little moons revolving around your little central sun is different . . . sure it is. BTW - I have a bridge in Arizona if you're interested.
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