Has the Church Gotten Too Big? | REV3 = Revitalize, Energize, Visualize

Is it too big for one or even many men to handle? Possibly, we have tried to put wheels on a hospital rather than send out an ambulance.

Some have painted a picture that the church is like a hospital. If the church is likened to a hospital, it would be a building where people would go for emergency medical care, staying the length of time needed to return to self-sustaining life. All manner of apparatus and caregivers are available under one roof. The size of most hospital campuses are large and growing. They have all the conveniences and more technology than any home. They are economic giants and play a vital part in the cities in which they are situated. They are administrative masterpieces directing the paper and digital flow of HIPAA information to the right department. Hospitals have their place unless their size has gotten too big to properly care for their patients. They seem to be always fundraising, so has the low cash flow drained the river of health care? Some patients may even garner a taste for their food and other services rather than taking on the challenges of a more abundant life promised to them outside their walls. Hospitals are mega-clinics, and we have our own personal perspective on them. When they have helped us, we feel cared for; other times, the inadequacies or time delays overwhelm our understanding and patience. Let me illustrate: I had to wait four hours on a Thursday to have my finger stitched up just well enough to be sent home with the prognosis to call the surgeon (who was also on-call that day) on Friday morning for an appointment. The next day, I waited in the surgeon’s office on the same campus as the hospital to see if he could do the surgery that day. After three hours, the physician’s assistant asked if I wanted to stay longer. I was confused as to who decided the schedule. I thought they decided when the surgery could be done, so I chose to wait at home. While on hold with the surgeon’s office at 4 p.m., by which time they said they would let me know when and where the surgery would be, an incoming call from another clinic notified me that they had scheduled surgery on Monday as per the surgeon’s request. Now, I was being sent four days later to a smaller clinic where the same surgeon who operates at the hospital would offer the care I originally sought out last Thursday. The pain in my finger had mostly subsided before the amputation on Monday which caused far worse pain than the original injury. Could this not have been done by an on-call surgeon on a Thursday emergency room visit at a hospital in my network? Did it have to be amputated? I don’t understand health care, but more than that I wonder, does it have to be so hard to navigate or are hospitals housing an obese white elephant, eating all he wants, blocking the view to all direct hallways to care?

If the church is compared to a hospital, this is not a bad picture, but the façade of the church could be painted over with the brush of being a long-term residence or some other whitewash rather than providing restorative short-term care. The hospital in and of itself could be no more accurate of a depiction of the “Body of Christ” than the church building which has misled many outsiders who have taken shelter within its walls. If we lose sight of the fact that we are living stones and not dead bricks of a building, we may just keep the residents from inclement weather.

You could add an ambulance to this collage of literary imagery to depict the church as a vehicle. This more versatile vehicle, though smaller in size, is limited in the scope of the care offered. A first responder can save many lives, which is great. They travel to the patients, meeting the demands of the more urgent cases. The rights of emergency vehicles to override traffic and other laws can mean the difference between life and death. This may even have theological soundness. The attraction of attention and the warnings it loudly blares as it speeds through the streets have many parallels to be observed. The size of this vehicle will more or less be dictated by the local Department of Transportation but it can be made too heavy.
The ambulance ride is intended to be as comfortable for the patient as possible to alleviate suffering. If the ambulance of the church becomes a long-term care facility for the patients they serve, attempting to provide them with a comfortable ride to their eternal home, the vehicle will be contracted to search for methods to appease its riders rather than applying its purpose. The well patients must get out to make room for others.

If the comfort of the staff outweighs the Great Commission, how big and cumbersome will this machine have to be? The emergency situation may demand that we drive the ailing to another church ourselves. No coffee makers on board or break rooms. The seats are only for safety, no reclining or heating them to an individual temperature. I’m sure the goal in the construction of these important medical vehicles is to make them as light and maneuverable as possible while fully equipping them to rescue the perishing.

We could exhaust every medical vehicle, building, or urgent care facility to try to find a good parallel for the church, but we may never cover the appropriateness of every allegory. How these medical vehicles function – whether on capitalism, comfort or compassion – will be as individual as the patients the church attempts to care for. What is the goal of any of these medical vehicles? Does your church want patients inside their “care” or do they want to see them prosper somewhere else and out of their control? To keep healthy people in the church’s care will demand more than a focus on healing of the perishing which will demand a larger capacity to facilitate their needs.  

The guiding principles of the church do not change with its size, demographics, or geography. Improvements happen both in our individual lives as well as our corporate endeavors. In the church, the main purpose should be to facilitate healthy souls on their journey to an eternal home while incorporating them to do so for others. When we lose sight of the main objective, we may compromise or overlook the basic components of this vehicle. When a church loses track of the basic elements for which they were created to operate by, building up or downsizing will not solve their problems.

Less fortunate Christians in other countries, which do not have the freedom of religion, are dying while wishing they could go to church. Since its inception, God’s children have been hiding their churches underground from governments less tolerant to this growing organism. These politicians feel threatened by “her” as most of us would a viral disease. They recognize her as she really is… alive. If they felt she would remain small, tolerance would be an option for them. It is the reproduction of the church that scares them more than the fact that God’s bride is alive. 

How many people are spiritually dying while going to church in our country? When a church grows in size with more attendees, what causes the appetite to become unsatisfied with the spiritual diet the church is offering? Churches can enlarge the appetites of the masses with less nutritional spiritual food. If what they feed their congregants does not include an action plan for each member to join the work and support them with training, they will supersize their members’ consumption, but not energize action or reproductive growth. The increase in volume of spiritual food with a decrease in the quality of sustenance may satisfy a hunger short-term, but if we are missing key ingredients, then the member can lack healthy spiritual growth. Studies show in this land from furrow to feeding table, forty percent of all food produced is thrown out.¹ Are we getting bigger plates to take more for ourselves? Six days a week for years for breakfast, I have eaten a half-cup of oatmeal with milk, no sugar or extras, lately topping it with some cinnamon. It’s simple, nutritious, and quick if I’m not dreaming about the donuts I consumed at other breakfasts. People who find this out about my present diet say, “You must like oatmeal.” To date, oatmeal would not be my first choice, and there is no comparison to a homemade cinnamon roll. Oatmeal loses the taste battle every time, but I value my health over a momentary morning taste experience. In the spiritual diet, the parallel exists. A large church can be a healthy one if She has kept the value in the quality of the spiritual diet she offers. I can say that I have never overeaten oatmeal, but cinnamon rolls, well, that’s a different story.

Life with God is simple. If it weren’t so, He would have never used children or the unlearned to be the examples of its framework. In the beginning, He made life basic for the human race with one rule: “don’t eat from a certain tree,” in essence, “do whatever else you want.” He wanted to be with us, giving us rule and dominion similar to His. That sounds not only simple, but good.

The last time I was in an ER of a major hospital, I asked the staff if I should have gone to a smaller clinic to expedite my service. They said I would have been sent to ER anyway because of the severity of my wound. Smaller clinics are not the answer to all medical problems. Similarly, the size is not the real issue with the church, so what else could it be?

Reflections on Has the Church Gotten Too Big?

Read 1 Corinthians 12
How does the analogy of the Church being like a hospital resonate with the biblical concept of the body of Christ?

In what ways can we draw parallels between the functioning of a hospital and the functioning of the Church?

Read Matthew 28:16-20
Considering the urgency of the Great Commission, how does the analogy of the Church as an ambulance align with the mission to reach the perishing?

How can the church balance providing comfort to its members and fulfilling the Great Commission?

Read Colossians 2:18-19
What are the potential pitfalls of a church losing sight of its main objective and compromising its basic components?

How can a church maintain a focus on facilitating healthy souls and avoid distractions that may arise with growth or downsizing?

Read Genesis 2:17
Reflecting on the simplicity of God’s initial command in the Garden of Eden, how can the church maintain simplicity and clarity in its mission?

In what ways can the church avoid overcomplicating its purpose and stay aligned with God’s design for His people?

Read Matthew 9:36-38
How can a church ensure that its growth is accompanied by a genuine concern for the spiritual well-being of its members rather than simply enlarging its attendance numbers?

What role does equipping and training play in the spiritual diet offered by the church?

Read Hebrews 10:25
How can the analogy of churches in countries with restricted religious freedom hiding underground impact our perspective on the size and visibility of a church?

What can we learn from the dedication and sacrifice of believers in such environments?

Read Galatians 5:22-23
In the analogy of spiritual diet, how can a church maintain a balance between spiritual depth and the appeal of a larger congregation?

What role does the quality of spiritual nourishment play in the healthy growth of individual members?

Read Mark 10:15
How does the simplicity of God’s message for children relate to the simplicity of life with God?

In what ways can the church embrace simplicity in its communication of the Gospel and in its overall functioning?

Read Acts 2:42-47
Reflecting on the early church in Acts, how did they navigate growth while maintaining a sense of community and purpose?

What principles from the early church can be applied to contemporary churches facing questions about size and effectiveness?

Read Revelation 3:15-16
Considering the warning about being lukewarm, how can a church avoid becoming complacent or comfortable to the detriment of its mission?

What steps can a church take to ensure it remains passionate and purpose-driven regardless of its size?

1 Thompson, M., & Saltzman, M. (2019, August 31). Americans waste up to 40 percent of the food they produce. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/americans-waste-up-to-40-percent-of-the-food-they-produce