The Objective of the Church

In our culture, we tend to think bigger is better, and we apply that thinking to the church as well. We think the bigger the church, the more successful it is. But that isn’t necessarily true.

You can have a big church yet not have a strong one, because there are a lot of things people can do to draw a crowd. So it isn’t only about being big; it is about being strong. And it is about being biblical.

Then there are those who are critical of large churches. “I hate these megachurches,” they say. “You go in there, and you have to wait for parking.” But let’s think about this for a moment. It would be like saying, “There are two restaurants we can choose from. There is this one restaurant with a line around the block. And there is this other restaurant with no one inside except the employees. Where do you think we should eat?”

Did you ever stop and think that maybe there’s a reason one of those restaurants is empty? Maybe the food in the other place is better than the place without any customers.

Sometimes a large church or a lot of people can mean there is something they are getting out of it. It can mean they are being fed there. My objective never has been to have a large church; it always has been to have a biblical church and a strong church. We always have felt that we should leave the growth up to God. In and of itself, there is no virtue in being small.

Not every church will be a large church, but every church should be a growing church. The objective of the church is to be as faithful as we can be to what God has called us to be. Because on that final day, Jesus won’t say, “Well done, good and successful servant. By the way, how many numbers were you running?”

Rather, He’ll say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”