One of the problems with having a big church is the effect it has on the local church. I'm not just talking about how much work it takes to support a bigger church. I am also talking about the attitude it fosters in the people in that church. We begin to think that we must be great or else God would not have given us all of these people or this big building. We say that God built our church, but we think that He did it partly because we are worthy.
If our goal is to make disciples and to plant churches, we should not allow our church to grow so large. Big churches support church planting, but they do not plant many churches themselves.
One other thing that happens to a bigger church is the age factor. The people who were first saved in this church are now reaching retirement age and they have grandchildren. They support everything we do, even though they can no longer do it themselves. Revival and discipleship is a young man's activity. Young men see visions, old men dream dreams.
Unfortunately, you cannot ungrow a local church without killing it.
Study the history of revival and church growth and we are following the path of every group that has ever seen real revival. This is why we must work while it is day. The night is not the end of the world, just our end in the world.
Pray for our pastors.
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