“It’s not big or small; it’s big AND small.”
By Pastor Jeremy Lim
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, peace be with you. I am sure that by now, you know I am leading the Chinese church fully, and my mission profile is being handled by Rev. Alexa. She has many things under her belt, but as the saying goes, “With great power (and talent) comes great responsibilities.” I am sure the ministry will grow well.
As for me, this is a season of pruning; I need to do much repenting. What sort of pruning, or repentance? It is the pruning of my sense of superiority. I need to repent from the deep-seated arrogance that comes from serving in the English church – an air of elitism that is associated with a “bigger-the-better” mindset. This is the prevalent mindset of many, and I would not have realised it if not for serving in a much smaller church.
On a few occasions last year, people came up to me and asked, “Are you sad to move from the English to the Chinese church?” They asked, not because they missed me but because I was moved from a big to a small congregation. It is a demotion!
I have a good answer to that now. I would reply, “God uses big AND small churches. It is not big or small. It is big AND small, working hand in hand.”
But I wasn’t always like that. When I was first assigned to the Chinese congregation, I read books and articles by church growth gurus on how to grow the church. Usually, the reasons given for a small church include selfishness, disobedience, territorialism, people-pleasing attitude, lack of solid preaching, putting comfort over mission, and so on. The assumption is that if a church is not growing, it must be filled with self-serving, petty Christians, and I totally bought into that. I failed to listen, and brought along my big-church solutions to fix them.
However, as I spent time getting to know the people in the church, I said to myself, “These are some of the most faithful, generous, sacrificial people I have known.”
Two things began to dawn upon me.
Firstly, the size of the church says nothing about the spiritual health of the people. The reasons I listed out above could very well apply to a big church. Size only masks the underlying health issues. What are the ingredients of a healthy church – loving and worshipping Jesus, loving people, and making disciples.
Secondly, I realised that the Chinese church needs a lot of encouragement. Why is that? They have been told, even by me on a few occasions, to grow it or close it, (yikes!) that the reason they aren’t growing is that they are visionless, faithless, and inward-looking.
There is pressure from all corners to grow big, and I was the biggest critic, the never satisfied father. My words did not lift them up; they beat them down. Guilt does not motivate, it discourages. They need more TLC to get stronger.
Moreover, I see now that these unflattering attitudes are not true to most of the Chinese church leaders. As I’ve said, they are some of the most hardworking, caring, sacrificial people I’ve known. I went into the Chinese church thinking of fixing them. Instead, I am the one being fixed, aligned to God’s heartbeat, and inspired by their faith. I have so much to learn from them; I need to repent from my arrogance.
Finally, do you know what’s the best thing that has happened? I’ve rediscovered my first love for Jesus. I suspect that most people go into full-time ministry in response to God’s love, to love people.
But over the years, I’ve shifted more from a pastor/shepherd to being a coordinator/manager, from pastoring people, to managing systems. Becoming a shepherd in the Chinese church has brought back the joy of pastoring people, and helping me to rediscover my first love.
I am not saying that everything is all right. In fact, there are many areas the Chinese church need to change and improve. But I want you to see that there is an alternative to growing numerically. When Paul addressed a problem in the New Testament church, did he ever say to them, “Your solution is to get big”? No.
The English church can help us become a healthier and stronger congregation by simply encouraging us. How can you encourage us? Come and worship with us from time to time. Come and serve with us.
And in the process of the Chinese church getting healthier, if it grows numerically, then that is good too, but let’s take it one step at a time. And remember, it is not big or small, it is big AND small, together striving for Christ.
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