Mega-Church

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=90 BGCOLOR="#0099FF" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Monotype Corsiva" ><B>The Evangelical Herald                            </B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Evangelical Herald "><B>home</B></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="cleansing.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cleansing">Cleansing</A>   |   <A HREF="music.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Music">Music</A>   |   <B>Mega-Church</B>   |   <A HREF="world.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="World">World</A>   |   <A HREF="spot_or_wrinkle.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spot or Wrinkle">Spot or Wrinkle</A>   |   <A HREF="bodyhead.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Body/Head">Body/Head</A>   |   <A HREF="another_church.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Another Church">Another Church</A></div> <div> <A HREF="church.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church"><B>Up Level</B></A></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Mega-Church</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>The Evangelical Herald</B> </div> <bR> <div> <B>THE MEGA-CHURCH IN GOD'S KINGDOM</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#330000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> I<B>n today's age of super-markets, super-hardware stores, mega-companies, and super highways, the mega-church is a common sight in most cities around the world. A mega-church, I recently found out, is a church with a two thousand or more membership. Mega-churches are easily recognized - they are the ones with all the traffic surrounding them on Sunday mornings and have the biggest advertisements in the yellow pages. In addition to its membership, a mega-church has a large administrative staff consisting of several ministers, secretaries, and clerks. Ministers have a positional hierarchy consisting of the senior minister, associate ministers, adult ministers, youth ministers and other ministers of specialized ministries. Most mega-churches operate a church school with its own administrative staff. </B></div> <div> <B>The basic philosophy that drives these churches is "success is measured by how big you are" or "bigger is better." This philosophy has been adopted from the business and commercial success models. With this mindset, methods on promoting the church have a "anything goes" attitude. New and creative ways to attract people seem to always be emerging. Coffee houses, comedy shows, and rock concerts within the church complex are some of the latest gimmicks that have appeared in these churches. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Social Pressures Move the Trend</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Social scientists tell us that the success of the mega-churches can be explained by some identifiable social factors:</B></div> <div> <B>With the rise of population in the mega-cities of the world, the movability of its citizens was enhanced by the automobile and the superhighways. People no longer were confined to the church in their neighborhood, but now had the freedom to chose from dozens of churches. </B></div> <div> <B>Sophistication of psychology and the social sciences demanded the training of specialized ministers.</B></div> <div> <B>The use of modern technology for the efficient marketing of information. </B></div> <div> <B>Social/economic demands on the populace made it harder for average church members to contribute their time in voluntary service.</B></div> <div> <B>Are the mega-churches the answer on how to feed God's flock and spread the gospel? Are they meeting the needs of God's people? Some may ask why such questions are necessary since "you can not argue against success." It is true, if we go by the numbers, there is no reason to question this trend; but the more important question is "are they being faithful to God's model for His church?" What were Jesus' purposes in establishing the church? How were these purposes to be accomplished? Who were to be involved in accomplishing them? To answer these questions, we must go directly to the scriptures. Having then a good understanding to these answers, we must then apply them to today's mega-church to see if they are in harmony with His desires for his people.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Biblical Model</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Jesus established His church on the basis of faith in Him with the purpose of feeding His children spiritual food (cf. Matt 16:16-18). This indicates that if they are to attain to spiritual maturity, His followers need to be fed faith building knowledge, love, and support that only Jesus can provide through His chosen vehicle (cf. Jhn 21:15-17, 1Tim 3:15). In Ephesians 12, we see that God set up His church according to gifts He bestowed on his disciples. Every gift was necessary for the child of God to prosper. Every gift given to each member of the body of Christ is critical to the well being of the whole body as well as the individual member. The church is to foster and use the gifts of all of Christ's body members (cf.1Cor 12:28).</B></div> <div> <B>As every member is allowed to exercise their spiritual gift, there are certain apparent characteristics that the church will display:</B></div> <div> <B>There will be genuine fellowship among all its members. The church is rightly likened in the scriptures to the human family - a tightly knit unit. This unity will be demonstrated with love and concern that all the body members of Christ are spiritually well and growing. Rather then going to church to meet our needs, we are admonished to seek the well being of others. The church is called to foster an atmosphere of family where service to each other is a prime directive. (see Rom 12:10-13; Phil 2:3,4; Acts 4:32)</B></div> <div> <B>There will be humility in service. Scripture teaches us to avoid any semblance of hero worship. All service is to glorify our Heavenly Father. Rather then the making of celebrities among men, one member with a spiritual gift should not be esteemed above another. The church is called to foster humility of all its members regardless of their gifts. (see Phil 2:5-8)</B></div> <div> <B>There will be genuine prayer for the needs of its members. The Bible shows us that the early church prayed for one another. This prayer was backed by the personal awareness of a brother or sister's needs. A member of Christ's body is to be personally involved with the lives of those he or she prays for within the Body. (see Acts 12:5)</B></div> <div> <B>There will be personal accountability. No member in the body of Christ can survive as an island. The personal spiritual well being of each is the concern of all. The care, instruction, and discipline, like in a human family, will be present if members know each other's personal needs. The family of God must foster an atmosphere of personal concern and holiness among all its members with the objective to present a pure church to her Lord. (see Eph 5:27, Matt 18:17)</B></div> <div> <B>Although the church is called to evangelize, the primary concern is to nourish the family with faith, guidance, and instruction. The early church met to fellowship, worship, and edify each other - not to evangelize. However, the early believers' concern for the eternal wellbeing of unbelievers is evident. The book of Acts repeatedly portrays believers going out from their fellowship groups to evangelize. The church of God should foster a home atmosphere where its members learn to disciple unbelievers to Christ to fulfill the great commission.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>How does the Mega-church Measure Up?</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>The concept of a "church family" is very much lacking in the mega-churches even though most pastors refer to their congregations as family. Since most of these churches divide themselves into sub-groups according to age, needs, or interests, there is little interaction between these groups. Young people are involved with young people, seniors are involved with seniors, singles are involved with singles, and married folks are involved with the married. The net result of this system is that in a church of two thousand a person is a stranger to all but his "own kind". When a worshipper sits in the congregation, more than likely, he or she will sit by a stranger. This, the church reasons, is not a good thing - a worshipper should not feel like a stranger but should feel the love of the brethren. What is the solution? The "turn around and say hello to your neighbor" time slot in the worship service. While this ritual is suppose to convey the "friendliness" of the church, the fact remains that worshippers were strangers before the ritual and they will be strangers after the ritual.</B></div> <div> <B>As mentioned, all members are to use their spiritual gifts and be involved in the mission of the church. However, most mega-church members lack personal involvement in the work of the church. What things are done, how things are done, and who does these things are questions that the average member has relinquished to "others". The "others" in most cases are the paid professional staff of the church. As a result, many a member has lost the personal attachment and satisfaction of belonging to a congregation that needs his or her involvement. Spiritual gifts that God has given to each member are not allowed to flower or to be exercised for the benefit of all.</B></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Without a doubt, the success of the mega-church is centered on the leader of the church. When asked why they attend a particular church, most worshippers will answer "I like the preaching of pastor so and so." The criteria of doctrinal truth, binding love of its members, opportunity to serve, and bulwark of holiness have taken a back seat to the pastor's style of preaching. The qualifications of a preacher to be liked by thousands are, more than likely, a good personality, charisma, dressing cool to relate, theatrical sermon delivery styles or a good marketing agent. Since these preachers have become celebrities, they market themselves via radio, television, books, movies, and the news media. (see </B></FONT><A HREF="cleansing.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cleansing"><B><U>"Cleansing the Temple</U></B></A><A HREF="cleansing.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cleansing"><B>"</B></A><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="cleansing.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cleansing"><B>) </B></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Perhaps the most negative aspect of the mega-church is its lack to provide personal accountability. It is difficult for church leaders to be tuned in to the lives of their members. "I do not personally know my pastor or the leaders of the church and they do not know me" is a common response from members when asked about their interaction with leaders of the church. Because senior pastors have taken on a celebrity status, if they have any involvement with the congregation, it is with the higher echelon of the church. In this regard, the title "pastor" (a sheepherder tending his sheep) is definitely a misnomer. (see Acts 20:28)</B></div> <div> <B>A common stated reason for the existence of the mega-church is that a church was inherently made to grow; hence, there is no limit to its size. Whereas, it is true that God desires that His church grow and cover the whole earth, the church must remain true to its purpose, mission and work. The church must grow while yet maintaining its integrity to its purpose and mission for existing and it must do this with order. Even as in Moses day the people became so many that he could not keep order, even so God has called us to keep order according to His principles for His church. The mission of any church is to feed its members spiritual food that will enable them to go out into the highways and byways of the world to bring others to hunger for that food. When the church grows to a size where its purposes and mission can not be accomplished fully, it is time to establish another church. When a pastor can not "pastor", when its members can not minister to each other, it is time to plant another church. This may not be a very satisfying concept to a man's idea of success, but let us not base our success model to any human concept. Suffice it to say that if the church can succeed in its mission, God will bring forth the increase throughout the earth. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Drawing Power of the Mega-churches</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>What has made these churches so attractive to our modern day churchgoer? A major, if not the biggest, reason to their success can be explained with the word "convenience". These churches can supply the perceived needs of today's worshippers without too much inconvenience. There is not much required of them. There is no duty to attend services since one or two people missing can not be noticed in a congregation of two thousand. This, of course, releases worshippers to feel the freedom of not being tied down. Dedication to the church does not include sacrifice or time commitments because ministries that in the past had involved dedicated volunteers are now done by paid professionals.</B></div> <div> <B>Perhaps a second reason that has made the mega-church so attractive is our modern day fears to share our real inner selves with others. We have become experts on how to mingle with people and yet remain protected from them prying into our personal lives. The attitude seems to be "I want to fellowship with other believers, but please don't get too close - let me do it from a distance." With this shield, we guard our independence, our freedom to be our own person. With this shield, ministers, teachers, elders can not interfere in our chosen lifestyles. The mega-church is the answer for these believers that want the comfort of a degree of anonymity. </B></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Another reason for their attraction could be the where-with-all that these churches have to entertain their members. Most of these churches can afford to hire the best musicians and music instructors and choreographers. Given the phenomena of music that has overtaken today's churches, only churches that invest in music can expect to attract the masses. Big extravagancies at holiday times are not uncommon in the mega-churches. (See </B></FONT><A HREF="music.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Music"><B><U>"Come, Let Us Worship Music</U></B></A><A HREF="music.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Music"><B>"</B></A><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>) </B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Since only our God can judge the personal motivations of the hearts of church leaders and members of their flocks, we can not say that all mega-churches are failing our Lord's purpose for His Church. We do however, want to call attention to our Lord's desires for His people in the atmosphere of His church. Honest seekers of truth can decide for themselves if they are indeed in harmony with the Lord's will in the church they attend. Pastors and church leaders can decide for themselves if they are faithful shepherds of His flock. Above all, let us not have the spirit of "personal convenience", let us not shield ourselves from involvement with our Christian brethren, and let us not seek to be entertained; but rather, let us deny ourselves in total dedication in being part of the family of God - in self sacrificing love regardless of the "inconvenience". </B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>