Some time ago, I received an email from a small-church pastor feeling very discouraged.
I’ll keep his identity a secret for obvious reasons, but here’s the email he sent me (used with his permission):
Hi Karl,
A recent comment was made to me as a small-church pastor and I would like to hear your response to it. Here’s basically what the person said.
“I know you like small-church ministry and you feel called to small-church ministry, but you need to stop reading stuff about small-church ministry. It’s going to turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
You’ll keep saying, ‘Oh, we are a small church,’ and you’ll always stay that way. You will be stagnant and never grow. I don’t even know what the mission statement is for your congregation. You should try reading stuff about mid-sized churches and how they got more people and more money.
You need to evangelize more — meaning, actually tell people about Jesus. If you’re really serious about ministry and caring for the church, you should be working hard to grow it — as in get more people and more money.”
Although I listened to the person and ended up seeking help from a more supportive colleague, I still found it incredibly demoralizing and disrespectful. How would you respond to it?
If you’ve never been on the receiving end of comments like that, it may be hard to believe such criticism is real, but my small-church friends know it too well.
So, for those who have heard something like that, and even more for those who have felt like saying this to a small-church pastor, here’s my response.
Responding To Unfair Small-church Criticism
I’d love to tell every pastor that they don’t have to listen to such criticism, but it’s impossible to not let it get to you, especially when it’s from a ministry peer.
So, let’s dissect the criticism to see why it’s not worth paying attention to.
It makes so many inaccurate assumptions, including:
Assumption 1: That an outsider knows more than the pastor
The first, and maybe the biggest error made by the commenter is that he assumes he knows more about the church in question than . . . the person who’s actually pastoring it!
An outsider perspective can often be helpful, and most small-church pastors are open to it. But constructive advice must start with the realization that the pastor of the church has insights that must be considered and honored.
Assumption 2: That small churches are “less than”
“You need to stop reading stuff about small-church ministry. It’s going to turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Well, what’s wrong with that?
Healthy small churches have fueled the global growth of the body of Christ for two millennia. Small is not a problem to be fixed, so getting better at it isn’t something to be avoided.
Assumption 3: That larger churches are an ideal to strive toward
“You should try reading stuff about mid-sized churches and how they got more people and more money.”
First, if a pastor is studying pastoral ministry at all, it’s impossible not to read stuff from mid-sized and big churches. That’s where most of it comes from.
Second, why try to emulate larger churches? There is no proof that a bigger congregation equates to greater impact for the kingdom of God. None.
As I wrote in De-sizing the Church, “We need to think beyond individual congregations. Church growth happens, not when individual churches get bigger, but when Christians are increasing as a percentage of the overall population.”
And his advice to strive for getting bigger to have more people and money? Oh my. I’ll get to that soon.
Assumption 4: That small churches don’t care about evangelism
“You need to evangelize more — meaning, actually tell people about Jesus.“
Wow. Could he be more condescending? (You read that in Chandler Bing voice, didn’t you?)
The assumption that working for Jesus in smaller places means a lack of concern for evangelism is, at best, monumentally ignorant.
I’ve talked with thousands of small-church pastors over the years and I haven’t met one who isn’t passionate about reaching people for Jesus.
Assumption 5: That small churches aren’t serious about ministry
“If you’re really serious about ministry and caring for the church, you should be working hard to grow it.”
To assume that this small-church pastor wasn’t serious about ministry isn’t just ignorant and inaccurate, it’s cruel.
It may even be heresy, because you’re assuming something about another person’s motives. The Bible is clear that only God sees the heart.
Assumption 6: That more money and people are biblical goals
“— as in get more people and more money.”
This is the second mention of “more people and more money” as an ideal to strive for, and it’s straight-up idolatry.
Yes, idolatry. When a church makes a goal of anything other than God’s glory, it’s idolatry. We’re in mammon territory, now (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:9–13).
Idolatry never delivers as promised, anyway. As I noted recently in The Looming Danger of Unsustainable, Staff-Heavy Churches, bigger churches are often less financially stable than healthy small churches.
Assumption 7: That everyone feels that way
What was said to that pastor is not only incorrect and unkind, it’s not even the opinion of most pastors of mid-size and large churches. It used to be, but that attitude is changing, and fast.
Assumption 8: That small is old-school, and bigger is the future
The pastor who’s assuming that bigger is better probably thinks the strategic small-church pastor is living in the past. But that opinion is being rejected by a growing number of respected church leaders, especially among younger generations.
As I noted in De-sizing the Church, “If you’re still using phrases like ‘all healthy things grow,’ you’re behind the curve on church leadership.”
Stay The Course
I know it’s discouraging to hear criticism like this, especially when it seems to come from so many voices, but if you’re a faithful pastor of a healthy small church you have nothing to apologize for or be embarrassed about.
Keep following Jesus. Keep discipling the people. And be encouraged.
(Photo by Allan Rotgers | Flickr)
