Drawing a crowd to church may not be the best way to start people on a path to discipleship.
In fact, it may hurt our discipleship efforts more than help them.
When a person’s first encounter with the gospel (and their second, and their one-hundredth) is as a member of a crowd they can get a twisted perception of what discipleship means. They start to think that Christianity is about being a passive observer, consumer, and judge of religious content.
When we try to make the shift from that to discipleship it can feel like the ol’ bait-and-switch.
How I Was Taught
The predominant thinking in most of the pastoral training I’ve received has gone like this:
- Do whatever is needed to attract a crowd
- Use the opportunity to preach the gospel in a compelling way
- Know that a significant percentage of the crowd won’t come back, but…
- If the crowd is big enough, the small percent who stay will be enough to grow your church
- Those who stay can be discipled
Not only is this not the best method to make disciples, it’s more likely to push people away from discipleship than bring them closer to it.
Jesus And Crowds
Leveraging a crowd to recruit a handful of converts/disciples has so many problems with it. But maybe the biggest one is this: it’s actually the opposite of what Jesus did.
Jesus didn’t start with crowds, then winnow them down to a core group. Jesus called a core group, discipled them, then turned that group loose into the world.
Sure, Jesus’ teaching drew crowds. But not because he was trying to. The evidence suggests he was trying not to.
For instance, as I wrote in The Grasshopper Myth, “The reason Jesus had to perform a miracle to feed the 5,000 was because they were in a ‘remote place’ (Mark 6:3-40) where Jesus had gone to escape the crowds.”
But if Jesus’ mission was to seek and save the lost, wouldn’t he want to draw as many people as possible? And shouldn’t that mean the bigger the crowd, the better? That’s just logical, right?
Apparently not.
Jesus seems to have considered a crowd as a hindrance to discipleship, not as a desired starting point.
Going along with the crowd has never been the Jesus way. Standing apart from the crowd? Now that sounds like Jesus.
It’s About Ministry Priorities, Not Crowd Size
This isn’t about the size of the crowd. It’s about the mentality that makes gathering any crowd of any size such a high priority.
Jesus didn’t prioritize crowds, he prioritized the people in them. That’s not the same thing.
So how have we fallen into the trap of thinking that attracting a crowd is the best introduction to discipleship?
- Habit?
- Tradition?
- Showmanship?
- Ego?
Maybe some combination of all of them, plus a few others I haven’t considered.
The Untrustworthy Crowd
Jesus knew people. And he loved them
He also knew crowds. And he didn’t trust them (John 2:23-24).
A crowd can be gathered quickly and entertained easily, but they can turn on you in a heartbeat.
Jesus’ distrust of crowds ran so deep that whenever the disciples, or even his own brothers suggested he leverage the crowd for power, he rejected their premise (John 7:1-10).
He didn’t see crowds as masses to be leveraged. He saw the individuals in them as “sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).
The crowds were more likely to make Jesus weep than rejoice.
Jesus taught crowds. But he discipled people. In small batches, not massive groups.
Because that’s how discipleship works.
Slow, Small Discipleship
We’re not called to gather crowds, we’re called to disciple people.
Discipleship is slow. And small.
It’s about narrowing your focus, not growing your brand.
Developing relationships, not entertaining a crowd.
Jesus didn’t chase crowds. He discipled a handful of people who discipled others.
And they turned the world upside-down.
(Photo by Ivan Radic | Flickr)
