Does Attracting A Crowd Make Discipleship Harder?

I used to believe that method was the best way to build a strong church. I’m finding it harder to believe with every passing day. Drawing a crowd may not just be unhelpful in discipleship, but possibly counter-productive to it. 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. That perception, once established, is almost impossible to dislodge.

March 21, 2018

by Karl Vaters

For at least a generation now, 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

I used to believe that method was the best way to build a strong church. I’m finding it harder to believe with every passing day.

Author

Karl Vaters

Karl produces resources for Helping Small Churches Thrive at KarlVaters.com.
He's the author of five books on church leadership, including his newest, De-Sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What's Next. His other books include The Grasshopper Myth and Small Church Essentials.
Karl also hosts a bi-weekly podcast,The Church Lobby: Conversations on Faith & Ministry, featuring in-depth interviews about topics that concern pastors, especially those who minister in a small church context.
Karl has served in small-church ministry for over 40 years, so he speaks and writes from decades of hands-on pastoral experience. He and his wife, Shelley have three children and two grandkids.

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