I like megachurches. I wish there were more of them.
I like Small Churches even more. I wish there were a lot more of them.
The ministry of New Small Church is less than two months old, but I’m already noticing a disturbing mini-trend that I want to opt out of. It’s the tendency in some people, when they hear that I’m for Small Churches, to start talking trash about megachurches.
“Megachurches are so shallow,” “they don’t really care as much as Small Churches,” and “their time has come” are just a few of the comments I’ve heard so far.
So, today I have a short, friendly word of caution for my Small Church friends.
Stop!
Let’s not fall into the trap of bashing someone else to try and feel better about ourselves. It’s not right. And it doesn’t even work.
Bashing others is not a way to find common ground. And if it was, the ground wouldn’t be very stable.
Loving Small Churches doesn’t mean hating megachurches.
We should be cooperating, not competing. There’s room – and a need – for everyone. A lot of people are blessed by the ministry of megachurches. That’s where they get the “mega” from, right?
You may have had a bad experience in a megachurch. And I’m truly sorry any time someone gets hurt in a church. But I can line up people from here to Corinth that have had bad experiences in Small Churches, too.
Each experience should stand on its own without bashing an entire group.
So, from now on, when you hear me say “Hi I’m Karl, and I’m a Small Church Pastor,” please know it does NOT mean “Hi I’m Karl, and I’m a Megachurch Basher.”
Count me out. I hope I can count you out, too.
So what do you think? Can we all just get along?
We want to hear from you. Yes, you!
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(Stop Being Lame photo from kvanhorn • Flickr • Creative Commons license)
