Called to be Small

A Small Church Pastor in a Big Church World

Mark A Sharnick

• Publisher: Mark A Sharnick
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780578525044
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

A Small Church Pastor in a Big Church World was written from a deep personal conviction inhopes of encouraging anyone within a small church environment, especially those in ministry. It is also intended to provoke thought. The popular focus has been on church growth, at least for the last several decades. This misplaced emphasis has resulted in many ministers feeling as though they are failing in their calling. Of course, all ministers want to see their churches or ministries grow, but I believe the focus is wrong. The Word of God places the emphasis regarding ministry on the reliance on the Spirit of God and not on men’s skills or abilities.

The average church in America would be considered a small church. That has always been the case. Only approximately 2% of American churches are over 1000 in attendance even after all the emphasis on church growth. There are churches that are growing, but much of that growth is migratory growth and not growth from conversions. Many ministers in America are discouraged feeling they are all alone. This book was written to let them know that they are not alone. God never mandated that every church be a big church or even a growing church. What He requires of ministers is that they are faithful to their calling. Through similes and analogies, the reader will be reminded that God is in control of all things related to His church. They will be encouraged to survey any weakness there may be in their strategy. Once they are sure they are doing the best they could, they should rest in that fact.

Chapter One

Today’s Expectations

Something has happened to the church world in the last twenty years or so. It is what has come to be known as the “Church Growth Movement.” Perhaps this philosophy was there right along, but I was not aware of it. I came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ in 1981 at the age of twenty-one. I was brought to Christ by a couple of friends who were sincerely concerned for my eternal soul. They weren’t trying to bring me to church necessarily. They were trying to bring me to Christ. In listening to them talk and by watching their lives, I came to the realization that I was missing something very important in my life. I didn’t have the peace they had, or the joy. I didn’t have the assurance of my sins being forgiven. When I was confronted with the gospel, I knew what was missing. When I was made aware of the holy standard of God’s Righteousness and compared it to my sinful lifestyle, I came up way short. I confessed my sin to God and received His forgiveness through His Son, Jesus Christ.

I was not a number to be added to their church roster. I was a soul they felt they needed to rescue. And I was rescued.

The Lord led me to a wonderful church. They were meeting in a public-school auditorium while a new church building was going up. The church was growing. There was great excitement about being part of that fellowship. I often say that I was afraid to miss a service because I didn’t want to miss what God was doing. If I had to work and couldn’t be in church for a service, I would call my friends after work to find out how church went. It never failed, someone got saved, someone received healing, there was prayer time at the altar and folks got delivered from burdens they had been carrying, etc. I don’t know what your church background is, or what your church experiences have been, but the church I went to was exciting! There was no special lighting, no smoke machines, no professional musical performances, just people who loved God, a pastor who preached the Word of God without compromise, the whole counsel of God, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And the church was growing, in a school auditorium.

When I say church was exciting, I don’t just mean for me. I was a single young man in my early twenties. I was surrounded by my peers who were just as excited about God as I was. We were in church Sunday morning,

Sunday evening, Tuesday night for the church prayer meeting, Thursday night for Bible Study, and we hung out together on Friday and Saturday nights. We would go out for lunch or dinner together after or between services.

There were times when an evening service would go late into the night. No one wanted to leave. Even after the lights went out, and the doors were closed, people would gather in the church parking lot, just talking about what God was doing in their lives.

Young families would bring their children dressed in their pajamas. The children would fall asleep while the service went on, and they would be carried out of church, to home, and right into bed. Parents didn’t use their young children as an excuse to stay home from church. Kids literally grew up in church. A large number of those children that I watched grow up in church are now involved in some ministry or service to the Lord.

This wasn’t just happening in the church I attended. There was a hunger in the hearts of people for God. Many churches that I was familiar with were experiencing the same thing. Young people, old people, and everyone in between. Not once did I hear of a church growth seminar.

When I went to Bible college, I found a similar environment. God was moving amongst His church. Each class would begin with a student-led devotion with each student having their turn bringing the devotion. I remember several times when our classroom became church. For example, in a basic College Math class, one of my fellow students opened the class with a devotion. I don’t recall the message, but what I do remember clearly is that the Holy Spirit’s presence was overwhelming. Everyone in the classroom was moved by God’s presence. There were students kneeling at their school desks, weeping before God, surrendering their lives to Him in repentance and worship. The bell rang, and the class was over. We made our way to the daily chapel service where the service opened with worship, and the Sanctuary was filled with the presence of the Lord. Again, I do not recall who the preacher was, or what they had to say, but when the altar call was given, nearly the entire student body, and most of the college professors made their way to the altar, or as near to the altar as the crowd would allow. God was moving in the lives of His people, and we were rejoicing in His presence. The president of the college came to the platform to announce that classes would be cancelled for the remainder of the day to give us the freedom to stay before the Lord in prayer. This happened quite often in my time at Bible College

I often look back to those days with longing. Never did it cross my mind that this which we were experiencing might only be for a season. Perhaps I took for granted that this was what Christianity was, and would always be. It was this way when I first came to Christ. It was this way in the church I attended. It was this way in the churches around me. It was this way in Bible College. This is what it was to be a Christian. It could only get better.

I don’t know what the factors were. Was it just that God was blessing the faithfulness of those men and women of God who pastored, and taught, and evangelized? Did they find favor with God? Was God blessing the spiritual hunger within my peers and me? Was it simply a matter of the sovereignty of God moving in His perfect timing? Was it all the above? What was it that made our spiritual lives so fulfilling, and our church experience so rewarding? What were we doing or not doing that God was blessing? I still don’t have the answer. All I know is that something changed. Gradually, and almost undetected, there was a change.

Something was missing. There wasn’t the same excitement of being in church. People got busy with their lives. Families became absorbed with Little League, soccer games, dance recitals, and just about any kind of preoccupation. Church attendance began to dwindle. So, what do we do? Something. Anything. Enter the evolution of the Church Growth Movement.

The church got desperate. As they say, “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” I have read of the desperation in the hearts of men and women of God in times past. When there was a deep longing for the holy presence of God many books were written. For instance, the writings of A.W. Tozer such as The Knowledge of the Holy, The Pursuit of God, and The Fellowship of the Burning Heart. Or those written by Watchman Nee like A Living Sacrifice. Or E.M. Bounds’ Power Through Prayer. Or Andrew Murray’s Waiting on God; Hanna Whitall Smith’s The God of All Comfort; Smith Wigglesworth’s Faith That Prevails; Jonathan Edwards’ A Call to United Extraordinary Prayer. Compare this list to the list of the top ten church growth books. “How to...,” “Five Practices of...,” “Six steps to…” It puzzles me why when there are so many books written by men and women who saw great moves of God in years past, the church would spend time looking for something new. It reminds me of the philosophers Paul debated on Mars Hill in Athens, Greece. They “spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.” (Acts 17:21b).

In I Kings chapter 12 we read the story of Rehoboam, King of Israel. He was the son of Solomon and reigned after Solomon died. He consulted with the elders of Israel who counseled him in the best ways to gain the respect and service of the people. But Rehoboam rejected the counsel of the elders and listened to the counsel of his peers. This ultimately led to the division of the Northern and Southern kingdoms. The counsel of the elders would have conceivably led to the unity of God’s people rather than division. But Rehoboam chose the modern ways over the ways of wisdom, and he did so with tragic results.

And in all this new counsel being developed by the Church Growth Movement, the church in America continues to be in decline. It is true that there are churches that are growing. Some are growing as they adhere to the Great Commission, and souls are being added to the church as they are translated from darkness to light. Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail against His church (Matthew 16:18). But I see another trend, as well. What I refer to as the big box churches.

In the New England town where I was born there was a hardware store in the town center. It opened in 1783 just after the American Revolution. It closed in 1999 after 216 years of service to the community. You could always find what you needed at the local hardware store. The staff was always ready and willing to help with just about any project one might have, offering their years of accumulated knowledge and experience. Then a big box home improvement store moved into town. It wasn’t long before our local hardware store was forced to closed. They could not compete with the marketing strategies of the big box store.

I have seen this same trend in the church world, not only as it effects the congregation I presently pastor, but the congregations of many of my peers. I hope I do not come across as bitter, because I certainly am not. But I do wish to point out a truth which is perhaps being overlooked. There are churches boasting in their church growth, but at the expense of the loss to others. Unless church growth comes by way of conversions, it isn’t growth at all. It is merely migration.

Before coming to the church I now pastor, I was asked by two other churches to consider being their pastor. I live in New England which is notorious for having smaller churches. The first church was down to fifteen adults in their Sunday morning worship service. I asked the representative from their Church Board about their history. “Was there a time when your attendance was greater than it is now?” He informed me that their attendance had been averaging seventy-five adults on a Sunday morning. Some changes had taken place, and sixty people had left. As I spoke with the Board Member from the second church, I was informed that they were proudly a “growing church,” and they had recently doubled in size. Their current attendance was approximately 120 people. I realized by looking at a map that they were within driving distance of one another. Do the math. Sixty people leaving one church to attend another church is not church growth.

What exactly is church growth?

A neighboring pastor once asked me if I had a Sunday evening service, and what the attendance might be. He told me there were people in his church that wanted to go deeper in the things of God, but he didn’t have anything like that for them. He said that he “Aimed for the middle” because that is what most people want. His concern was growing his church.

When this attitude exists, the results are often large churches made up of church members who have no moral moorings. It is clear in the modern media. Recently there have been some high visibility Christians who were given platforms on national TV. When asked about issues that are clearly unbiblical, these people fol...

Table of contents

• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Chapter One
• Today’s Expectations
• Being Filled with the Spirit
• Being A Shepherd
• Our Responsibility
• Moving the Boundaries
• Worship in Spirit and Truth
• Leadership Everything
• Making the Man
• Repairing the Walls
• Different Vessels
• Dare to Dream Again
• Postscript
• Bibliography