The Idolatry of BIG THINGS

In America we like BIG THINGS.

Large houses, Super Size French Fries, Big Trucks, The Super Bowl, Foot-long Subs, the list goes on and on. We’re obsessed with measuring things, and “mine has to be bigger than yours.” I’m not sure what the root of all of that is, maybe it’s pride. Maybe it’s how we validate our self-worth, or gain approval from others.

Even in American churches we like BIG THINGS. When I tell someone about the church I was a part of planting 3 years ago, the first question I inevitably get is “How big is your church?”

Maybe it’s because Mega-churches are looked at as very successful with all of the lights, huge budgets, fancy buildings, and large crowds. If the measurement of success is size, they are certainly successful. But should that be the measurement?  It shouldn't be how we do BIG church, but rather are we making disciples?

I’m sure there are mega-churches that do, and I’m by no means “anti-church” (like I said I helped plant a church 3 years ago), but the more I grow as a Christian and experience things from Large Gospel crusades with 20,000+ unreached people in India (BIG), to one-on-one interactions with a dude who used to question whether there really is a God (Small), the more I’m convinced that Bigger isn’t Better.

Let me clarify…

In the Book of Acts Chapter 2, we see the first large conversion of people into the Christian faith. Verse 41 says “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”

Three Thousand!!!

This was the Apostle Peter’s first sermon and he must have nailed it because he had a huge alter call!!! Kudos to him because I’m lucky if one person even asks for prayer when I preach!

But what is interesting after that is the subsequent conversions to accept Jesus as the Messiah, are all individual and personal:

• In Acts 8, Phillip interacts with some Samaritans, Simon the Sorcerer, and an Ethiopian Eunich.  No numbers are referenced as to how many Samaritans accept Jesus.
• Saul (Paul) has an encounter on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, which leads to his conversion:
• Cornelius in Acts 10.
• The Proconsul in Acts 13.
• Lydia and the Jailer in Acts 16.
• Dionysius and Damaris in Acts 17.
• Crispus and Apollos in Acts 18. 

Do you see aside from the initial 3,000 who were cut to the heart (Acts 2:37) all of the subsequent people who placed their faith in Jesus were small by comparison? Even the when it says people were added, Luke doesn’t give a number like in Acts 2.

Having been overseas in front of thousands of people preaching the Gospel, I’ve seen many people raise their hands as a sign of professing their faith in Jesus. I’m not saying their desire isn’t genuine, but do they truly know what they are committing to? I’m not so sure we can teach that in a 20 min Gospel message. It’s taken me years, and I am continuing to learn what the cost of following Jesus is.

Conversely, having spent hours and hours listening, talking, and teaching the individual, I'm finding when a person decides to place their faith in Jesus, they have a much better understanding of what that entails. This doesn’t mean they have to fully comprehend everything or have read the entire Bible, but rather they know enough to say they’re willing to leave everything to Follow Jesus.

It bothers me to hear a sinner’s prayer conversion. I think it’s something the western church has adopted as a tool to get the appearance of large-scale conversion. But can I challenge it on a few fronts?

• Nowhere in the Bible does this prayer exist, or is even referenced
• If the people praying this prayer have to recite the words you are telling them, do they truly understand what they’re saying in the first place?
• What is our motivation behind it?

What would the world look like if we took the approach that the early church did in Acts? Now I’m not saying leave your job, wander the desert, and face significant persecution. Rather, what if we engaged people in the natural rhythms of our lives? And not just church leaders, Pastors, and Evangelists, but EVERYONE?

If everyone just lived with eyes open to the people around us, not looking at the utility in them (what we can get from them) but as real people. People God created, loves, and values… And engaged them. Made friends with them. Loved them. Invited them to meals, events, activities, you know the things you and I are already doing every day…

I have to believe God would open doors for us to be a light to them; to share what He’s done and doing in our own lives, not to be preachy but to be a demonstration of His love.

If each of us did that, to just one person a year, the size of the church (body of Christ not a building) would double each year. Think about that!

I’m not suggesting any one person make 5,000 disciples. Just one! And to do so in the natural rhythms of your life!

I recently read a book that told of an overweight, tattooed, bearded dude named Josh Stump (pictured right) who owns a Cigar store in Nashville. This man is passionate about two things: Cigars and Jesus (not necessarily in that order).

(I know some are already judging him for selling tobacco products that lead to cancer & death) Please Stop it!

So people come into his shop and interact with him on a regular basis. He doesn’t have to be preachy but gets to know people, build relationships and in time they inevitably leads to talk about Jesus in some way.

This man is meeting people who would never step foot inside of a traditional church, and reaching them IN A CIGAR STORE. He said “they (the people he interacts with) come for relationships, community, and to talk about religion. Yet they would never go to a traditional church. And I fear that if they did go to a traditional church, they wouldn’t engage in the same depth of spiritual conversations that they do here in my shop.”

My friend, TJ even went there last week and met him, watching customers come in an engage in conversations, which inevitably led to Jesus. It was amazing! People like Josh Stump aren’t trying to do anything big, they simply meeting people in the natural rhythms of life and being intentional about interacting with them. When he does that, Jesus just sort of comes up because it’s who Josh is! He sees people as God’s creation not as customers from which he gets money.

People would say that Josh owns a Cigar store. I’m going to suggest that it’s a ministry, reaching people more effectively than many churches do, and they also happen to smoke cigars.

My friend Noah does a similar thing at his tattoo shop called Noah's Art.

Kind of tears down our preconceived ideas of what the church is supposed to look like doesn’t it?

My point is this… We don’t have to do BIG things to make a BIG difference. If we each do small things, a lot of small things, BIG things will result. But we have got to stop limiting things to “church buildings” and “Sunday mornings” and be intentional about living it all week.

Lydia, who was a first-century affluent clothing dealer and was led to faith by the Apostle Paul in Acts 16. She went on to build the Church in Philippi along with a formerly demon possessed slave girl and a Jailer. It started with three “ones” and went on to become the only healthy church Paul wrote a letter to in the Bible.

What if we all lived missionally like Josh Stump does. Just met people in the natural rhythms of life, and engaged them in a kind and friendly manner, about Jesus? Not the big crowds. Just went after the one. But we all went after a “one”....