Several years ago I noticed what looked like a small bug bite on my leg. A few days later it had become a big red spot. A few days after that I had red spots all over my body. Against my will I finally went to see a doctor about this. It turns out that I had Lymes Disease and these were textbook (they literally brought in a textbook and showed me) symptoms. Once the doc assured me that I would live he prescribed an antibiotic and ensured that if I took this antibiotic for 3 weeks I would be fine. I did and I've been fine ever since.
As many know Lymes disease is transmitted through a tick, a tiny creature the size of a tip of a needle. Once this infested tick burrows its way into your skin the disease spreads: spots, fever, potential arthritis, paralysis, and some have even died from the disease. It's fascinating to think that something so seemingly tiny can have such a big impact. I think that the Gospel or good news of Jesus is like this. It seems rather small, but when we allow it to burrow its way into our hearts it impacts our entire being and spreads throughout our community and world. Allowing the good news in us transforms individuals, churches, communities, and the world. Yet, just as I took an antibiotic that stopped the Lymes disease from spreading, I believe there are antibiotics that are inhibiting the growth in our churches, and perhaps more severe, inhibiting the growth of the gospel.
1. Division/Disunity. One antibiotic that will stop a church dead in her tracks is DIVISION. When a church is not united it essentially is accomplishing nothing. It doesn't matter how good the preaching is, the music is, or the children's ministry is, division always dwarfs growth. What makes this such a formidable antibiotic is that just about anything can cause division: the color of the carpet, style of music, where to place announcements in a service, or how to spend money. If overlooked or brushed aside these little things will lead to division in the church, which leads to the second antibiotic.
2. Lack of mission. Nothing keeps a church united more than a common mission. What is the mission of your church and do the people in your church know it? Just about every church has a mission statement and most of the time they're pretty clever and well-worded. Mission, however, isn't defined by a statement on your literature, rather its defined by the practices of your church. The mission has to be communicated clearly and constantly. When people hear it over and over they'll begin to get what the church is about. Then when it comes to decisions on carpet, money, and music, all of these decisions are evaluated against the overall mission. When there is a lack of mission no one knows what the church is trying to accomplish and the result is several competing missions, thus accomplishing nothing. When you aim for nothing you hit everything.
3. Inward Focus. If I just pay attention to the inside of my house then the outside of my house will eventually be hard on the eyes. The same is true with our churches. When a church exists solely for its own members it becomes like a country club where people simply gather to have their own private comfortable club, while the world around them suffers. The church is an organization that exists for the benefit of the non-members. We're called to GO and MAKE, not to STAY and FAKE. Nothing spreads faster than when others are talking about it. When our churches exist simply for ourselves then no one else knows about us, talks about us, or cares about us, and worse yet no one knows about, talks about, or cares about Jesus.
4. Gossip. When I first joined a church staff I naively thought that it would always be the most uplifting place to work. Everyone would always be encouraging and we would always graciously work through issues together because that's how Christians behave right? While working for a church was and is for the most part very pleasant, the truth is that the same kind of gossip that takes place in your secular office is alive and well in most churches. Gossip will wreak havoc on a church because gossip is bad news and it is at direct odds with the good news that we're called to tell. If gossip exists in your life and/or church...stop it dead in its tracks or it will stop the growth of the church and the gospel dead in it's.
5. Complacency. It is true that a church of 3,000 could be dealing with an antibiotic. All of the aforementioned issues can exist in churches of any size, but perhaps none like complacency. The danger with growth is we can fall into the trap of believing that all is well because all is big. Don't just assume that just because the church has experienced growth means we can just sit back and get comfortable because now everything will take care of itself. Even if I pastored a church of 3,000 there are still 16,000 people far from God in my own community alone. When we grow complacent and take our hands off the throttle the church loses.
There are times when antibiotics aren't a good thing. What are the antibiotics in your life and in your church? What is inhibiting the growth of the gospel? Tell the doctor "no;" Put the medicine back in the cabinet and allow an epidemic of good news to spread!
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