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Introduction:
“I like a small
church, everyone is close and nobody falls through the cracks.”
“I like a large church because nobody bothers me.”
These seem to be opposite statements, but in fact they are the
same. Large churches can lose people in the crowd. Is this problem
inevitable for large churches? If it is, maybe we should quit
converting people. After all, what is the point of bringing people
to Christ, if doing so pushes others away? Or is this a problem
with modern approaches to keeping up with people? To answer these
questions, we must first understand the problem. All Christians
have needs: relational needs, spiritual needs, emotional needs,
benevolent needs, etc. When those needs are not met, even
Christians will feel lost and drift away. Before scoffing at these
as weak, keep in mind that God established His church so we could
provide for one another. This year, we have focused on the
Jerusalem church, seeing their devotion to
worship, their unity in
heart and soul, and how they handled
problems. Another key to
their success was losing no one in the crowd. In Acts
2:41, the church numbered about 3000. By Acts
4:4, the Jerusalem church had 5000 men, with wives and
widows they easily numbered over 10,000. In Acts
5:14, multitudes were constantly added. The Jerusalem
church was a large congregation. How did they keep up with so many
people? They didn’t have phones, e-mail, church directories or
record keeping software. Yet, people were not lost in the crowd.
Discussion:
I.
First, note
the ways modern churches try to keep from losing people in the
crowd.
A.
Don’t have a crowd.
Some churches pride themselves in being small. They are close
knit, but never convert anyone. After all, too many converts, and
they will lose people in the crowd.
B.
The preacher keeps up with everybody. The preacher did most of the work to get people
into the congregation. Once there, he conducts studies with them
so they will grow. If they have trouble, he counsels them. He
mediates difficulties between the brethren. He visits people in
the hospital. He does all the weddings and funerals. He calls the
people who miss. Eventually, he is swamped and cannot handle
another new member. When a new one comes along, his abilities to
minister to the membership’s needs are overextended and somebody
gets lost in the crowd.
C.
Divide up the congregation among the elders. The elders divide up the church so each one has a
cross section of the congregation. The elders now strive to do the
work the preacher was doing, but only for the people assigned to
them. However, a small group of men can only do so much before
they are also overextended. Eventually, they get to a point where
new members take time away from old ones and people get lost in
the crowd.
D.
Assigned small groups.
These seem to be the rage among churches today. The churches that
have used them have had some success, but typically only for a
while. I have yet to hear about a church that had a group system
that kept on growing to be substantially larger than three or four
hundred. There are inherent problems with most group programs in
churches of Christ. First, most church-run group programs
constantly skirt the dangerous field of the social gospel, with
churches organizing social groups. Secondly, leadership is rarely
developed for these groups. It is simply assigned. Thirdly,
assigning people to groups in order to serve one another typically
builds resentment among the membership. Let’s face it, we like
to pick our friends. And despite all the rhetoric offered about
saying we ought to be friends with all our brethren (and we
should, to the best of our abilities) there is something about
being assigned that simply doesn’t sit well with most of us.
Finally, these groups typically only expand the worker base by a
few volunteers in each group. Once they are overworked, new
members take time away from old ones and people start getting lost
in the crowd again.
II.
Jerusalem’s
two keys to losing no one in the crowd.
A.
Leadership
development.
1.
In Acts
6:1, we find one instance when the Jerusalem church
overlooked someone: the Hellenistic widows. Notice how the church
dealt with it
2.
The apostles
did not tell the congregation as a whole to do better. They did
not divide up the widows among themselves. They did not divide the
congregation up into work groups with a set number of widows in
each group. They didn’t start new churches all over Jerusalem.
Rather they assigned seven men to be in charge of this task (Acts
6:3).
3.
Consider the
number of widows there must have been. If you extrapolate from the
number of widows in our congregation, the Jerusalem church likely
had between 350 and 400 widows following the day of Pentecost. As
the multitudes added up to 15,000 members, they would have had
over 1000. No wonder these seven were placed in charge of the
task and not told simply to accomplish it.
4.
By necessary
implication we recognize what happened in this church. The
congregation was growing (Acts
6:1). This caused some of the members to be lost in the
crowd. Their needs were going unmet. The church had authority to
meet this need. So the apostles set up a group of men who would be
leaders over this work. These seven men, of necessity, would then
begin to develop others to accomplish the fulfillment of these
needs.
5.
This
demonstrates a key need we have. We have to develop leaders, who
will in turn develop more leaders and equip the members to
accomplish the work that is necessary.
B.
House to
house relationships.
1.
The other
key is that the Jerusalem saints did not just relate to one
another in the crowd. They related to one another in smaller
groups. However, there is no indication of assignment. These
Christians simply met together in one another’s homes.
Seemingly, this took place through what we might call “circles
of contact.”
2.
Allow me to
show you an example of this in action. In Acts
9:36-43, we read the story of Tabitha. When Peter arrived
in Joppa and came into the upper room, he found a group of widows
displaying the tunics and garments Tabitha had made for them.
Tabitha saw a need among a particular circle of believers and she
filled it. We have these kinds of circles all around us. We have
family circles, neighborhood circles, Bible class circles, role
circles (elders, deacons), circumstance circles (widows or young-marrieds),
age circles, similarity circles (baseball fans, enjoy sewing), job
circles (Paul and Aquilla were both tentmakers), proximity circles
(who we sit by in the congregational assembly), etc. We must not
just view these as circles of contact, but as work circles. When
we do so, who will be left out?
3.
What should
we do from house to house?
a.
First, as we
noticed with Tabitha, we should learn to meet the needs that
others have. Tabitha made tunics and garments for widows. Can any
of us do similarly? Having spent time with others, have you
learned that they need something you can provide? Then do it for
them. Seek people out to serve.
b.
Second,
notice what the early Christians did when they spent time
together. In Acts
2:46, the Christians spent time together socially. This
demonstration of hospitality did more than just meet the needs of
the saints who had come to Jerusalem from far off. It caused them
to get to know one another. It caused them to grow closer to one
another.
c.
Third, in Acts
2:47, we learn that the Christians spent time from
house-to-house praising God. For them, worship was not just about
the assembly. No doubt, they sang with one another. In Acts
12:12, the brethren prayed with one another. In Acts
20:20, the brethren studied with one another.
4.
This
demonstrates a key need in our congregation. Each of us must work
on developing “house-to-house” relationships with others,
spending time with one another and praising God with one another.
And we must allow these relationships to be flexible: new people
coming in, other groups branching off, etc.
III.
What all
this means for you as an individual member of this congregation.
A.
This means
the work of serving does not belong to others. It belongs to you. Ephesians
4:11-12 says so. Don’t wait for the church’s next
program. Don’t bemoan what the elders haven’t done. Don’t
expect somebody else to take care of a need. You do it. Then we
will be held together by that which every joint supplies (Ephesians
4:16).
B.
This means
you must not expect the preachers or elders to attend to your
needs personally. Can you imagine what would happen today if our
widows claimed they had a need and our elders or preachers said,
“We do not have time for that, assign some other men to be in
charge of that task.”? Yet, isn’t that exactly what the
apostles said in Acts
6:2-4. According to Acts
6:5, this plan found approval among all the Jerusalem
saints. Let me bring it home to something we actually deal with:
hospital visits. It is not a preacher’s job to make hospital
visits. It is a Christian’s job. And when all of us are visiting
those who are in our circles of contact, everyone will be cared
for. We must understand how the desire for the preacher to make
hospital calls is crippling growth in American churches. I have
received advice from numerous preachers. “Edwin, if you want
people to listen to you when you preach, you have to visit them in
the hospital.” If you do not listen to Bible truth because I
didn’t visit you in the hospital, I will not be the one who is
lost. But we might all be lost if we continue this pattern that is
crippling our growth. Do you realize that one person can only
handle the responsibilities of about 12 to 15 close relationships?
I could never visit the nearly 300 sick and shut-in we would have
if we converted as many people as the Jerusalem church did. And we
will never convert that many people if I have to try. Brethren, we
will lose our own souls if our desire to be personally attended by
the preacher or elders limits the number of people we can bring to
Christ. Let’s be like the Jerusalem church and all work together
on this.
C.
This means
that you must recognize you are a working part in this
congregation. According to I
Corinthians 12:14-18, we may be an eye, an ear, a hand or
a foot, but we all have to do something in this congregation. The
worst concept people have today is that the work to do within a
church is what is done on the stage in the assemblies. Romans
12:4-8 provides a representative list of differing
functions we have in the church. Only “teaching” is used in
the public worship, but even it is not limited to the assembly.
People need to be encouraged and comforted. They need to be
taught. They need prayer. The sick need to be visited. Those in
need, need help. What can you do in these situations? According to
I
Peter 4:10-11, we all have been given special abilities.
We each can do something. Whatever abilities you have are to be
used to serve others. Can you cook? Feed somebody. Can you work as
a handyman? Help somebody. Can you speak? Teach somebody. Can you
pray? Pray with somebody. You have abilities and you must use them
to serve others. Do not sit back and wait to be served. Figure out
what you can do to serve others. Then serve them.
Conclusion:
Do not let this sermon cause you to say, “Wow, that is
exactly what we need. I can’t wait until somebody gets that
started.” Right now, determine to do something this week. Meet
with one of your brethren for a Bible reading or study. Invite
some people over to sing praises to God. Invite some over to pray
for some specific needs this congregation has. Call someone who is
absent. Catch someone doing something right and honor them for it.
Seek someone out to serve this week. Cut their grass, take them a
meal, mend their clothes, clean their house, wash their car, fix
their plumbing, visit them in the hospital or nursing home, etc.
Whatever you can do for them, do it. You cannot do all of these
things this week. But do at least one of them. Determine right now
what you will do, for whom and when. Once you accomplish that,
figure out what you will do the next week. Then the next and the
next and the next, etc. When we each make this commitment, no one
will be lost in the crowd and we will grow.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
Franklin
Church of Christ
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