Jesus Had a Megachurch
September 18, 2007 by jonathanbrink
Jesus had a megachurch. It’s true.
- In Matthew 5, Jesus preaches to a crowd.
- In Matthew 13, the crowd was so large that he had to get into a boat.
- In Matthew 14, Jesus attracts and feeds a crowd of 5,000 people.
- In Mark 3, he has a boat ready because of the crowds, which he does often
- In Mark 8, Jesus attracts and feeds a crowd of 4,000 people.
- When Jesus enters Jerusalem in Matthew 21, he is greeted with a very large crowd.
Over and over again, Jesus attracted a crowd. And what do we mean when we say “megachurch”? A large crowd. I’m sure by now you realize I’m being facetious to an extent but there’s a point. What do we do when a crowd gathers?
Jesus does something really interesting when a large crowd gathers. He makes them work for it. He speaks in parables or teachings that make people leave with their head scratching. He turns up the heat and tells them like it is. It’s like he wasn’t interested in being a rock star. He wasn’t interested in their praise. He knew the mission and wasn’t really interested in attracting a crowd for his own sake. He wanted to know who was with him. Who was going to engage in God’s mission of restoration?
All of which leads to one question. Are we following Jesus’ model when we attract a crowd? I have nothing against a large crowd, by the way, but when we walk into our present day megachurches are we lured into the rock star temptation? Are we there to see the spectacle? Is the purpose ultimately about “look at me”? Or is it about finding out who is interested in the mission and creating a platform for real discipleship.
It’s funny because all of the organizational research is pointing to what Jesus did as central to a healthy organization. The more we filter the better it is. But the inverse is true. The less we filter, which we can’t do if it is about us, the worse it is. But we can’t do that unless it is not about “me”.
What say you?
There is a huge difference between preaching to a bunch of people from a hill and preaching to a bunch of people in the Superdome. One is humble, one is showy. Good blog.
http://UriahMinistries.wordpress.com
tim kurek
Good post. Usually when it mentions a large crowd in the Gospels, the narrative continues with what Jesus did to trim down the crowd. For example, the lectionary passage from last week tells us that, in light of the large crowds, Jesus proclaims that unless you hate your mother and father, you can’t be his disciple. Jesus was certainly compassionate to the crowds, but seemed more interested in challenging them to consider their allegiance to him than they are in wooing them.
A good modern example comes to mind. Greg Boyd, who is a pastor in the Twin Cities, had a sermon series last year where he told his flock that when we take up the cross, we put away the sword. His series was a challenge to political allegiances and the evangelical world’s love for conservative politics. 1/4 of his church left.
The way I see it, that was merely a good first step. If Greg Boyd keeps preaching the sorts of things Jesus did, he’ll end up with a smaller-sized church of folks fiercely loyal to Jesus.
By the way, I like the name for your blog…its also the name of my church: http://www.missio-dei.com
Mark,
Thanks for the love.
I love Greg. His books, the Myth of a Christian Nation is one of my favorites. I like a guy who is willing to put a stake in the ground.
Much love to you brother.
Letters From a Skeptic was a cool read too!
I just watched Greg’s interview with Charlie Rose and was blown away by how well Greg articulated my frustrations with how we do church in America.
Jesus did have rockstar status. In 3 years he came out of nowhere performing tens of thousands of umbelievable miracles. He didn’t do the calm stuff, he did the in-your-face stuff, like raising the dead.
People did come to him for the goods, not the message. But he never turned them away. He knew he wouldn’t reach all of them, or even the majority. But he kept them coming through his headlining activity.
Why are we so concerned when people become rabid about reaching the masses? Why aren’t we concerned that the American traditional church scene is so impotent? Why don’t we write articles and books and blogs about how First Baptist or Main Street Methodist is allowing their membership to lead a castrated Chrisitan existence or that these memberships may not even know who the real Jesus is?
Assuming the megachurch is “evil,” what does that make the traditional church?
Great post! I look forward to reading more from your pen (or keyboard
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