“Come to our church this Sunday night to hear Rex Humbard,” the announcer urged over his church’s 100,000-watt radio station. “And for special music he’s bringing with him country music star Ricky Skaggs. That’s right, folks, I said Ricky Skaggs.”
“So what?” I demanded out loud to my car radio. “We’re having the ‘Converted Crooks’ Sunday at our church, and they play the ‘saved saw’ and the ‘Spirit-filled spoons.’ ” We had to look at this with a sense of humor. My husband was the pastor of a congregation of approximately 250 people, and there was no way we could afford superstars at our church.
I can praise God for burgeoning churches, for pastors building large ministries to further the kingdom. But statistics tell us most churches in America have fewer than one hundred members. What does the pastor of a little church do when a megachurch is nearby, one that can afford radio and television programs, full-page newspaper ads, and gorgeous buildings? How do we cope with the feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, and yes, even bitterness?
When we began serving this church, we knew that fifteen miles down the road was fabulous Carpenter’s Home Church with its 10,000-seat auditorium. At first, we were in awe of the superchurch, but from seven years in its shadow, my husband and I have found several principles that help us cope:
-Understand our calling. We had to ask ourselves, “Has God called us to this place?” Since we felt he had, we rested in that and set about doing what he called us to do. That meant concentrating on the local needs. It’s easy to think, Compared with the superchurch, our church can’t do anything! and therefore not apply ourselves. With that attitude our church probably would not do anything for God.
-Realize who we’re working for. We aren’t working against the superchurch, we stress in our better moments, but with it in fulfilling the Great Commission. We both work for the Lord.
-Freely compliment the superchurch. When people ooh and aah over the superchurch or its pastor, we need to be big enough to hear the compliments without taking offense. Praying for that church’s success has a way of helping us maintain Christlike attitudes. It’s difficult to begrudge one whom we are consistently lifting up to the Lord.
-Free our people to be blessed by the superchurch. Their counseling staff, singles’ ministry, Christian school, radio station, and other ministries are superb. Our people can benefit and still help in our ministry. Yes, we accept that some people will leave our church for the superchurch. We can’t let that disillusion us, because then we become the losers. Besides, the superchurch also has turnover, and their turnover is far greater than ours. The people are all God’s sheep anyway, and if we’ve helped them and they reach heaven one day, it won’t matter where they attended church.
-Remember the superchurch pastor faces magnified stress. The more people, the more problems. We take some odd comfort in the fact that he has more staff tensions to solve, larger mortgage payments, and staggering utility bills to worry about.
-Learn from the superchurch’s successes. While many pastors have to travel hundreds of miles to visit superchurches to gain insights, we’re only a few miles away. We take advantage of this opportunity.
One Easter, our church service featured a guest concert pianist (no, it wasn’t Dino), and my husband preached a stirring Easter message. That afternoon the congregation ate dinner together, listened to musical groups from our church, and helped the children find Easter eggs. By late afternoon, everyone had left except a few families who were helping clean up.
“Want to go to Carpenter’s Home tonight and see their Easter extravaganza?” someone asked.
“Hey, sounds like fun,” someone else said.
“Let’s go together in the church van,” my husband suggested.
That night a whole row of us delighted in the magnificent presentation by the church’s 250-voice choir, fifty-piece orchestra, and cast of more than one hundred. I glanced at my husband, and his look said, “This is fabulous, and we’re a part of this body!”
As we left one of the twenty doors leading out of the massive sanctuary, one of our deacons spoke up: “I thought of a fund raiser for our ladies’ group.”
“What’s that?” we asked.
With a twinkle in his eye, he said, “Our ladies can stand in the lobby and rent binoculars.”
We laughed, but my thoughts turned back to the Christ-centered ministry we had just witnessed. I was convinced anew: We are all working for the Lord. If we follow him and keep our hearts pure, one day we will hear his words: “Well done, thou good and faithful [not famous] servant. … Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.”
-Kristy Roberts Dykes
First Assembly of God
Bartow, Florida
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