The Glocal Church

I was challenged by the CT article about Bob Roberts. His revolutionary ideas about using laypeople as missionaries globally is really intriguing. He seems to be saying the true mission of the church is to the whole man in the whole world, in a way that building houses and digging wells is a part of the total mission of the church. So "making converts" is a narrow vision. "Making disciples" implies transforming whole lives, not just changing theological beliefs. It has some deep implications I like, but will have a hard time imitating.

But the part of the article that struck me was this passage. Roberts had apparently attempted a church plant, and it was going nowhere. He found himself questioning himself and God.



"I was walking in a pasture behind my house one day. A pastor not far from me had had affairs with five women; he crashed and burned. Another guy north of me had a megachurch, but he was going to the pen for embezzlement. I told God, "God, I've got my pants on. I've got my hands out of the offering plate. You've got these guys over here doing all this stuff. Why aren't you blessing me?"

"All of a sudden this little question came to my mind: When will Jesus be enough for you? Sometimes, I think that's when I became a Christian. I just began to weep, because I realized he wasn't. I was miserable because of our attendance the day before. That's wrong. I mean, if I've got the Holy Spirit, if I've got the Word of God, why can't I be content? Why is my joy based on having to grow my church as big as Rick Warren's or Bill Hybels's?

He points out in an eloquent way what many of us understand in a way, but don't really know how to get to. "Success" isn't the point. Faithfulness is. Faith. Contentment. Trust. Obedience. That is so counter to the direction of the megachurch movement, which so often says that success (numbers) is a sure sign of being on the right path. The rest of the article is something I have to really consider carefully - how to engage a local community and tie it to a vision that is world wide. I'm part of a church plant with just a handful of families where 25 people is a good attendance day. We're planning and groping for the best way to increase our service in our communities, increase our visibility, solidify our vision.

But for now, I want to meditate on that simple truth. "I was miserable because of our attendance the day before. That's wrong....When will Jesus be enough?"