A Mustard Bush
Growth is the focus of the long season between Easter and Advent. Typically we think of that growth as “spiritual”—developing depth and maturity as followers of Jesus. And that is the actual focus for this season. But I think it's only honest to address numeric growth at this time, because anytime a church calls a new pastor there’s always a hope (or an expectation) that he or she will bring a lot of people in…
Pastor J Barrett Lee has written about this, and he has a very a very direct answer to the question— “Will our new pastor grow our church?” That answer is a simple two letter word: “No.” Lee says: “No amount of pastoral eloquence, organization, insightfulness, amicability, or charisma will take your congregation back to back to its glory days.” {Rev J Barrett Lee, Hopping Hadrian’s Wall, A Growing Church is a Dying Church, 9/4/2012}
So what can a minister do? Lee suggests a new pastor—just like the previous one—can: “push you”; “open doors”; “present you with opportunities”; and “plant seeds and water them.” That’s about it. And what does that look like? Lee says a new pastor might (these are his thoughts):
Make your board meetings longer;
Mess with your sense of familiarity;
Change the order of worship and the arrangement of the sanctuary;
Play strange new songs or, conversely; keep playing those crusty old hymns instead;
Ruin your balanced budget;
Take up your precious evenings with kooky new book studies; or
Open your church building to the ugliest and meanest freaks in town.
There are myriad things a new leader might propose. All of them intended to help the members grow as disciples, and position the church to grow in attendance. But they’re never a guarantee of anything—it’s up to the members of the congregation to take things from there.
In Matt 13:31-2 Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven (equivalent in Matthew’s gospel to “church”) to a mustard seed: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” There’s a lot in this little metaphor, but one thing which is implied by the fact that mustard is an herb and not an actual tree (like an oak) is that it dies off and must re-grow from the ground up each season. This pattern of growth, death, and re-growth is central to Jesus’ understanding of what the church is supposed to be about. A couple verses later (vs 52) Jesus says: “Every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven (church) is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
Some people wish Jesus had said, “The church is like a sequoia tree, which is planted and lives virtually unchanged for 2000 years.” But he didn’t. He said we’re like a mustard bush, which springs up, bears its seed—while offering shade, protection, and food for birds—then must reinvent itself next season. That’s what Jesus is talking about in the final of six short parables appointed for July 30—the one above, about the wise scribe (pastor) who like the steward of a legacy household is constantly adding new acquisitions to his master’s holdings—displaying the best of the new, along with the very best of antiquity.
Pastor Lee doesn’t put it this way—but Max Lucado does in his book: It’s Not about Me (2004). Church is not our Country Club, it’s the Body of Christ on earth—and it’s supposed to be about HIM. As followers of Jesus, we must always remember this. Tradition is important; the needs of our current worshippers is important; and the future is also vitally important. We need to make sure we are balancing past, present, & future—to the glory of God at all times. This is never easy—may we be focused on what Jesus wants of us. May we wisely choose the best of the present and the best of the past to prepare for our future.
Derek
