We received some gift cards for Christmas and so, the other day we went shopping at one of my least favorite places in the world – Walmart. I hate the narrow isles, the cheap stuff, the size, the labor practices, and the business practices. At the same time, I understand the attraction. Where else can you go and while your tires are being rotated, eat lunch, buy groceries, try on some clothes, and check out a new faucet for your bathroom? And the prices are pretty reasonable. Still, nothing seems quite right. You can get clothes but they always feel like imitations of what I’d really like. And the tools aren’t the same quality as those from a tool store. The groceries are cheap but you can’t get those interesting foods that I like to have on my table. And service? They’re friendly enough but don’t expect someone to know the difference in quality between two brands or be able to recommend the perfect tool for an obscure job. And certainly don't expect them to know your name. Nope. They want to get you in, load you with stuff and get you out. And they put the mom & pop stores out of business. The mom & pops really have service. They’ll even tell you where to go to buy what they don’t have but they can’t compete with Walmart’s prices or convenience.
Let me paint with a broad brush here – too broad perhaps but still helpful. I think Walmart is a metaphor for many of the mega-churches. They too are huge and flashy and seem at first to have everything you could possibly want from recovery programs to sports teams to 4 different styles of worship so you can find the one that you really identify with. Don’t expect personal service. Nobody even knows whether you’ve been there or not. And don’t expect the real thing… no self-respecting post modern would be part of a big box church, that pomo worship is just a slickly produced imitation of the real thing. The kids ministry may have all of the bells and whistles but the kids don’t end up with a community filled with surrogate grandparents and aunts and uncles. They just have one more big program thrown at them. There may be amazing musicians but don’t expect anything edgy or artsy. It doesn’t work for too many people. And they rarely admit it, it may not even be purposeful, but they really are putting the mom & pop churches out of business. As George Barna and Bill Hull observed, the mom & pops have been feeders for the mega-churches. Yeah, they try. They have small groups to try to build community. Some have begun serious outreach projects like Saddleback’s AIDS initiative and others have wrestled with social justice issues like Willow Creek raising questions about institutionalized racism within their church. Bu no matter what they do... they are still Walmarts - big box churches.
The mom & pop’s are endangered. They don’t meet the needs of our culture and they never really put enough energy into discipleship and mission. They are on the way out and it is time.
There is another kind of store though – a boutique. Let me tell you about one of my favorites. Cathedral Music in Troy, NY. Klem only sells acoustic guitars and an occassional banjo or mandolin. He has everything from beginners instruments up but he specializes in high end, small builder instruments. Don’t go there to buy an electric guitar or an effects pedal or a drum set or a trombone. He doesn’t have them. But if you want the very best acoustic guitar in your price range, a friendly place to sit and play, great customer service, and competitive prices… go see Klem.
That is what we need in churches - boutiques. We need smaller churches that offer the real thing… so real that it is scary… and expensive. There won’t be any way to sustain it without serious commitment from all of the members of that community of faith. One boutique won’t fit everyone. You may have to search a while for the right one. And even when you find it, it won’t have everything. You may have to give up some expectations. There won’t be a children’s program with 100 5th graders and a singles group for 20 somethings that has a large enough population to do serious spouse hunting. And if the niche that the boutique meets disappears, it will disappear. But while it is there… it is the real thing.
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3 comments:
Thanks Roy,
This was a great take on what is happening out there and also gives a helpful perspective to people who wonder if small or moderate size can really be viewed as successful.
While I can see your point, I think you can miss some of the advantages of a larger church. Our church is larger, but not mega by any stretch of the imagination, but I imagine that if we went to 10 times our size, that we would still have much the same family atmospher we have now. Maybe not, but I think we would. It's all a matter of what you put into it.
I have shopped at small stores where they know nothing, and large stores that are the same. I have seen just the opposite as well. It's all a matter of what you put into it.
So to label mega-churches as Wal-marts with everything you want, but nothing you need is a bit much.
There are a lot of great things that a large church can do that a smaller one never could. Many more resources make things a lot easier to get things done. Now, don't take this wrong way thugh. God can do as much with 1 as He can do with a 1000, so thats not the point. But if God can do so many amazing things with one person... how much more He can do with a 1000 or 10,000. It's all a metter of what the people want to allow him to do. Size has nothing to do with it.
Hey Stacy!
Let me say again that I was painting with a broad brush... And then a few comments. I wasn't talking only about size. I think the old style mom & pop churches (and stores) are dinosaurs that are due for extinction. And yes, regardless of the scale of a church, what the members of the community put into it defines the end result.
Size does matter. And scale makes it very easy to sidestep real discipleship. Again, small size doesn't mean that the church will take discipleship seriously. Many or most M&P churches didn't/don't. But, if a church of 1000 has 50% in small groups (which I think is pretty high for most mega churches), 500 are not involved in real discipleship. At the same time, 20 truly missional churches with 50 in each of them would probably have close to 100% involved in real discipleship training.
As for the advantages of mega-churches over boutiques, I did say that the boutique always involves giving something up. I just think that what you get in return is more than worth it.
All that said, I have attended some mega-churches that were a lot of fun and I don't doubt that most or all of them are doing some significant ministries... but if I were looking to join a church, it would be a small missional community - a boutique. And when I hear the Spirit speak about where the small church I pastor needs to go, that is the picture I see most clearly.
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