Small Churches Can Make a Big Difference

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STATEMENT

Churches, regardless of the size of membership or budget, are commanded by Christ to joyfully participate in the Great Commission. Smaller churches have a unique opportunity to prioritize partnerships with other like-minded churches in the work of assessing, sending, and supporting missionaries. The strength of such partnerships is that they commend the gospel and are also a source of deep joy for those sending and being sent.

I find it both encouraging and convicting that Matthew 28:18-20 doesn't come with a qualification based on the size of a church's membership or budget. The Great Commission is the joyful privilege of all churches. This is true whether it is the two or three gathered together in Jesus’ name (Matthew 18:20) or the thousands that "devote themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship and the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:42).

As a missionary, I have enjoyed partnerships with various churches for years. I get a front-row seat to the theater of faithfulness in many ways. I get to watch brothers and sisters all over the world seek to be faithful to King Jesus and His mission with the resources He has given them.

And yet, as a pastor currently planting a church with about twelve prospective members, I am tempted to think, “It sure would be nice if we could graduate from the planting phase before we need to think about work beyond our gathering.” Perhaps someday, we can support a missionary, but we are just trying to get people right now. Maybe someday we will send out a pastor or church plant, but right now, I would do anything for just another elder. Perhaps we'll be able to work the Great Commission into our budget someday, but we are just trying to make a budget right now.

Smaller churches (like mine), because of limited financial and human resources, will not be able to obey the Great Commission in the same way as a larger church. But that doesn't mean that smaller churches play any less significant role. Smaller churches have a unique opportunity to take on the strategic role of assessing, sending, and supporting missionaries.

Here are three ways that smaller churches can joyfully obey Christ and strategically participate in the Great Commission.

I. Pray Corporately

John Stott once wrote,

"I remember some years ago visiting a church incognito. I sat in the back row. . . . When we came to the pastoral prayer, it was led by a lay brother because the pastor was on holiday. So he prayed that the pastor might have a good holiday. Well, that’s fine. Pastors should have good holidays. Second, he prayed for a lady member of the church who was about to give birth to a child that she might have a safe delivery, which is fine. Third, he prayed for another lady who was sick, and then it was over. That’s all there was. It took 20 seconds. I said to myself, it’s a village church with a village God. They have no interest in the world outside. There was no thinking about the poor, the oppressed, the refugees, the places of violence, world evangelization."[1]

Sadly, I have visited more "village churches" with a "village God" prayer than I can remember. Wonderful people fill these churches and are concerned for the people close to them. And there is a sweetness to this tight familial fellowship, as many have walked together in the faith for years. And yet, as Stott notices, the fellowship of these churches seems ingrown, stagnant, or stunted from what Jesus has in mind for a local assembly of His Kingdom. This is clearly seen in the prayers of these churches, which are unintentionally confined to needs within their village walls.

Involvement in the Great Commission does not begin with a particular program or budget initiative. Participation in the Great Commission starts with prayer. The most strategic thing your church can do in obedience to the Great Commission is pray (Matthew 9:37-38). A church that labors in prayer together for the advance of the gospel in North Korea, a church that prays together for the strengthening of churches in Nigeria, and a church that prays together for the unreached of Nepal is a church that is seeking to make the most of the best God-designed missions program we have: corporate prayer. The size of our church’s membership or budget does not need to dictate the size of our church’s corporate prayers.  

A few years ago, I met a local pastor in the United States who was pastoring a church with less than twenty members. I don't know if his church gave anything financially to missions, and I am confident that they hadn't sent anyone overseas in decades (if ever). But what struck me as I met with this pastor was his prayers for churches in Ukraine. This brother had met with and kept in touch with Ukrainian pastors through their small denomination, and he would labor for these brothers in prayer. He would lead his church in praying for them on Sunday mornings. He would share stories and updates with me and ask me to pray for them when we would meet. This church may never give a significant amount of money to Great Commission work, and they will likely never send one of their own, but they played an active role in the Great Commission as they prayed together. I can't wait to hear in heaven how God answered the global prayers of this village church.

II. Partner Carefully

Throughout church history, churches of all sizes have understood the joy and necessity of partnering together to obey the Great Commission. Small churches uniquely feel the need to prioritize partnership, as their limited budgets and resources can combine for great things when pooled together with other churches. In a beautiful way, the partnership opens up opportunities to participate in the Great Commission that wouldn't exist otherwise. However, partnerships should be done carefully, and I think small churches are primed to do just that.

In Acts 16:1-5 Paul is back in Lystra, and here we get a glimpse of what careful partnership for the sake of missions can look like.

"Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

Now, admittedly, we don't know how big the churches of Lystra and Iconium were at this time. But given the context of Paul's most recent trip, his unsuccessful pleading to stop sacrifices in Acts 14:18, and his stoning in Acts 14:19, it would make sense that these churches probably didn't yet have a missions-sending pipeline set up. And yet, there is a faithful disciple there, Timothy, sent to go with Paul, strengthening churches and increasing conversions beyond their borders. At least two observations can be made of this passage that can instruct and encourage careful Great Commission partnerships.

1. Churches should partner carefully with other churches that they know and trust.
Being separated by only about 20 miles, the churches in Lystra and Iconium seem to have some level of familiarity. So much so that members in both churches could "speak well" of Timothy. They knew one another, and they knew Timothy. They could present Timothy's unified recommendation and support; the result was churches strengthened throughout the Mediterranean!

I have had the privilege of seeing a similar thing happen among house churches in East Asia. Churches that gather in the same city know one another's doctrine and ministry and know one another personally. Small churches that trust one another can joyfully send money and members to support a church plant in a different part of town. Careful partnership begins with familiarity and trust.

2. Churches should partner carefully with individuals.
I wonder how both churches in Lystra and Iconium knew about this faithful disciple, Timothy, so much that they could "speak well" of him to Paul? He may have had a chance to preach in both places. Maybe he had visited and prayed with sick people in both places. Perhaps he even evangelized people from both areas. While we have yet to learn the specifics, we can assume that the brothers and sisters in Lystra and Iconium had had opportunities to observe young Timothy and assess his fitness for ministry.

I want to encourage small churches that being small allows you to do this uniquely. Smaller churches have the same amount of Sundays as big churches, but often with fewer brothers who desire or are able to preach. Why not offer a few Sundays a year for visiting or prospective missionaries to preach? Don’t just invite missionaries to come and share their desire for overseas ministry, but ask them to minister the word to your people. If he demonstrates faithfulness at your church, how much more delighted will you be to "speak well" of him and send him around the world? Charles Spurgeon was known for encouraging young aspiring missionaries to exercise their gifts before they go.[2] But with the “Prince of Preachers” and a deep pulpit bench behind him, the Metropolitan Tabernacle was a large church with limited preaching opportunities.

We visited five churches during our family’s last trip back to the United States, and I preached at four of them. The only one I didn't preach at had was the church with the largest budget and membership. This is not to say that this larger church's partnership is less strategic. But it did strike me that these smaller churches have a far better grasp on our ministry as they have seen and heard my strengths and weaknesses as a preacher. These smaller congregations know my family and me in a way that a bigger church likely never will.[3]

III. Provide Creatively

The picture that Paul paints in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 of churches in Macedonia giving to work beyond their borders is a remarkable display of generosity and creativity. None of these churches were identical, so their obedience to the Great Commission was not uniform. And yet, their limited resources did not stifle their joy in giving to God and to Paul in creative ways:

"We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us."

Our family was stuck in the United States as the Covid-19 pandemic set in. We had returned to the US for what we thought would be about a two-month trip to finalize some paperwork and passports. But as the pandemic spread and borders remained closed, our unexpected stay in the US continued to lengthen. Eventually, we faced difficult, practical decisions: How long do we wait this thing out? Do we keep praying for rent on our apartment halfway around the world? What do we do with all our stuff? Where are we going to live for the time being? Do we rent a place or try and buy a house? If we do, how easily can we get out of a lease or mortgage when/if the borders open up?

While we had no good answers to these questions, God's provision for our family came through the unexpected creativity of a small church. I was put in touch with a small church of about 18 members through seemingly random connections. After meeting with the pastor, he joyfully said, "We don't have any money, but we do have an empty parsonage. And we have been praying about how to use it." Well, for the next two years, that parsonage was our home. While we never intended to stay in the US that long, this empty parsonage allowed our family to remain in a holding pattern until the borders reopened and we could return to the field. God loves advancing His Kingdom through the creative provision of His faithful people for the sake of God's glory in the world.

Small churches like this 18-member congregation may never be able to give a "substantial" amount of money towards the Great Commission; they may never have the joy of sending one of their own across the world for the sake of the gospel. But that does not mean that small churches are without opportunity to participate in God's work around the world. It just means their obedience to the Great Commission will look more creative.

Conclusion

The first protestant missionary to China, Robert Morrison, was once asked by a skeptic, "Mr. Morrison, do you really expect to make an impression on the idolatry of the great Chinese Empire?” While he was well-educated and well-supported, he was only one man. From a worldly perspective, this was a fool's errand. But to this question, the young Morrison humbly replied, “No sir…But I expect God will.” His response had more wisdom than he probably understood at the time. In Morrison's nearly three decades of ministry in China, he only baptized ten converts as far as we know. But those small, seemingly insignificant efforts of one man were used by God to make an enormous eternal impression on souls within the Chinese Empire.

From a human perspective, small churches seem insignificant in the Great Commission. And yet, for 2000 years, God has chosen to use the partnership of churches together for the sake of His glory among the nations. And in His perfect wisdom, this partnership of many displays the gospel in ways that any individual church can't do alone. I pray that many small churches around the world would know the strength of such partnerships as they together commend the gospel and experience deep joy in obeying the Great Commission together.

Footnotes:

[1] John Stott (Bill Turpie, ed., Ten Great Preachers, p. 117)

[2] https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/blog-entries/spurgeon-the-sending-pastor/

[3] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/small-church-sending/