That’s Saying Something

Don’t you like a good line? A good phrase? Something with a little punch?

G. K. Chesterton was famous for such things. C. S. Lewis too. Mark Twain, Will Rogers, and Yogi Berra had a flare with language and witticisms. They could all say a lot with just a few words. A reader might respond, “Wow, that’s saying something.”

This last week I heard a significant little phrase. It happened when I was visiting one of our District congregations with some fellow pastors. We spent time with the congregation’s staff and then toured many of its ministries. The Holy Spirit is doing lots of exciting work.

To learn more go to https://michigandistrict.org/event/beyond-the-breakwater-one-day-event-w-optional-two-day-feb2024/  or https://www.elevatemidland.org/beyondthebreakwater.

Here’s the phrase I heard. “You can’t out local the local congregation.”

I like that.

My reading list lately has included too many books about the decline of the local congregation. Barna and a legion of pundits inside and outside of the Church are eager to tell us what’s wrong and what’s not working in congregations. In my new position I admit that over the last year and a half I have seen decline in abundance.

But it is not everywhere. And it is not inevitable. And there is likely more to the story about the Church’s health and future than declining numbers portend.

Here is what is certain. God has established his Church through the life, death, resurrection of Jesus and gathers people both to himself and to one another in local congregations. Jesus has assured us that the gates of hell cannot withstand his work. The work of the Spirit in the New Testament resulted in, among other things, local congregations.

Just as God builds human culture through family, he builds the Church through local congregations. You may not be able to change the world, but you can work to bless your family and your local congregation.

Never think that’s nothing.

Which takes us back to the phrase. “You can’t out local the local congregation.”

Do not underestimate what the Spirit is doing and can do in your congregation. From a certain point of view, it is the epicenter of the Kingdom of God. Do not get distracted by parachurch organizations; they can only take things so far. Do not get enamored or terrified by the government; kingdoms come and go. Do not become intimidated by another congregation’s ministry; steeple envy serves no one.

Give yourself over to life, worship, and ministry in your local congregation. It is God’s vehicle of grace to the people in it and the people around it. Your congregation positions you to care for others and be cared for by them. Your congregation has a unique relationship and proximity to people that no one else does. While your congregation does not have every capability or gift, together if you can scrounge five loaves of bread and two fish who knows where Jesus will lead.

So, when you next feel like wringing your hands about what’s going on with local congregations including yours, don’t. Rather join your hands together with the hands of the others in your congregation. Join them in worship and prayer. Open them to receive blessings and strength from God. Extend them to meet the needs of others inside and outside of your fellowship. There is no telling where God will lead.

Your local congregation can do things and touch people that no one else can or will. What you do may not make the news, but it will cause rejoicing in heaven.

Repeat after me. “You can’t out local the local congregation.” That’s saying something.