I wanted to accent again Brian’s comment cause it says so much about what I think the church should look like.
Basically the thing that was so radical about Jesus is he went and hung out with sinners on their turf. I’m in full agreement with Richard and Brian in regards to physical barriers to people hearing the gospel. And my arguement would be that our churches are physical barriers. Sharing the gospel of Jesus with others should happen on their turf.
Again, I’m not saying that big churches don’t get the job done. The comments I’ve gotten have been trying to make a case for bigger churches, and I’m not here to argue that. I’m simply trying to draw our attention to a different way (and maybe better), as well as point out the problems I see with the current structures (again, not negating the good).
In that case, you are right on! You bring up a very good point that many churches seem to be focusing on the wrong things. I went to college in Colorado Springs and I think that there and Nashville are very similar in that they are a sort of “Mecca” of Christianity. High percentage of Christian population, lots of churches and other church affiliated organizations…In C-Springs I saw a lot of trying to outdo each other. Who has the coolest building, the largest attendance, the highest weekly offering, the best praise band, the most missionaries. None of these things are bad in and of themselves, but when the focus is on beating the church down the road and not on worshipping our Creator, there is a problem. In that sense, I love the idea of small, simple, churches where there is no option but to focus on God.
Sorry if I misunderstood your initial posts…I think we’re on the same page now 🙂