

Calling pastors failures because their church isn’t growing like you think it should? That is bullying.
Using “small church” as a insulting adjective? That. Is. Bullying.
Yes, there are Small Churches that are sinful, insulated, unfriendly, unbiblical and inward-focused. And many of them don’t grow numerically because of that. I wrote about those churches in a post titled “I Don’t Like the Same Small Churches You Don’t Like.” But their problem isn’t their size, it’s their sin.
Remember, there are sinful, insulated, unfriendly, unbiblical and inward-focused big churches, too. But their size has nothing to do with their sin, either.
Yes, Big Churches Get Insulted Too—and It’s Just as Wrong
If you think I’m being oversensitive, or that I’m forgetting all the insults that are hurled at big churches, I’m not.
I actually spoke out against those who insult big churches long before I spoke out against those who insult Small Churches. It was the subject of one of my first blog posts, “Hi, I’m Karl and I’m NOT a Megachurch Basher.”
So no, Small Churches aren’t overly sensitive. And we don’t need anyone’s pity. But we need to stop accepting these insults as business-as-usual. Our silence helps no one.
Church Growth Is Not Optional
The church growth movement has brought some great blessings to the body of Christ. Their emphasis on the Great Commission is a constant reminder to be less selfish and more outward-focused.
Church growth is a good thing. An important thing. An essential thing.
People need Jesus. When they come to Jesus, they need to join a church. That means the church will grow if it is healthy. It must grow if it is to be faithful to Jesus’ commands. The church growth movement has elevated that non-optional part of the gospel.
So any church that settles for “this is all we have and all we need” isn’t just settling, they’re sinning.
But church growth doesn’t mean that every church will experience numerical increase. And it doesn’t give anyone the right to insult Small Churches for not experiencing that numerical growth.
Here’s an Alternative
I want the church to grow. I want my church to grow. Every hard-working, passionate, prayerful Small Church pastor I know wants that, too.
But constantly being told in blog posts, books and seminars that our churches are small because we’re stupid, lazy and sinful doesn’t encourage us, it discourages, sometimes disables, us. And it’s caused a lot of good, faithful pastors to give up on ministry entirely.
We know our churches are small. And we’ve tried to get bigger.
Don’t criticize us. Encourage us.
Don’t insult us. Support us.
Don’t insist we get bigger. Help us get healthy.
Let’s start with a moratorium on lists about what were doing wrong. I wrote about why this matters in a post titled “Please Stop Writing ‘Here’s Why Your Church Isn’t Growing’ Lists—They Don’t Help.” How about writing a bunch of “Let’s Encourage and Help Our Small Churches Get Strong and Healthy” articles, instead?
If you’re a church leader, there’s no way for me to describe to you how a series of articles and talks with that change of focus would bless thousands of hurting Small Churches and their leaders. You could literally save people’s ministries. I know because, even with my very limited reach, I’ve heard dozens of such testimonies back from pastors based on what I’ve written on this blog and in my book, The Grasshopper Myth.
We’re in This Together
Please don’t think we’re just asking for your help. The blessing should never flow just one way. We want to learn all we can from you. But I think you’d be surprised at what you can learn from us, too.
Small Churches and their leaders are the church’s boots-on-the-ground in communities around the world. If we worked together and combined your resources and wisdom with Small Church relationships and access, only God himself knows what could be accomplished.
But let me warn you, reaching out to Small Church pastors with a message of hope and help won’t be easy. There are a lot of broken bridges and damaged trust. The wounds are deep.
It starts by refusing to use “small church” as an insult and a term of derision. Only then will we have a fighting chance to see Small Churches as the asset and blessing that they are.