The RHCC Small Groups Blog raises an interesting point: Do people at megachurches take all the resources for granted and is this a problem?
The average church in Australia has a size of about 100 in the congregation. Paradise Community Church connects with something like 8000 people in Adelaide on a weekly basis. The resources available to a church of that size are just inconceivable to a ministry of about 100 people. Do people at Paradise take it for granted? Yes. Yesterday we had the chance to hear Dr Myles Monroe for 3 sessions for only $20 and again this morning. Tonight we have a multimedia presentation on the DaVinci Code. All of this takes place in an auditorium with TV facilities, lights comfortable seats, video screens and with a crew of over 100 volunteers for each serrvice. Having come from a smaller church I can definitely say that this represents more than the wildest dreams of many pastors around the country. Many people at Paradise, not having known anything else, tend to take this for granted.
Does that lead to a negative attitude when things are not provided the way people expect, a consumer culture? In some cases it does. The thing I find about those people is that they either change that attitude or they don’t last. Our job as leaders is to encourage people to come with an attitude of service to the vision that Ashley Evans our senior pastor puts forward. If people are not willing to listen then at some point they are going to get offended by something that happens. People get hurt by people in churches all the time. If the hurt is strong enough they will leave. Of course we can love them and encourage them to live in the grace of Jesus and accept the destiny in Christ that is theirs but if they persist in their stubbornness then ultimately God’s purpose will go on without them.
I don’t think this problem is unique to megachurches. I have seen it in smaller churches as well where people get familiar with the church and then offended when things change.
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