While preparing for Sunday morning's sermon on Ephesians 4:11-16 I came across this statement in a commentary:
"The first concern of the leadership of the church should be for the filled seats, not the empty ones. When a young preacher complained to Charles Spurgeon that his own congregation was too small, Spurgeon replied, 'Well, maybe it is as large as you'd like to give account for in the day of judgment'." (MacArthur, John. The MacArthur NT Commentary: Ephesians, p. 154)
What an excellent perspective, first from John MacArthur as he reminds us that we were given as gifts to the church and therein lies our first duty; and then from C. H. Spurgeon as he reminds us that the larger the congregation, the greater the responsibility. We must break out of the "double your pleasure; double your fun" view of church growth, and get back to the Biblical view:
"Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment." (James 3:1, NASB)
"The first concern of the leadership of the church should be for the filled seats, not the empty ones. When a young preacher complained to Charles Spurgeon that his own congregation was too small, Spurgeon replied, 'Well, maybe it is as large as you'd like to give account for in the day of judgment'." (MacArthur, John. The MacArthur NT Commentary: Ephesians, p. 154)
What an excellent perspective, first from John MacArthur as he reminds us that we were given as gifts to the church and therein lies our first duty; and then from C. H. Spurgeon as he reminds us that the larger the congregation, the greater the responsibility. We must break out of the "double your pleasure; double your fun" view of church growth, and get back to the Biblical view:
"Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment." (James 3:1, NASB)
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