Why, oh why, oh why (as TV's Anne Robinson would say), do so many keen, active evangelical Christians climb into their cars every Sunday morning and drive 10, 20 or even 30 miles to what they call their home church? In the process, they usually pass by (on the other side of the road?) the meeting places of quite a number of small, struggling churches where a few valiant souls are possibly crying out for help.
I once asked a young man how many people went to the church he attended. With pride, he said: 'Over 600.' When I remarked that this was a very large number, considering the size of his town, he quickly corrected me. 'Oh, they don't all live there, many come from places around us.' I then asked him why so many travelled such a long way and he told me: 'There's nowhere else around us where the gospel is faithfully preached.' To this, I replied: 'Then why don't the elders of your church try to plant churches in these neighbouring areas, using as a basis your own members who live near those places?' After a long pause, his answer came: 'Our pastor likes a large congregation.'
Of course, there can be great advantages to large congregations but I think it is sad that many of these churches seem to have little concern about the unreached towns around them. They appear to be more caught up with the worldly craze for numbers than they are with the Scriptural injunction to 'go into all the world and preach the good news' (Mark 16.15)!
