Entrepreneurial Church: Quality VS Quantity

Michael Richards
1 Corinthians 2 (Paul's letter)
Chapter 2 primarily deals with the subject of knowledge. One of the main points of chapter 2 is the discernment between spiritual knowledge and worldly knowledge. The point Paul is trying to make is that man's knowledge is too small to “plan” out everything. This is one subject that most pastors (or any person in charge of an organization) appears to least understand.


I often hear my pastor wonder “Why is there not more people in our church?”, “What can we do to bring more people in?” The problem is that the pastor is asking the wrong question. The real question is “What kind of people are in my church?” In the last section we dealt with the issue of uncertainty.No Pastor can honestly answer why his church is the size that it is. So why bother asking. God does what He does for a reason. This section is going to be about how to lessen this problem of uncertainty.


People have what is known as subjective valuations. This basically means they like different things as a matter of choice.This means that people like different churches for different reasons. Some like churches that are loud with strobe lights and a party type of atmosphere. Others like the more intellectually stimulating church. And others like the traditional church.

The most important thing a church can have is that the people truly love gathering together to worship Christ. A pastor's goal is not numbers, this is an earthly measurement of success. The goal of a pastor is to keep the people in the church to love coming to Church and excited to see in what way God can use them. Love is a form of spiritual knowledge. To have a mind of Christ is to have a mind that focuses on love. Love of God and love of our fellow man.

If people are excited to go to church, then they are more likely to invite others. People tend to pick a church that appeals to some part of their personality. They are also more likely to have friends with similar interests who may not be Christians. However, due to their common interest, a person may talk about church with his or her friends as part of everyday conversation rather than the awkward traditional route. When a person talks about church, it will come from the heart and will be filled with excitement not just some statement that is on the back of a flash card.

In conclusion, a pastor should look more within his church than without. If there are members of the congregation who are not active in the church (as in they just come on Sunday but don't get involved) then that may mean your church is not the right one for them. It may sound harsh, but it may be true. Its something which should be considered as the pastor's first concern is spiritual matters (including the spiritual well-being of his congregation). Also, try to discover why people like your church and what areas your church can and does specialize in. Develop a loving church environment that makes your members excited to experience the word of God every Sunday, not just hear it. You can't possibly know all the reasons why your church is the way it is, but God brought those people to you for some reason. Your goal as a pastor is to find out why and use your Christ-like mind (and faith) to make your church profit.

What's Love Got to Do With It?

When you hear the word love what's the the first thought that comes to mind? Is it a romantic candle light dinner? A love for a hobby. Two people in a relationship? Family? Hippies and The Beatles' music? How about God? Does God ever come to mind when the word love is uttered or thought about? What does love and the bible have to do with me? Are we just looking for a feel good message on Valentine's Day or is there something more to love? The word of God mentions love more than 164 times. God is definitely trying to tell humanity something about love. For instance, Jesus Christ said the greatest commandment is to 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.'—(Deuteronomy 6:4,5) And here is the second one. 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.'—(Leviticus 19:18)(NIrV)
How can loving God effect me? You may ask. When you begin to surrender your heart unto the Lord you will experience a greater love. A love for not just your fellow neighbor but a love for people who've done you wrong in the past; a love for people who don't love you back. It's not an easy, feel-good love like the ones we hear playing on the radio ever so often. It's a love that builds character and shapes the environment around us; from hopeless today to hopeful tomorrow. Happy Valentine's Day; from The Love Movement!