Compromising

How large is your church?

Do you worship with just a few of the faithful saints?

Would you like to have a larger number of people to assemble with than now?

One of the phenomenas that I have noticed is that the smaller the congregation, the more conservative it is in its thinking, and the larger the group is, the more modern the people are in their thinking.

By conservative, I refer to a group of saints who are students of the Scriptures, and are more noble than others in that they search the Scriptures to see if these things are so or not.

The downside to having a large group of Christians who meet at the same location is that it becomes increasingly difficult to 'know them that work among you'.

It becomes more complex in that the elders or leadership of the church finds it almost impossible to minister to such a large and diverse group. They do not know the spiritual needs of every household. They become so engrossed in daily administrative needs of the group that they have been forced to give up some of their spiritual leadership functions.

As a small congregation grows in number, a need arises to erect a more modern and larger facility to deal with the needs of the congregation.

A larger auditorium is needed. A larger parking area is called for.

Just these two needs, not to mention the obvious other ones, is enough to bring your attention to the one factor that cannot be ignored in growth, that of money, or finances.

When the group grows, it costs more to pay for those needs of the growing church.

Looking at a scenario: Let us assume that 30 Christians are meeting in a small building that barely meets the physical requirements of that size of group.
They become evangelistic, and have a sudden influx of new members.
They decide to build.
The cost of building far exceeds the amount collected in the laying by in store each Sunday.

At first, let us assume that the new number is increased from 30 to 50. It would not be wise to build a building to only fit the needs of 50, as it must be assumed that more growth will continue to occur.

So, they vote to build an ediface that will house 100, with sufficient land and design to accomodate future addition to the building, as needed.

The new building, designed to house 100 initially only has 50 members. The cost of the new building requires at least 75 members to pay the mortage.

Compromise:

Here is where the temptation to compromise comes into play.

Nearby congregations have shown growth by watering down their preaching, and by offering more to the youth of the community.

So, the elders meet, and they discuss what doctrine is promoted from the pulpit that is most offensive to the majority of the community in which the building is located.

At first, due to years of conservative thinking, the elders are not able to bring themselves to deny the truth of the doctrines that are offensive, but...
What they can bring themselves to do is to instruct the teachers and preachers to stop teaching on that particular matter, or topics that are hindering the rapid growth needed.

This type of compromise proves to be successful. A new generation comes on, and some of the older generation of elders pass on into eternity.
The older, more Scripturally sounded elders are gone, and the newer crop of potential elder material have been starved regarding sound doctrine.

So, the new elders are in place, and the congregation is growing too large for its present facility.

The new elders are faced with the same financial problems as their forebears, but without the same restraints to their consciences.

Rather than not preaching on the controversial issues, now they can begin to preach the false doctrines that attract even more into the fold, such as it is.
The compromise will continue to a point in time when the congregation becomes so unsound doctrinally that even the flock begins to get uneasy, and the elders will adjust, or there will be a division that occurs, and a new competing congregation will arise.

Compromise is dangerous. Compromise is not always harmful but when we know what the Bible teaches, and when our compromise goes against the will of Christ, the congregation may increase in number, but it will decrease spiritually.

For your consideration,
Joe