Fighting Poverty: Debunking Critical Mass

The subtitle for this article could very well be this:
Reality Challenges Popular Belief

"There was a time when the Church was very powerful - in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society"
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I love what Tony Campolo said to a Baptist bible college. He said, "I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said "shit" than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.”

The greatest danger a church community will face will be in the decision it makes to respond to the needs of it’s immediate neighborhood. The greatest mistake is to gather folks with some worldly mental goal called “reaching critical mass”.

The goal should be to get the Church out and not in. Do you hear that? Now, the quick response is we need to get folks to come to "Church". Well that statement crops the Biblical definition of the Church right down to what one would want to see and leave the whole picture out. We are the Church and it's never stated that we're to bring people to a place that we are in charge of. We are charged to go to the places of despair and to serve!

So, if you have not heard of what critical mass is - it is basically arriving at a certain number of people at your gatherings that allows a feeling of momentum and excitement to take place. It has nothing to do with the actual reason for gathering. But if you are following the ways of man then the reasoning revolves around obtaining a trophy of sorts. If you are studying the Gospel's approach to this sort of thinking then you will see that it is quite wrong and not found anywhere in Jesus' teachings or in the actions of the early Church.

So if you feel critical mass is important then let's ask this: How does critical mass get obtained? Answer: Mass marketing tied in with competitive agendas. And that was something I read in a book from 1983 by some gentlemen who marched in the Civil Rights Movement. I've sat in conferences that have discussed the ways of obtaining critical mass and it makes me sad because you would basically spend almost all of your money on advertising and marketing in the first few years of "planting". Whatever it takes to get your name out there. It is in this kind of consumerism growth strategy that says that the poor will still be there so we'll just get our numbers up first and then strike up some kind of budget and then we can say, "We do outreach to the poor" and then that'll be another way to advertise the deal because it's cool to feed the poor.

Dallas Willard puts it like this: "These public forms of our Christian devotions are the kind that Jesus pushes aside."

Mother Teresa says it like this: "We are not called to be successful. We are called to be faithful."

Here is an example: Starbuck's Coffee sells Fair-Trade Coffee. Out of the several dozen varieties of coffee that it sells they actually only sell one variety of Fair Trade. However, they can now promote the fact that they sell Fair Trade coffee through mass marketing even if it is only .05 percent of their stock. That kind of strategy has infected the Church in America. Just set aside a chunk for the needy and then we can say we do that. This is what Jesus pushes aside.

In serving God's beloved we are to extend a hand and never expect a "thank you" or even a return of any sort. To give someone some help and not get upset because they don't walk through our "church doors" the following Sunday. Somehow God says this is His way of bringing folks to Himself not to ourselves. And that's just it, isn't it. Deciding on bringing folks to Him or deciding to "artificially insemenate" a gathering into existence that seeks it's own glory and approval by saying we did it because look how many people showed up!

But hey, if that "critical mass" gets obtained you can now say God is in it because look how people are showing up. Starbuck's does it so why can't we Christians? There are actual pre-fabricated "Church plants" taking place now in America. Seriously. Churches are sending out 100 to 200 of thier people fully funded and literally landing -"ready to rock", so to speak, with no real effort of falling in love with the city that God is passionate for. I would argue loudly that that is not church planting that is monopolistic and divisive.

Truth is that real Church plants start with a few folks that are mesmerized by sacrifice and service not titles and achievements. Believing that you can only really do Kingdom stuff by reaching a benchmark number of congregants is a trap that distracts Christ-Followers from what the true purpose is. Utilizing time and money to push the name of a Church throughout a city or to feed folks who are hungry is the decision that will expose the heart of what any one of us may be doing.

The disciples were never bothered with reaching certain benchmark practices before tending to the poor and oppressed. Jesus wasn't even concerned with how many people showed up to the events that took place. Sometimes he met with thousands, sometimes with just 10 or 12 in their homes and then lots of times He preferred one on one moments that didn't end with forced decision making on becoming a Christian. That's our Sovereign Lord in control of it all.

I wonder of these things because there is just such a ridiculously funny and saddening amount of "formulaic strategy" on getting the masses to come to Church. In fact, I heard this statistic saying that people decide if they want to come back to your "Church" within the first three minutes of their first visit. That is hilarious and sad. It is hilarious because who can figure out a Church community in three minutes and it is sad because it is completely Gospel-less to try to accomodate such a thing.

Jesus didn't compel His beloved to come to Himself by using precise marketing strategies and nor did He commision the Church to get people to show up on Sunday. He showered folks with grace and mercy and healing and that is what brought folks not only to Himself but His love went to their dark corners as all the more and especially when they did not expect it or even ask for it. People flocked to Jesus because they had not known a "leader" to be like this. To be a servant to the least and to know their names, stories, wounds, and walk into their lonely worlds and shine His face upon them is the commision given to us all.

Oh yeah, I just read that 200 people were killed by four bombs in Baghdad this morning. I wonder if any of us gives a shit.

April 1, 2007
scott budzar