Meet the Flocks

The other day I was reading Jeremiah 33…

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In this place, desolate and without men or animals—in all its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks…flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them, says the Lord.”

…and I started thinking about churches. God’s people have long been called sheep and human leaders of God’s people called shepherds. Jesus called his followers sheep (John 10) and when He assigned Peter to a pastoral role, He told him to “feed my sheep” (John 21). Later, Peter repeated the challenge to local elders: “be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers…being examples to the flock” and he reminds them that the Chief Shepherd (Jesus) will come again soon.

So, we have flocks of sheep—we call them churches. And the argument rages on regarding what size and kind of church is best. Should we have mega-churches, micro-churches or something in between? Maybe we should just have small organic gatherings with loosely based leadership. Video venues. Simple Church. Networked Congregations. There is no shortage of passion or opinion about what is best and what is Biblical.

I’ve either been leading or on staff at churches that literally range from about 10 people to about 10,000. I’ve had a front row seat to the good, the bad, and the ugly. You’d think I’d be cynical after 20 years of this. I’m anything but cynical. In fact, I’m very hopeful.

Big flocks are great. While some people deride the problems of mega-farms (and there is much to be fixed) the reality is that a lot of sheep are raised and fed through ranching systems that keep track and take care of each of many, many sheep. Little flocks are great, too. Small, single-shepherd flocks where every sheep is named and personally cared for by a single shepherd seems like an idyllic reality.

But to say big ranches shouldn’t exist or that little flocks are inherently irrelevant is ludicrous. I’ve heard both sides of the debate: That huge churches are corporate evil or that small house churches are inconsequential. Well, I’d like to suggest that we stop judging flocks in terms of size and start looking at flocks in light of health.

A small, healthy, reproducing flock is an excellent thing that can provide certain benefits that a huge ranch could never touch. On the other hand, a huge, healthy, reproducing flock can also be an excellent thing and as long as the system is never more important than the sheep (or the Chief Shepherd), then it can be a joy to participate in multiple layers of pastoral care and discipleship and worship and fellowship and, yes, outreach.

In other words, I’d like to stop judging our value by size or growth. Our impact is always a direct result of obedience to the Chief Shepherd who primarily cares if His under-shepherds are taking care of and equipping His sheep like He would.