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My pastor was relating a conversation he had with an individual who listens to his radio broadcast. The topic they were discussing was the supporting of his radio ministry and what he would do with a large sum of money. My pastor told us of how he contemplated what he would do with the funds and that his first thought was to put it towards finding a larger building for us to move our fellowship in to. He said he went to the Lord in prayer over this matter and went back and forth with God about his desire to have a larger building. He said the question God kept putting on his mind was "How often would you use a larger facility?" He responded with one hour a week. God was leading him somewhere. My pastor realized that a larger building would, at the minimum, only be used for an hour a week, when there are 168 hours in a week. In other words, there would be 167 hours a week where the building would not be in use. That doesn't seem to be a good use of the funds given the lack of use the building would have. God was telling my pastor that he should put more funds toward the radio ministry. Now, it is because of the radio ministry that our fellowship is increasing in size. Therefore, finding sufficient facilities to house the increase in attendance is what is behind him stating he would use the funds for a larger facility. His radio ministry, and the website behind it, has reached all around the world, including Kenya, Pakistan and Indonesia. Most, likely nobody in these countries will ever set foot inside our fellowship.

"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost." Matthew 18: 12-14

What I believe my pastor was trying to say is that he had lost sight of the purpose of ministry for a moment. There seems to be, within the modern Body of Christ, a culture that leans towards building massive churches that house thousands of worshipers. In my opinion, this has lead to a bit of apathy when it comes to teaching and the responsibility of each believer. I don't believe my pastor is guilty of falling into this trap by any stretch of the imagination. But, his experience gives evidence of how it can happen. It is human nature to feel the burden, and responsibility, of having to take care of anybody and everybody that comes to your fellowship. This leads to those in attendance becoming dependent on the teacher for the spiritual growth and their Christian experience as well as the pastor feeling that he has to provide all of this for those in attendance. Both are incorrect. As you see from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives an illustration of a man leaving his flock in order to go and find the one sheep that wandered off. This is an example of how the Church is supposed to operate. We are not directed to keep stuffing churches to their capacity and then find a larger facility in which to house everybody. We all have the responsibility to go out into the world and find those lost sheep and tell them about the Lord. This can only happen away from the fellowship we gather at once a week. How much evangelism and discipleship can take place if you only do it one day a week? Think of what would happen if we only ate, bathed, brushed our teeth or went to work once a week. Our health and our lives would fall apart.

"What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building." 1 Corinthians 3: 5-9

If we minimize our Christian life down to the one hour we spend a week at Church we risk falling into a trap. We can easily become man followers. Our faith can be in the pastor, or the denomination, rather than in Jesus Christ. The worldview we develop becomes the same as that of our pastor. We risk diminishing our evangelism to inviting people to church. The Gospel becomes vague platitudes like "Jesus is the answer" or "You need Jesus" without the ability to explain what is we mean when we say these things. Similarly, the pastor risks becoming dependent on his flock and the size of it. The message he preaches could become one geared towards keeping the seats filled and the collection plate overflowing rather than one of growing the saints to maturity. Because a mature Christian becomes a teacher and may not become dependent on the pastor that disciples them. Many a pastor, who has become a Christian celebrity, for lack of a better word, only preach a shell of the Gospel. In my opinion, this is so they can keep their "sheep" dependent on them so they can continue to prosper from their dependency. Both the pastor and his flock suffer in this relationship. But, you see, the Church, the Body of Christ, is to go out into the world and be a witness to the world. All of us work in tandem to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some, like a pastor, may plant a seed, through a teaching given, in person, on the internet or on the radio. Believers, like myself, may water that seed. And then God makes it grow into salvation. And the process continues over and over every day, all week and every hour of that week. God indwells us, and we, in turn, make ourselves available to Him to use us as He sees fit. I hope we are available more than just one hour a week.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

We, the Body of Christ, have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling us. Because of this we are are God's building, witnesses empowered to share the Gospel to the ends of the earth. There are only so many church buildings to house Christians. But, every Christian is God's building and where ever we are in the world, He is there with us. In many countries, church buildings are outlawed and Christians are relegated to fellowship and witnessing on a limited basis, if at all. Therefore, this idea of finding larger buildings in order to house the Body, once a week, is not an idea that translates well globally. There were little to no church buildings, at least the way we envision them today, back during the infancy of the Christian church. Early Christians met whenever they could and using any place they could as a meeting place. The Apostle Paul, and many of the Apostles, went on missionary "journeys" in order to spread the Gospel. As Christians, we are all ministers of the New Covenant bringing the saving message of Jesus Christ to all those we come in contact with as we go through life. Chances are most of our opportunities to witness are not going to come on Sunday morning! They come in the midst of our daily lives at any hour of the day. There is nothing wrong with going to church, gathering with like-minded believers as you, hopefully, hear an encouraging message by your pastor. However, we take what we learn, and put it into practice the entire week. When you fill up your car, you don't stay at the gas station. You use that gas to drive your car throughout the week. The Holy Spirit is the gas that drives a Christian each day of our lives. While we may "fill up" for one hour a week, we live the Christian life outside of church during the other 167 hours of the week. Amen!