In our new book, Church Transfusion, Phil Helfer and I start by claiming that the true expression of Christ’s kingdom should stand out as very different from all other religions. To demonstrate the radically different nature of God’s kingdom we list 6 ways that the upside-down kingdom stands in contrast from the world’s view of what is right and unfortunately often is at odds with the Church as well. In the next few blog posts I will list those six different paradigms of the upside-down Kingdom. The first is that the way to get big is to go small.
All multiplication movements begin small. Jesus described His kingdom as starting with the smallest seed known to man at the time–the mustard seed. All reproduction occurs on the cellular level. In essence, if the cells of your body are not healthy, your body is unhealthy. It doesn’t matter if you have a killer wardrobe, a face lift, and a winning smile on the outside if the cells that make up your body are ailing.
While most pastors are considering ways to get a bigger church, the key to true success is to go smaller. In the end, if you get the small things right, global impact will eventually come. When it comes to church transfusion, you must begin by planting health in the smallest unit of church life–the disciple in relation to other disciples. If you can’t multiply at that level, you will never multiply at any larger and more complicated level.
Most pastors, missionaries and church planters are in a hurry to grow big, but mistakenly pass over the small places where the life actually starts and transforms. “Do not despise the day of small beginnings.”
