I think we face a unique problem I would call the "mid-size church crisis". There are basically a range of churches, from the small house-churches to the large megachurches. The small house churches are simple small tight-knit group where everybody knows everybody else. Expectations are not very high because half the congregation is probably related in one way or another to either the pastor or the worship team, so while other churches often pick on the boring sermon or a mistake-laden worship time, over here, its hey! all family!

The mega-churches on the other hand, are led by strong, charismatic leaders who have vast resources at their disposal. There is enough funds to employ full-time musicians, and only those who pass the audtions can play. Many hours are put into practising for the sunday worship. There are more than enough people capable and willing to take positions of responsibility within the church. There are certain policies laid out - for example, you must be part of a small group to serve in ministry, or all sunday school teachers are required to attend a certain course - and the people abide by these rules because quite frankly, if you dont want to, there are plenty of other people who are willing and interested, and we are not desperate enough to beg you to change your mind or work out some concessions. If you are not interested in attending a non-sunday activity like bible study or youth service, its fine too; there are plenty of other people who will attend and shutting down a program or ministry because of a shortage of people is virtually unheard of.

And then there are the mid-size church like our's. Where expectations are high but resources are not. Where people demand for higher standards, people in ministry demand for more rest, people demand for clearer direction of the church, youths demand for more attention, sunday school demand for more teachers and new initiatives launched sometimes sound like pleas for people to come and help make it work. The end result is either that nobody really knows what they want or we are trying to do too many things. No we're not on the brink of disaster, but somehow there is this spark that is missing.

You cant really blame pastors of mega churches for saying controversial and debatable things now and then. I mean, thats probably the whole reason why their church is so big isnt it? Sure, they get bucket-loads full of critisms, but if they went along, singing the same tune as any other church down the street, then most people wouldnt probably be very interested to go in and take a look. But because they chose to focus on a particular area, or chose to introduce radical concepts, or structure themselves differently from a "normal" church, that was what set them apart. Some things they say may not sound quite right, but they stand by it and credit to them. When you are drawing in thousands of people, you must be doing something right. The pharisees didnt understand why so many people were following Jesus. They thought he was a bit extremist. But the truth was that He was teaching something different, something radical in His time. He accepted and forgave the outcasts, people whom the religious leaders couldnt be bothered to interact with. Which leads me to think, are we doing anything wrong? Is there a something that we ought to be doing but we are not? When something does not prosper, should we cut it off or nurture it back to health?