Big or Small or...love them all?

I hear (read?) a lot recently about optimum church size. Mega, big, small, plant, satellite, venti, grande, tall...I hear all kinds of opinions and I want to throw mine into the mix.

In a nutshell: all of the above.

I believe there are different seasons and places for each individual. The key is to realize when the "season" (AKA: God) is letting you know that it's time to re-evaluate your "place".

I grew up in mostly mini-churches (300 members?) and as an adult I have been in mostly mega churches (8000+, though I realize the point at which a church becomes "mega" is arbitrary). I can think of times in my life when I needed a megachurch to get lost in or to be served by, and times I needed a smaller "family feel" community. I have not attended a satellite, but I have attended on-campus "venues" and a micro-mini plant. I was ministered to in them all. Oh, and I love ALL sizes of coffee.

Anyhow, who says it's more "righteous" to stay at one church all your life? It's your parents church, your grandparents church…didn’t the disciples GO where they were called? Maybe this isn't exclusive to the disciples, maybe there's a lesson in it for us. Maybe we need to spread our gifts and love around (not to sound hippie), and in turn gain a broader perspective of God's community as a whole. Maybe even gain the diverse wisdom of a variety of different pastors, leaders, and teaching styles; and experience all of the many types and sizes of "community".

I know the grief I have received over expressing the possibility that when we are feeling disillusioned in our present "church", maybe that's an indicator that we are in a season of needing to serve or be fed somewhere else. But, oh, the traitor-ism of it all!

I wonder if we could all stop for a moment (or a month) once every 5 years or so and reflect/meditate on our current connection to the Body. I wonder if sometimes God will say "STAY", sometimes He'll say "GO", and sometimes He'll say "you've way overstayed your welcome" and give you the boot. Isn't it interesting that while the metaphor of the "Body" works amazingly well, that God is entirely capable of transplanting us to another part of it? A leg can become an arm; an eye can become an ear. Ya think? This could lead to a discussion (but it's not going to) of whether our "gifts" can change of if they are always the same; are they on-demand or bestowed randomly at God's bidding. I'll save that for another time.

I hope to spend some time pondering the pros/cons of the various sizes in the next week or two, and thinking more about how to see the signs that it may be time to "gitalong".

Stay tuned.