Megachurches have become fixtures on the landscape of Christianity in the United States of America and many other countries. With them have arisen both positive and negative reactions: positive in success stories of numerical growth, and negative in criticisms about how such growth is obtained and the effect of the growth upon its leaders. The latter criticism of leaders tends to be about their extreme wealth and, at times, abusive power over church members.
What is a megachurch? According to the definition based on the size of a church’s Sunday service attendance, a church with at least 2000 members qualifies to be labeled a “megachurch.” Technically, the prefix “mega” literally means million, but the term mega is generally applied to many things that are unusually large.
Does the Bible have anything to say to us about megachurches? In the upcoming Blogs, we will discover that the answer is yes. Let’s consider what the New Testament has to say and reflect on any lessons that we can learn and apply in pursuit of Church oneness for which Jesus prayed.
Megachurch Beginnings
Long before any church congregation in the United States of America became large enough to be considered a megachurch, a church in the first Century had qualified for that label. It was history’s first church congregation, formed on Pentecost 31 AD in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit baptized the initial followers of Jesus Christ.
Before that momentous event described in the second chapter of the book of Acts, the number of followers of Jesus in Jerusalem was about a hundred and twenty (Acts 1:15). After the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the number multiplied 26 times when about three thousand souls were added to them (Acts 2:41). In the days and weeks that immediately followed, hundreds of people were added so that the number came to be about five thousand (Acts 4:4).
Could a city of Jerusalem’s size support such a large religious group? The population of Jerusalem in the first century has been estimated to be above one-half million people. At the time of the war in 63 AD, the population according to Tacitus, Roman Historian, was in excess of 600,000. Josephus, Jewish historian, wrote of an even larger population, estimating that over one million died in the destruction by the Roman army in 70 AD. So, yes the population easily supported the numbers reported in the book of Acts, especially when we consider that during the major festivals, such as Passover and Pentecost, the population swelled with visitors and pilgrims from surrounding countries.
Such numbers are astonishing. How did the followers of Jesus, a core group of 12 trainees and a small contingent of others who served as assistants and supporters, manage to organize and serve such a large group of people? The simple answer is that Jesus had prepared them. Twice in the Gospel accounts, we read that Jesus fed crowds of thousands. In these accounts, we see that Jesus had the apostles organize and serve food to the hungry crowd. John 6:5-6 begins to tell how Jesus groomed them: When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. John continues, showing that Jesus led his followers to participate with him.
Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed (through his disciples) to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten (John 6:10-13).
In this short narrative, we can see principles of participative management, delegation, organization, communication, and accounting. Above all, Jesus practiced faith in God’s power and love for the people. This crowd was not unusual. In Galilee, large crowds following him were common. In Jerusalem, often he was in the Temple courts with many hundreds of people nearby. He was their main attraction. When he rode into Jerusalem on what later became known as Palm Sunday, he was thronged by a vast cheering crowd. These occasions exposed the apostles to Jesus’ techniques of reaching and teaching large numbers of people, so when the huge influx took place after Pentecost, they were ready.
In the next Blog, we will explore more about this biblical megachurch.