Of “Here I am! Send me,” Megachurches, and Minichurches

Many churches filled pews because there was little in their services to make unregenerate people feel legitimately uncomfortable… True success in the Lord’s eyes is faithfulness, not numbers.

The prophet Isaiah by Michaelangelo
The prophet Isaiah by Michaelangelo

Most Christians, when they respond to God’s call to service in a church or in a Christian organization, often quote this passage from Isaiah 6:8. This willingness of heart to respond unquestioningly to God’s call is very commendable. After all, the LORD’s call was a general call, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

But read on through verses 9-13. God then commissions Isaiah, “Go, and say to this people…” What did God command Isaiah to say to the people? “Let [the wicked] return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him”? (Isa 55:7) No, Isaiah must preach condemnation against Israel:

Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.

God commands his prophet, “Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed” (verses 9-10). Maybe in shock, Isaiah asks, “How long, O LORD?” must he preach this horrible sermon? And the LORD’s answer is even more horrifying:

Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

But there is a glimmer of hope in the end. There will be a remnant, a “holy seed,” “a tenth,” that will remain.

Jesus used this passage to explain to his disciples that he uses parables to reveal and hide: to reveal the kingdom of God to believers, but to hide it from unbelievers so they would not turn to God and be healed (Matt 13:10-15):

To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given (verse 11).

Ligonier Ministries also has a devotional on this passage, with a different focus. This is a condemnation of gospel-less megachurches that are focused on God’s love without God’s holy justice. At the same time, this devotional is an encouragement and comfort to small but faithful churches.

During the second half of the twentieth century, the rise of the evangelical megachurch was a big story in American religion. Of course, the mere existence of large churches was nothing new in Christian history; many ministers and churches have had a great impact numerically. So, there is nothing wrong with a large church in itself.

However, many of the evangelical megachurches during that period drove increased attendance by tailoring their worship services to unbelievers. Pastors preached sermons that often had more in common with self-help books than the gospel. Downplaying or ignoring the reality of sin altogether, many churches filled pews because there was little in their services to make unregenerate people feel legitimately uncomfortable.

No doubt, much of this approach to ministry was driven by good intentions. Nevertheless, it reflected a mindset that sees the eager reception of the church’s message by a large number of people as the measure of ministerial success. Yet before we are too hard on such churches and their efforts, let us remember that we are all tempted to evaluate our ministries similarly. The answer to this temptation is to pay attention to the prophets, who tell us that true success in the Lord’s eyes is faithfulness, not numbers.

This truth is particularly clear in today’s passage, which records how Isaiah volunteered to go to Judah and preach a message on behalf of the Lord. The prophet almost certainly did not expect to hear what God told him would be the outcome of his ministry. Instead of bringing vast numbers of Judahites to repentance, the Lord was sending Isaiah to preach so that the people’s hearts would be hardened even further (Isa. 6:8-10).

If our vision of God is not big enough, this truth will be hard for us to accept. In His sovereign purposes, the Lord has chosen to withhold His salvation from some people. One way He does this is by working through the preaching of His Word so that the reprobate choose to deny Him. This is not unjust – no sinner deserves God’s redemption (Rom. 9:1-29). While we preach the gospel and hope for all who hear it to respond in faith, the fact is that the Lord has ultimately ordained for some to reject it. When the gospel falls on deaf ears due to the offense of the gospel itself and not our offensive actions, let us not think that we are failing and change our methods. Rather, we must continue serving God faithfully no matter the outcome He brings (Matt. 24:45-51).


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