Don't despise the day of small things

How rough has the last two years been on the church? Here are some headlines from 2021 for you to consider.

U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time (Gallup, March 2021)

A Gallup survey indicated that membership in houses of worship (churches, synagogues, and mosques) dipped below 50% for the first time in the 80 years of tracking. In 1999 it was 70% but in 2020 it dropped to 47%.

Churches Changed During the Pandemic and Many Aren't going back (Wall Street Journal, November, 2021)

Here is a quote from that article: “In-person church attendance is roughly 30% to 50% lower than it was before the pandemic, estimates Barna Group, a research firm that studies faith in the U.S.”

About Three-in-Ten US Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated (Pewforum, December 2021)

Pew research indicates that Christians now make up 63% of Americans, but the religious “nones” (who claim no religious affiliation) comprise 29% of Americans—barely more than a 2 to 1 ratio. In 2007 that ratio was 5 to 1!

The data doesn’t look encouraging for the church in America. I would argue that those believers still attending their churches look at the empty seats and long for the glory days when they were filled. “Oh, if only we can get over these current struggles and get back to how things were!” Unfortunately, a six-ton elephant stands in the middle of the room with a sign on its back saying, “THE WORLD IS DIFFERENT NOW.”

We can gripe all we want about that, but it won’t change the fact that it’s forever different now. I don’t know if we fully understand the lasting changes that have transpired, but there will be lasting changes even as 9/11 forever changed our culture as we know it. America will never go back to how things were before 9/11, and I don’t believe we will ever return to how things were were before COVID. Feel free to be angry about that because, honestly, I don’t like that scenario either. It bothers me to even write it. I want things to go back to how they were. For that matter, I wish I didn’t have to go through TSA checkpoints at airports either. But, like it or not, I do believe we live in a new reality that’s still playing itself out.

So what does that mean for believers and the church? It means we need to refocus. We can’t stare in regret at what was and miss how God might use what is to make what will be glorious. This was the challenge the Israelites faced after they returned from exile in Babylon. Following the exile, the Israelites returned to the Promised Land and began rebuilding the temple. Zerubbabel led the people in this effort and laid the new foundation shortly after returning to the land. Many cheered and rejoiced as a result, but a group of older Jews who lived during the days of Solomon’s temple wept after the new foundation was laid. Here is what we read in Ezra 3:12, ”But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy.”

So there you have it—some rejoicing and others weeping. Some saw the possibilities and others wept over what had been. The older Israelites remembered the glory days of Solomon’s temple and all its splendor. What was before them after the exile didn’t look half as glorious. They couldn’t rejoice in the fact that even though it wasn’t as glorious as the previous temple, at least a foundation was laid, and a new temple would be built.

God had something to say about this whole situation in Zechariah 4:8-10. “8Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 10For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”

It would take Zerubbabel 20 years to finish the temple, but it was eventually completed. Herod the Great would extensively expand and upgrade the temple, resulting in one of the greatest construction projects of the first century. Josephus claimed that the doors entering the temple area stood close to 50 feet high and 25 feet wide. It would be upon the courtyard of this upgraded, expanded temple that Jesus would walk, overthrow the tables of the money changes, confront the pharisees, and preach the good news about God’s kingdom. The small foundation of Zerubbabel would ultimately be where the Son of God would announce His kingdom.

Don’t despise the day of small things!

Let’s return to the church in America today. In the 1950’s nearly 50% of Americans attended church on a Sunday morning. Prior to the COVID pandemic attendance was on a downward trajectory of about 38% of Americans. The pandemic dropped that number even more and in person attendance at church today is likely under 30% of Americans.

So what do we do? Do we look back at the glory days of past when sanctuaries were full and weep that those days are gone? Or do we rejoice that God can take what we have and make it glorious. Charles Spurgeon talked about churches and the day of small things in this way: “To me, it seems that it should be your glory to join the poorest and weakest churches of your denomination, and wherever you go, to say, ‘This little cause is not as strong as I should like it to be; but, by the grace of God, I will make it more influential. At any rate, I will throw in my weight to strengthen the weak things of Zion, and certainly I will not despise the day of small things.’ Where would have been our flourishing churches of today if our forefathers had disdained to sustain them while they were yet in their infancy?”

Practically speaking, how should we respond to the new situation the church finds itself in? This day of small things. First, we need to praise the LORD for what we do have and who He is. We read in Ezra 3:10-11, And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD…they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

The LORD is still God in 2022 and He is still good, faithful, and loving. The church is still the bride of Christ being made beautiful for her wedding day. As a result, we can praise God even in the day of small things.

The next thing we should do is trust God to accomplish His work. How is Zerubbabel going to complete the temple? God informs the prophet in Zechariah 4:6, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.”

God’s power will always accomplish God’s purposes. We can trust in Him. Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” I don’t need to groan about what was regarding the church. I can acknowledge what is and trust God for what will be. It is His church. He’s the all-powerful, mighty God and will build His church. Perhaps, the shrinking of church attendance during the rise of technological advancements was God’s way of reminding us that. Technology doesn’t build the church, God does. We have been and always will be solely dependent on the Living God to build His church. And God is ready and able to do just that.

I will not despise the day of small things. I’m going to rejoice in what God has in store for His church. God will build His church in 2022!