On Not Becoming a Bonsai Church
Keep the Pot Small
Some of you are familiar with the name, Kenneth Hemphill. He was the pastor of First Baptist Church of Norfolk, Va. Ken- I’ll use his name as if I know him personally- has an unusual hobby--- he collects and grows Bonsai trees. Bonsai trees are miniature trees. He wrote this book, “The Bonsai Theory of Church Growth”, which Neal Borst shared with me. It is a tremendous book with lessons that this church MUST learn. It was divine timing Neal. I want to share some of the secrets with you. I want to begin by reading a few sentences.
Pages 13-14 “The principles that keep a tree small will also keep a church small…It is my conviction that many churches, without knowing it are doing things which virtually assure that they will remain small- a sort of bonsai church… church growth is natural and artificial measures must be taken to keep a church from growing.”
I was so amazed at the principles of the Bonsai that I went to St. Pete and bought one. Today, and next week (and maybe the next one too), I want to share with you some of the secrets of keeping a Bonsai tree small. If you will let your mind work you will see the lessons for the church.
1. Keep the Pot Small
The pot must be fitted to the tree. Actually, I should say… the tree will be fitted to the size of the pot. The size of the pot determines the size of the tree.
There is a specific relationship between the size of the root system and the size of the tree. The size of the pot determines the size of the root system… therefore the size of the pot is the most important determiner of the size of the tree.
What are some of the “pots” for the church… the facts or factors that limit the size of the church
?
There are several that could apply to various churches…
A. The Building (Physical plant)
As with the Bonsai: the container can either restrict or facilitate growth.
One of the absolute undeniable truths of church growth is… If any portion of the building is 80% filled the natural growth will be inhibited or even stopped.
B. Land
Inadequate parking will limit the size. Members will ride around and look for spaces… visitor will not.
Also, inadequate access will limit growth.
Those two do not so much apply at NDBC. But there are some that do.
C. Organization
If you have four adult classes averaging about 12 to 14 per class… your church will not grow very much. Why? Because the average size for a class is about 10. Once you exceed that size… the class will rarely grow. Yes there are some senior classes that treasure fellowship and become a small church unto their self… meeting all the members needs. Those classes are comfortable. BUT THEY DON’T GROW!!!
The statistic that has stood the test is time is that classes will grow to about 10 and then plateau.
The only way to grow the church is to expand the size of the pot…. Start new classes.
It is a terrible word… but you have to divide and conquer.
D. Leadership
The organization cannot enlarge unless the leadership pool enlarges.
A growing church REQUIRES a sufficient number of well-trained and committed leaders.
This means professional and volunteer leaders.
The majority of the time and energy of the professional leaders, or paid staff, must be spent equipping lay leaders.
ALL ministries require leaders. One leader can only do so much. The only way to expand to more ministries is to equip more ministers.
The next pot is the one I believe is most important at NDBC… and the one I want to spend my time on today…
E. VISION
The most confining pot, for most churches, and the most determining pot for all churches is Vision.
Our scripture says “Where the people have no vision they perish.”
I don’t believe perish only means die. I think it should be interpreted… “Where the people have no clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God, one that propels them forward, draws them together and directs their actions… they will lose momentum, become fractured as a body and limp along in uncertain and different directions.
Nothing will so strongly determine the success of a church as VISION!
If you want to keep a church small… and Satan does… give it a small, confining vision.
A church can have a small vision because of…
Past hurts… thinking this church has too many problems to grow
or
Community restrictions… like a white church in a community that is becoming non-white.
or
Lack… of space, land, money, leaders, leaders, etc.
>>>>>>Churches are often like farmers. Any time you ask a farmer about his crops he will tell you it is a bad year. It is too wet, too dry, too warm, to cold, too something.
Most churches are convinced they are in the hardest area to grow. Many churches are in an area close to several strong churches and feel they cannot grow there because of those churches. Others are in areas where there are no strong, growing churches and feel they cannot grow because no one can.
Have you ever heard the old saying; “Whether you think you can or can’t… you’re right.”
If you think you can’t… you can’t. You won’t try hard. You won’t stick to it. You will give up… So, you can’t.
If you think you can… you are right. If you work hard- and smart- - If you plan well and prepare—if you market well and provide a good product… especially one that no one else is offering… YOU CAN!!!
IT ALL DEPENDS ON VISION!!!
What is vision?
Perhaps the world’s foremost authority on Vision… certainly for ministry… is George Barna. In his book, “The Power of Vision,” he gives a few definitions of vision.
Foresight with insight based on hindsight
An informed bridge from the present to the future
A picture in your mind’s eye of the way things could or should
be in the future
Barna’s own definition is… “a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God to His chosen servants and is based upon accurate understanding of God, self and circumstances.
I want to use Barna’s definition as an outline for our discussion.
According to Barna’s definition, there are four elements of vision…
1. Clear image- It is a visual reality… almost palpable… so real that the visionary can clearly articulate it. It is a clear reflection of what God wants to accomplish through for His Kingdom.
Do you have a clear picture of God’s plan for this church…. for now… for the future.
Can you clearly articulate to yourself and to others that vision?
If I asked you to walk over to the window and describe to me what you see… you could talk about the trees, the grass, the parking lot, the cars… etc. You could even talk about the dirt on the cars, the clouds in the sky and many other specifics.
Do you have that type of vision about this church five years from now?
That is what vision is!
“a clear mental image of a preferable future…
2. Preferable.
The vision you have is preferable to the reality you now have… or it is not vision.
If what you see in five years is not better and improved… it is just seeing the same old thing. That is not vision… it is projection… it is worldly sight.
The scripture tells us “We walk by faith not by sight.”
That means we either have faith to have vision or we are just walking in our own strength or projecting the present to continue into the future.”
3. Change-
To get to that preferred future you must change the circumstances that presently exist.
If the circumstances do not change… neither will the future!
Changing the future is simply changing the present circumstances.
To create a better situation you have two choices…
1. Rely on chance and hope that what lies ahead is better than what you exists
or
2. Assert control over your circumstances, actions and direction to make a better future.
The second choice is the only good one.
Vision is NEVER about maintaining status quo… It is always about changing to a preferred situation.
NEVER – NOT ONE TIME does scripture EVER record a time when God gave anyone a vision of maintaining the status quo.
Every single time God gave anyone a vision it was a vision of change… changing the present circumstances in order to change the future.
Vision learns from the past but NEVER focuses on and is never limited by the past.
I like one quote from Barna… “a ministry that aims for something other than change invites euthanasia (death).”
Not only does a vision from God involve change, but such change that it will challenge us.
“Rest assured that His vision will cause you to do things you have never done before and to exceed that barriers you assumed were impenetrable obstacles.”
“We’ve never done it that way before” may be the best sign that it is from God. Because when a church is ready to do things they have never done before… that church is ready to open itself to God’s new thing.
“a clear mental image of a preferable future imparted by God to His chosen servants and is based upon accurate understanding of God, self and circumstances.
4. Given by God
“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who labor do so in vain.”
A vision that comes from our hearts (desire) or our minds (wisdom) is not a vision… it is an exercise in futility.
God said, “I know the plans I HAVE FOR YOU….
He promised to bring those plans to pass.
He makes no promises to fulfill OUR plans.
5. Understanding- Having a vision requires understanding of…
a. GOD- Knowing what God would use you to accomplish for Him requires us to get to know Him… His ways, His will, His values and His priorities.
It is true that God’s ways and thoughts are not ours. It is difficult to know for certain what God thinks and wants.
However, we know that God is ALWAYS true to his nature.
To know his nature we look to the past. That is not to say that God does not do any new thing. HE DOES.
But by studying the past (history and scripture) we can see something of the nature of God.
In determining whether a vision is from God or from self… it is necessary to have knowledge of scriptural revelation of God’s ways.
Whatever you think is a vision from God must not deny any revelation of God’s nature.
If it does... it ain’t from God!
b. Self- You must know your abilities, your gifts, your limitations, your values and your desires before you can accurately arrive at a perspective on His vision for your church.
“Vision is NOT an exercise in promoting yourself, your dreams or your needs. However… It involves integrating your personal abilities and limitations within God’s plan to accomplish what needs to be done and how it can be accomplished through His chosen people.”
c. Circumstances- “Dreams shun reality—vision builds upon it.”
God is not limited by time, space, abilities, resources or any other constraint.
If He wants to… God can use any person/group to do or accomplish anything.
HOWEVER… It is the way of God that He NORMALLY is sensitive to the operational environment to which he has called you.”
In other words… God usually gives you a call and a vision that is consistent with who and where you are.
He is the God of consistency and order. “The same yesterday, today and tomorrow.” Scriptures reveals that God normally worked within the abilities and talents of persons he called.
He usually prepared them before calling them. Then he used the gifts and talents they had to work within the circumstances where they were.
Take Moses for example. The Israelites cried out to God for salvation. God had a vision for Israel…a PREFERABLE vision… a vision that was better than their present condition. In order to bring that preferred future to pass… God had to change the circumstances. He did not change Israel’s immediate circumstances.. they remained slaves. BUT HE CHANGED MOSES CIRCUMSTANCES.
God could not call Moses to lead his people while he was in Pharoah’s court. Moses did not know… understand… identify with or care for them then. He was an Egyptian in his mind and heart… and he had no leadership experience.
God had to change that… so he sent Moses into the wilderness for 40 years. There he learned to be a shepherd and to love God and to love God’s people. He became one of them and could identify with them. He was no longer an Egyptian… he was an Israelite.
By changing the present circumstances… God was able to bring about the preferred future He had in mind.
So there we have the first and most important secret of keeping a Bonsai tree small or of becoming a Bonsai church… KEEP THE POT SMALL.
This tree is small. But if I take it out of this pot and place it in this pot… what will happen?
The roots will expand and the tree will grow.
This tree has the potential to be up to 4 times its size.
The way to keep it small is to keep it in a small pot.
A small vision… or no vision… is the surest and quickest way to death.
Our church is about to enter one of the most exciting and fascinating times imaginable… The time of DREAMING… of Visioning.
We are going to seek out God and seek to know and understand
Who we are
What we are here for
Who we are called to reach
How we are to go about it
God is going to show us a clear and beautiful picture of a future that is so much better and so much different that our present that it will challenge us, unite us, empower us and guide us.
I look forward to going through the process with you.
What I ask you to do…
1. PRAY big time
2. Attend the meetings
3. Avoid the temptation to dream small.
Ask God for a big pot… when it comes to His vision for our church.
NDBC, 10/3/04a, Sources: “The Bonsai Theory of Church Growth” by Ken Hemphill,
