Pruning and Pinching
(On Not Becoming a Bonsai Church- Part 2)
Luke 19:11-26
Recap: What is the first secret to keeping a Bonsai tree small?
Keep the pot small.
This week I want to share with you two more secrets for keeping the Bonsai small. They are things that sound unhealthy for the tree and perhaps you would say, “Why would you possibly do that to a tree?” Well, we should ask, “Are we doing these things to our church?” and if we are… “Why would we possibly do that to our church?”
The first one is…
Pruning the roots.
That is right… cutting away some of the roots.
Annually… or bi-annually… the tree has to be removed from its pot, the dirt shaken and combed off the roots and the roots are to be cut back.
Why would you do that? Remember: the first secret… keep the pot small? Well, the small pot means the roots would have a tendency to grow to the edge of the pot and curl up. The tree would become root bound. When a plant becomes root bound, it begins to starve and die. The way to avoid becoming root bound is to cut the roots back.
Result: the tree will remain small and healthy.
How does this relate to churches? Many churches regularly go through the process of pruning the roots.
I love this picture.
How do churches prune their roots?
1. Enrollment Pruning
Many years ago… back in the 1950s… Baptist churches were very big on records. Members were given tithing envelopes and on the front they checked off boxes like… present, attending worship, bible brought, bible read, lesson studied. They also began to give out attendance banners to the class that had the highest percentage of its members present.
Some classes began to realize they had some “dead wood,” some members who did not come and those members were hurting the percentage. So, in order to increase their attendance percentage, they would remove or prune members from the roll. Some churches even performed annual pruning.
What happened to those whose names were pruned from the roles? Many got angry and quit. Others just fell by the wayside.
I like to think that we are much wiser and smarter today. But the truth is there are still many churches that still prune names.
I like what Ken Hemphill said, “Our primary goal is not to boast about the percentage of members present, but to reach the unsaved in our community and to care for those in our fellowship. We’re not caring for anyone when we prune them from our roles. We simply lose contact and opportunity for ministry. The church that goes through the annual process of root pruning will invariably remain small.”
Listen… businesses today pay thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars every day and every month to buy names.
Do you see the irony?
Churches are pruning away names
Businesses are paying for names
Names the businesses get are only potential customers.
Names on our roles are people for whom Jesus died.
2. Combining classes
Often churches combine classes because they have two small ones and the members feel better about the class when it has more faces… so they combine them.
Good idea? Yes… if you want to feel good.
But it is a TERRIBLE idea if you want to be the body of Christ on mission for God.
See, when you combine the two classes you will make one class that is now at or past the size where they will grow.
It makes the class feel more comfortable… and less likely to do anything to grow.
“Combining two classes absolves the leaders and members of reaching out to the community to grow. Combining classes is the opposite of what needs to be done for natural growth.”
Large classes hardly ever grow and small classes do not automatically grow… especially if they have been small for a while.
NEW classes grow!!! New creates excitement and vitality.
3. Do it all staff
Another way to prune the roots is if the staff is expected to do everything or if the staff does do everything.
Many times a church will cut back on staff and expect the remaining staff to pick up the slack. When you do that… you are almost always guaranteeing failure.
Either the staff will fail to be able to do it all… or the staff will do it and the church will fail to experience the growth they could if they would assume the responsibility.
The more the staff does, the less the members are expected and required to do. That means the members will fail to grow.
So you see… the second secret of keeping the bonsai tree… and the church… small is PRUNE THE ROOTS.
The next secret of the Bonsai process… keeping a tree small is…
Pinching Off New Growth
Normally, new growth represents health. You want to see that on any plant. EXCEPT A BONSAI.
The goal of Bonsai is small. Therefore…
Small is good
Growth is bad
So what do you do? You pinch off any new growth.
Since you have a small pot and the roots have been cut back… the plant can only get so much nutrients. The limited nutrients are not sufficient for the old growth and the new growth. The plant will suffer from a lack of nutrients. When you pinch off new growth, you assure that there will be sufficient nutrients for the old growth.
How do churches pinch off new growth?
Visitors and new members are like the new growth on the Bonsai. “…They are full of excitement and joy. They are oblivious to all the flaws and imperfections of their new church home. They bask in the exhilaration of their newfound community.”
If you want your church to stay small, pinch them off.
How?
1. Proving time.
Many churches pinch them off by not allowing them to become involved. They want the new people to prove themselves first… before they can be accepted as worthy of service or leadership.
Listen to this and write it down… GROWING CHURCHES LATCH ONTO NEW PEOPLE AND PLUG THEM IN RIGHT AWAY.
Now I want to tell you something that will shock you… curl you toes even. Many of the fastest growing churches… evangelical churches, churches that are bringing the most people to Jesus … do not require you to be a Christian to join their church.
Calm down. Don’t over-react. Let me explain.
It is an absolute fact that once a person comes to your church the first time… you have a window of opportunity to reach and hold onto that person. If you don’t reach them during that time, if you don’t tie some ropes around them… they will drift away.
Some churches realize that and so when those people visit or ask to join, the church immediately puts them through a new members class and gives them a gifts inventory to determine the place where they could best serve. Then they get them involved in some ministry. The more groups you can get them into, the more ways you can involve them… the beer the chances of them staying long enough to get emotionally invested and engrafted into the church.
When they are invested and involved, they will be regular attenders and you will have a hundred times as many chances to see them saved. And you will be about 10 times as likely to see them get saved.
A church that wants to grow will find ways to get visitors and new members involved as soon as possible and as many ways as possible.
Another way churches pinch off new growth is…
Dousing New Ideas
When new people come to our church they often bring new ideas of how things are done in other places and other churches.
Some may sound unorthodox. Some may even be unorthodox. But remember--- NEW IS NOT BAD, DIFFERENT is not bad, UNORTHODOX is not bad.
What is bad is pinching off the enthusiasm of new ideas. Do that a couple of times and the person will cease to offer new ideas. They will either just sink into the way things are… or they will leave.
Remember--- If God could speak to Balaam through a donkey, he can speak through new and unorthodox ideas. If he can use billions of flies or frogs to accomplish His will, he can use new ideas.
Another way churches can pinch off growth is…
Ignoring Friends and Family
When new members come they usually represent families not already in the church. That opens a whole new field of prospects.
The way we can ignore these prospects is either to
a. not ask them to share names with us
b. not equip them to share their faith with them
We must encourage them to identify those prospects and become witnesses to them.
New members and new Christians are usually enthusiastic. But that enthusiasm, unfortunately, only lasts a while. You have to “strike while the iron is hot.”
Otherwise you pinch off new growth.
So, there you have two more principles of Bonsai-ing a tree or a church…
1. Prune the roots
2. Pinch off new growth
Biblical corollary: Luke 19:11-26
I believe this scripture teaches the very things the Bonsai tree does.
There are three servants who each receive some money to be invested for the master. This is not their money, it is the master’s money and it is given with the strict understanding that they are to use it to gain more for the master. They understand they will be called to account.
In verse 19 it is made clear that the master came back to check on the progress (or faithfulness) of his servants.
The first servant says, “Sir, I have used your five talents to earn five more.
The master is very happy and commends and rewards the faithful servant.
The next servant was given two talents and has used it to earn two more.
Again the master commends and rewards the faithful servant.
The last servant received one talent and due to poor skills, fear or improper thinking has not increased it any. He has fallen into the trap of the “status quo” of just holding onto what you have and of not losing any. He is proud to report that he has not lost any.
The master is not pleased. Instead of commending the servant he is called “Wicked.” Instead of rewarding him, he is punished.
Then the master takes the one talent from the unfaithful servant and gives it to the one who has shown himself to be faithful.
Bonsai churches are like the latter servant, the unfaithful servant.
Often these are churches that have become small by split or by some bad thing in their past. Now they are scared to death of losing any more and instead of doing the things it takes to grow, instead of taking risks, instead of looking outward and upward… they turn their eyes and their attention inward.
They become more interested in holding onto what they have than about getting more.
Actually they do things designed to hold onto the status quo and just hope for increase.
Faithful growing churches understand that growth takes risk. They understand they can’t hide their talent in the sand. The realize that what they have is a gift from God and is to be used to serve him, not to maintain the status quo.
I believe there is a strong truth in the warning in verses 28 through 30.
God is not pleased with a church that does not grow.
God is not pleased with a church that has received blessings from Him… his trust place in our hands… and does not use them wisely.
God is not pleased with a church or servant who works from fear, maintaining and self-preservation.
God is not pleased when He places gifts in our laps and we squander them, don’t use them and don’t make the most of them.
And I don’t think the excuse matters at all.
God is not looking for excuses… He is looking for faithfulness.
Holding on, not losing IS NOT FAITHFULNESS
Faithfulness is determined by results.
That does not mean God is never pleased with small churches.
He gave the same commendation to the servant who received two and earned two as to the one who received 5 and earned 5.
Some churches are not as blessed with prospects, resources, leaders or opportunities. But they use what God gives them to serve him.
Do not miss the warning… those who are not faithful WILL NOT BE BLESSED. GOD WILL NOT GIVE THEM MORE.
FACT: There is no use asking God to give you more chances, more visitors, more money, more leaders or more anything else if you are not being faithful with what God has already given you.
God is sort of a divine Robin Hood.. He takes from the unfaithful to give to the faithful.
He will take those visitors, those leaders and those other blessings away from you and give them to a servant/church that is being faithful.
Am I saying God is taking them from us and that is why we are not growing?
NO. But I am saying we should consider that possibility.
I have no scripture to back this statement up but I believe it is true.
I don’t believe God would ever have a Bonsai tree.
A Bonsai tree represents everything that God hates and what He specifically revealed His dislike for… anything or any person that does not live up to its potential.
Remember when he cursed the fig tree. It did not live up to its potential. In our scripture the master (God) reprimanded and punished the servant for not living up to his potential.
Though God sent his Son, Jesus, to die for us because we have not lived up to our potential (sin) and though we do not have to be punished eternally for failing… God is still never pleased or satisfied when his servants, churches or creation does not live up to its God-given potential and make the most of God-given opportunities.
So… I do not believe God would ever have a Bonsai tree.
But the question today is not would God want a Bonsai tree.
The questions for us today … two questions…
1. Am I a faithful servant of Jesus Christ… living up to the potential God has put in me and making the most of the talents, opportunities and blessings He has given to me. Is God pleased with what I have done with them?
2. Are WE, as a church. faithful in how we are serving Him, using what He has blessed us with, making the most of the opportunities he has given us. Is God pleased with what we have done and are doing with his blessings?
Are you a Bonsai Christian?
Have you refused to do the things that will cause you to grow and to reach your full potential for God?
Are we a Bonsai church… intentionally kept small by refusing to do the things, take the risks and take advantage of the God-given blessings and opportunities?
Is God pleased with you?
Is God pleased with our church?
It is pleasing to God for us to be a Bonsai Christ… a small imitation of Christ. That is what Christian means.
But it is displeasing to God for us to be a Bonsai Christian… a Christian who is not doing the things that will cause him to develop to the full potential God has put into him.
Nor is God pleased with a Bonsai church… a small imitation or those that have not lived up to their potential, those who have acted out of fear, self-preservation or maintaining.
God wants to see North Dunedin become all that it is called and gifted of God to be.
We must never be guilty of pruning our roots or pinching off new growth.
Let’s pray.
A PowerPoint Presentation is available by contacting me at randdp@peoplepc.com
