There's no point in having mega churches

Chaplain Mike just wrote an excellent post about why he doesn't see the need for big/mega churches.

I fully agree with what he's said. But, to be fair, mega churches aren't exactly a new thing that's only occurred in today's modern society. In fact, you could probably say that the first mega church appeared almost 2000 years ago! And it didn't take months or years for the church to expand - All it took was one sermon. Overnight, the size of the early Jerusalem church exploded by 25 fold, from 120 disciples to about 3000 members!

Listen to these passages in Acts 2:

So a little bit of Christian trivia, for those who might be interested - What happened to the early Christian church, and how did it become such a split of churches and denominations as we know it today?

Well, the early Jerusalem church quickly grew in size to 5000+ members over the weeks after the Pentecost, and administration became more and more difficult. To make things easier, the church itself was 'split' into groups. These groups, however, lived as one church with one faith, one baptism, common dogmas and very closed rituals throughout the whole world for about five centuries. It was only later in 451 AD that a true split occurred, in terms of teaching and practices.

You can read more here and here.

So, do we really need mega churches? I would compare the Jerusalem church to the Catholic church today, where people are given more individual attention, but basically follow the same set of teachings. Like Chaplain Mike, I too do not see the need of having huge congregations worship together, like a multinational corporation. It becomes too commercialized for me.

I grew up in a very small church. Because it was small, it was very personal and very close knit. Everyone knew everyone, and could support each other in a very personal manner. I'm not saying that this can't happen in 'small groups' in mega churches, but is there a need? Or is it pure publicity and commercialization at work?

Perhaps the only other 'advantage' to having a mega church would be the fact where there'd be a huge pool of talents to harvest and put to use. There'd be no shortage for musicians or sound crew, no shortage of people to take charge of bible study groups. But then it also becomes a pseudo corporate ladder for the people to climb.

Having served in the worship team previously, I'd like to pose this question to my readers: Which do you think is better - A worship team that sounds great and is professional, or a worship team that's not really that good, but with team members who are sincere and committed to Christ?

We humans like to complicate things, don't we? As our thinking becomes more individualistic, so does our faith - We start to live by our own rules, and to interpret things by our own thinking.