Jesus doesn’t want a ‘big tent’ church
Is Christianity supposed to be a “big tent”?
That sounds appealing to a lot of Christians. We want many people to be saved, right? Some believe we should do everything we can to attract as many people as we can. That involves removing barriers to the faith, including aspects of it that prospective members don’t like. Use whatever message and method it takes to fill the seats.
This mindset is shared by a variety of professing Christians, from progressives who value diversity, to seeker-friendly evangelicals who value winsomeness, to conservatives who value power and politics. It can have a variety of motivations; while some may genuinely desire the salvation of souls, others may see strength in numbers of donors, helpers, influencers, or voters. A large population makes it easier to “win.” For many Christians, it’s hard to not want a big church. Isn’t that what the Lord wants?
Well …
First, remember that “big” is relative. An individual church might be tiny, but still part of a vast worldwide church. Born-again believers may be a minority of the world’s population, but still millions upon millions, maybe billions, through the centuries. Jesus said “few” would find the way to eternal life, but Revelation reveals “a great multitude which no one could number” in heaven.
The question is, should we want size for its own sake? Should expanding the tent be our priority? Is “big” the goal that all other goals must serve? As we survey the Scriptures, we’ll see that the Lord’s answer was clearly no.
Jesus’ hard sayings
During the ministry of Jesus on earth, “great multitudes” followed Him, the gospels report many times. But not only did He not go out of His way to draw as many people as He could, but there were times when His apparent intent was to actually reduce His following.
Unlike many Christians today, Jesus never softened His words to avoid offending people. He repeatedly threatened judgment, talked about the everlasting fires of hell, warned His followers of persecution for His sake, demanded absolute devotion, and said that He would be so divisive that even families would be broken because of Him. He never held back. His hard sayings included:
“But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” (Luke 12:5)
“Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.” (Luke 12:51)
“I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3, 5)
Related: Christ the Divider: How Jesus breaks the unity of humanity
Notice that those jarring statements come in consecutive chapters in Luke’s gospel. They’re followed in chapter 14 by one of the times we’re told that “great multitudes” were following Jesus. But He turns to them and says:
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26-27)
As stunning and nonsensical as it seems to Christians today, Jesus made it harder to follow Him. It’s difficult to imagine that His teachings didn’t repel some of His hearers. In fact, that’s exactly what happened in John 6, when He preached a message so confusing and offensive (“Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life”) that most of His followers abandoned Him, leaving only the original twelve. “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” they said. Jesus’ biting reply: “Does this offend you?”
Offending His audience, which He knew He would, was the least of His concerns. Jesus didn’t want many followers; He wanted true followers. He was far more concerned with the purity of His following than the size of it.
Related: Fear. Hell. Hate. Division. The hard sayings of Jesus
His disciples continued that priority in the New Testament.
No other doctrine
One way modern Christians want to enlarge the tent of Christianity is to allow for doctrinal differences. Some even say it’s a strength for believers of various theological systems to be ecumenically united.
I would agree that there are some doctrines not worth dividing over; for example, the timing of the rapture. But when churches start messing with the gospel — saying, for example, that eternal life is merited — we have a problem. The issue depends on the degree of separation, and centrality of the doctrine.
Some professing Christians want to downplay theology altogether because it can be divisive. But that’s not what the writers of Scripture believed. Correct doctrine was extremely important to them. Take Paul’s pastoral letters to Timothy and Titus, in which he’s teaching them how to be teachers:
He urged Timothy to “charge some that they teach no other doctrine” (1 Timothy 1:3).
He wrote, “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them …” (1 Timothy 4:16).
To Titus, “speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1).
Paul did not tolerate deviations from the teachings of the faith. He repeatedly warned about those who brought different doctrines and strongly commanded separation from them:
For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted — you may well put up with it! (2 Corinthians 11:4)
Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. (Romans 16:17)
Galatians 1: 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
Accursed! Think he felt strongly about this? Which means the Lord feels strongly about this?
John, in his second letter, echoes Paul’s admonition:
9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.
According to the word of God, right doctrine not only can but must determine the recognized members of Christ’s church and whom we associate with. That will reduce the size of the tent, as well it should.
Inclusive and exclusive
One more piece of Biblical evidence to make the case that attraction is not the Lord’s priority.
When Paul was in Philippi during his second journey through Gentile lands, a demon-possessed slave girl started following him and his companions. She cried out, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” That was true, right? You’d think she was helping them spread the gospel, and that Paul would welcome her to Team Jesus.
But Paul would have none of it. Acts 16:18 says he was annoyed and cast the demon out of her. Whether it was because he didn’t want his ministry to be associated with a demon, or didn’t want the glory on them instead of Christ, he slammed shut the door of the tent.
There are those who we don’t want around us or the church, even if they preach Jesus, because their association would be a reproach to the gospel — such as prosperity and Word of Faith preachers, the New Apostolic Reformation, progressives, woke-right ethnonationalists, and heretics like Roman Catholics, Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Every time they utter the name of Jesus is blasphemy. They are not with us.
Related: When preaching Jesus is not a good thing
There were times when Jesus Himself restricted the spread of His message. He forbade demons from revealing His identity (Mark 1:34, 3:12). He told some of those He healed to keep it quiet (Mark 1:44, 5:43, 7:36). Even when Peter confessed Him as the Christ and the Son of God, He commanded His disciples to tell no one (Matthew 16:20).
Does any of this sound like the Lord is concerned with how big His church is? Christ builds His church, and it will be exactly the size He wants it to be. It’s not for us to inflate it by going beyond the teachings, standards, and methods taught and practiced in Scripture. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “The great concern of the New Testament epistles is not about the size of the church; it is about the purity of the church.”
The church has two basic philosophies of outreach to choose from:
Start with a goal, and do and say whatever is necessary to meet that goal.
Start with a message and preach only that, no matter who receives it.
The prophets, the apostles, and Jesus Himself were unanimous in practicing No. 2.
All this sounds exclusive, and it is. One of Christianity’s paradoxes is that it is both inclusive and exclusive. Christ is inclusive in that the gospel call goes out to all humanity without distinction, and all who come to Him in faith will be saved. He is exclusive in that those who come must repent of their own beliefs and trust in Him alone, which means receiving His word and nothing else.
I’ve heard it said, we don’t get to choose what to believe; we choose who to believe, and He tells us what to believe. He sets the terms, and that defines the tent.
