“He continued, ‘What is a good image for God’s kingdom? What parable can I use to explain it? Consider a mustard seed. When scattered on the ground, its the smallest of all the seeds of the earth; but when its planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all vegetable plants. It produces such large branches that the birds in the sky are able to nest in its shade.” (Mark 4:30-32 CEB)
God has a mustard seed complex. For some reason he likes things smaller than we do.
My first experience in youth ministry as an adult leader was at First United Methodist Church in Mansfield, TX. I was the unofficial intern which translates to “Super Volunteer.” As a “Super V” I helped Johnny Brower when I could on Sunday and Wednesday nights, but every Sunday morning I team taught the 7th grade Sunday School class with my co-teacher, Tiffany Jordan.
The class that we taught usually averaged around 20 7th graders.
That’s bigger than some youth groups.
And that’s only one grade.
Needless to say numbers is not something that we were really concerned with.
When I went to Edge Park United Methodist Church as the Director of Student Ministries I went from teaching 20 7th graders on a sunday morning to have an entire youth ministry of 4.
It was quite humbling and honestly for quite a while I questioned whether God was calling me to this mostly because of one thing.
Numbers.
In Craig Groeschel’s book, “What’s God Really Like” there is this story shared about how we approach church from the point of view of a pastor by the name of Dino Rizzo. Here is an excerpt.
We want to do a lot of good things in our churches, but Jesus wants to do better things. We have armies of people – paid staff and volunteers – to make sure the sound system is set at the right level, the Powerpoint slides are in the right order, the musicians are ready, the greeters are at their places, and the lighting is just right. Everything is coordinated, orchestrated, choreographed, and planned for a great outcome, and that’s good. God has given us all these wonderful tools and talented people for a purpose, and I know he uses them for his glory. But what if sometimes his agenda is different from the one we have planned? What if he wants to do something really wild, unlike anything he’s ever done before?
Sometimes I feel like we are so concerned with bigger and bigger. More people every week. In fact when Rob Bell says that his first sunday at Mars Hill 1,000 people showed up we are in awe at that. I have to ask why? Because countless times God seems to make plans that are smaller, because bigger is not better sometimes.
Some of my favorite moments in ministry are at Edge Park. This is not surprising because that’s where most of my ministry has been, but its more than that. Every year on CTCYM Mission Trip we have NEVER taken more than 5 kids. The first year we took 1.
Those trips were although very intimate and revolutionary. The first mission trip at Edge Park I took one youth to senior high and one youth to junior high. At the end of those trips both of youth that went on those trips said to me,
“Now, I see a part of you Brad that I didn’t see before. I feel that I know you more.”
I might add that they were implying that this was a good thing.
Was there a massive conversion experience? No, but there was an experience that meant something.
In response to the Mustard Seed Complex maybe we should change how we view success?
How do you define a successful ministry experience?
What things have to happen for you to feel that it was a success?