As a pastor you are often asked what is the size of your church? A question which for years made me question my leadership and the health of our church. I would find myself making excuses for the size of the congregation or follow the question up by explaining how we are going to grow in the not so distant future. Walking away wondering what is going on.
Then it hit me! We may be small in numbers, but we are mighty in our passion and desire to serve the Lord. I started looking at the church in a different light. Maybe we are small for a reason. And that reason doesn’t have to be a negative one. Maybe God, who said He would build the church and the gates of Hades couldn’t overcome it, had a special mission for our small group. That’s when my military background birthed the idea that maybe we are like the Special Forces! That’s right, the Green Beret. The Green Beret’s motto is “De Oppresso Liber,” which is Latin for “To Free the Oppressed”. WOW! Isn’t that our purpose, to free the lost world from the oppression of sin.
Now a new way to look at what the world calls a small church. Not mom and pop, but rather a tight knit group of believers on a special mission to reach the lost with limited resources and support. That’s right, we are in the trenches fighting the battle behind enemy lines and completing the mission with the resources the Commanding General in Heaven has given us.
Today I am thankful to be an officer in God’s Special Forces! I look forward to every opportunity I have to serve with such a dedicated group of Spiritual Soldiers! HOOAH!!
This is a terrific article! Great words of truth!