St. John 4: 10-14, 21-24
When I was a little boy growing up in the 1970's, I loved the show "Little House on the Prairie." Based on the true stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder during the 1870's and 1880's it depicted life on the small American frontier towns. Besides the Ingalls home one of the most recognizable buildings on the show was the Walnut Grove Church and School. After watching the show for sometime it became clear to me that the small Protestant church had a positive affect on the rugged America frontier by promoting righteousness, simplicity and hard work.
I think the Walnut Grove Church would be the winner. Though not perfect, the heights of sin and scandal seen in megachurches such as New Birth in Atlanta, Ga. were not seen. Women were expected to be pure, men were expected to be providers, children were expected to be obedient and preachers were expected to be examples. The nuclear family of one man, one woman and children was the cornerstone of the congregation and the country. Strong men who had families of their own and were farmers themselves were the pastors. Sermons were no nonsense and made no exception for sin; people had a genuine reverence for God. Proverbs 14:34 says "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." Do churches like the massive Lakewood Church in Houston, TX or World Changers Church in Atlanta, GA promote righteousness in this nation? I don’t think so. When I think of the megachurch, I think of greed, pride, scandal and immorality. Even worse is the fact that many small churches desire to one day become a megachurch and therefore manifest many or all of the same characteristics of them.
I think the difference between the Walnut Grove Church and the megachurch has to do with the membership not the size of the building. During Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan women at Jacob’s well in St. John 4:10-14, 21-24 He shows who are to populate the assembly:
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
In verses 10 and 14 He talks about the living water which gives one eternal life. We know this to mean the Holy Ghost that inhabits everyone who believes in Jesus Christ, so to be part of the body of Christ, the real church not a building, you must believe in Jesus Christ. Next in verses 21-24 the discussion of where and how to worship God comes up:
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Whether in the wilderness frontier church or in the megachurch of the city, God will only receive the worship of those who have that living water springing up on the inside of them. They are the true worshipers of God and the sad reality is that the megachurches are overwhelmingly populated by leaders and congregates that don’t know God. The message of the living waters of salvation have been replaced with the message that you can have your thirst satisfied by the things of this world. Like the disciples who tried to give Christ natural food in verse 31 of this chapter, which He rejected, today’s megachurch leaders can only offer the people that which satisfies their flesh.
The frontier churches like the Walnut Grove Church offered the frontier settlers, who came looking for the promise of a new beginning, the message that Jesus gave to the Samaritan woman in John 4:14. Many drank the waters that Christ offers to anyone freely who thirsts. Isaiah 55:1 says this:
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Whether you are part of a small church or a megachurch, you to can have those living waters also. Believe on Jesus Christ today and become part of the real church today.
