"The Grasshopper Myth" by Karl Vaters. A Review.

The Grasshopper Myth: Big Churches, Small Churches and the Small Thinking that Divides UsThe Grasshopper Myth: Big Churches, Small Churches and the Small Thinking that Divides Us by Karl Vaters
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How do you perceive your small church? Do you see it's smallness as a problem to be fixed? Or is it possible that it is small by God's own design and in his delight? Karl Vaters, Teaching Pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Fountain Valley, California, tackles these questions and many, many more in his heart-lifting 212 page paperback, "The Grasshopper Myth". The book's appellation comes from Numbers 13 when the twelve spies returned from reconnoitering the Promised Land, and ten of them recounted how tall and big everyone and everything was, and then exclaimed, "and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them” (13.33). Viola! The Grasshopper Myth!

Without being jaundiced or jaded, Vaters challenges our self-imposed expectations that gut many a minister, and asks all of the "wrong" questions. Why is small a bad thing when an overwhelming majority of our churches in the U.S.A. and the world have less than 250 congregants? Is it possible that small churches are the normal plan of God for a host of reasons? Can a small church be a great church? "The Grasshopper Myth isn't the result of being small. It comes from feeling small and believing those feelings" (51). Instead we need to recognize that "each church has its own mission and shouldn't try to duplicate the mission of another church, no matter how successful or large that other church is" (53). And further, "there is no place on earth where a Small Church won't fit" (142).

Though "The Grasshopper Myth" is ideal for church boards, elder boards, and other leadership groups, it is especially beneficial for pastors and ministers. The book looks into our pastoral hearts through (1) the lens of Vaters' own nearly-catastrophic-congregation-destroying story, (2) the grid of the church-growth programs that have been trumpeted for over four decades, and (3) the realities of Scripture and circumstances. From Vaters' own nearly congregation-destroying catastrophe, to the probing analysis of church-growth attitudes, to the very pointed chapters to pastors, the author brings a breath of fresh air and buoyancy for sinking ministers! In fact his chapter on "Stages In the Emotional Life of the Small Church Pastor" was spot on. I saw myself clearly in those pages, remembering well the disillusionment and high dudgeon during a particular season of my ministry.

If your pastor is downhearted and defeated, hand him a copy quick, and offer to meet for the next three weeks over a cup of coffee or tea to discuss the book (there is even a discussion guide in the back to help you do this). If you're a minister and about to quit, seeing the black clouds of Mordor looming over your ministry, and disgusted with where God has you, then get "The Grasshopper Myth" yesterday and pour over it today! This handy manual would also be valuable for a pastors' retreat or a book discussion in a ministerial alliance. So, if you can't tell, let me simply say it clearly: I recommend this book with all the verve I can muster!

My thanks to Karl Vaters for sending the copy of the book used for this review. The recommendation and reflections are mine, all mine! No one put me up to them, and they are freely and happily given.

Snag a copy of the book here: The Grasshopper Myth

Karl Vaters wrote a second book taking this subject further: "Small Church Essentials". You can read my review of that book here.

View all my reviews

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“The Shift” - 2023 Movie. A Review

Image
  What do you get when you cross a dark dystopian storyline with sci-fi, alternative dimensions, theological and philosophical questions, and the biblical book of Job? You get The Shift , written and directed by Brock Heasley, produced by Ken Carpenter, and distributed by Angel Studios. This roughly one hour and 45 minute tale swirls around Kevin (Kristoffer Polaha) as he moves from one realm of life, with it’s happiness and heartbreak, to another dimension that is a dismal existence clearly governed by The Benefactor (masterfully played by Neal McDonough). A viewer will be asking questions all the way through, and picking up clues and answers that pull the story together bit-by-bit. The story bumps up against an infinite set of alternative possibilities, of time, space, and versions of one’s self that will likely stoke a viewer’s imagination. But the heart of the narrative - besides love, grief, loss, trust/distrust - is around the place of evil, specifically, personal or human evil.
Read more

"On Getting Out of Bed" by Alan Noble. A Review

Image
  When it comes to family members or friends going through a significant mental crisis, or suffering, we often can feel like we’re fumbling about to help them. Sometimes, we can become like Job’s friends, whom he had to call “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2). But very recently Alan Noble, assistant professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee Oklahoma, and cofounder and editor-in-chief of “Christ and Pop Culture” penned a deeply beautiful 120-page hardback that addresses mental affliction. “On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living” is written for those who struggle with mental affliction, but also pastors, teachers, parents, and loved ones, to “help them understand their loved one’s suffering. It is for anyone who ever struggles to get out of bed” (3). I finished this book earlier this week, and kept finding myself saying, “Finally! Someone gets it!” Eight chapters fill up this handy manual. They run through several subjects, like not sounding like Job’s f
Read more

Community?

Image
  (This is from my letter to my congregation I sent out today, 30 August 2023) As one of my elders was leading us through Carl Trueman’s Strange New World in our adult class , I appreciated Trueman’s emphasis on community. And our discussions, especially the last two Sundays, were very fruitful as we thought out loud together about this subject. Therefore, I thought I would share something from David Brooks, an Op-ed columnist that leans into this discussion.   Brooks published a book in 2019 titled, “The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life”. In that work he was taking a gentle punch at destructive trends he has been seeing, and giving some helpful correctives. And so, he notes that “Individualism, taken too far, leads to tribalism” (34). He then shows how the loneliness and spiritual emptiness of individualism taken too far have become more prevalent in our time and the ways that they lead to very dark social consequences. These darker social consequences foster the need t
Read more