Last year this list came out of the most influential churches in America. I have to be honest—I wanted NewSpring to be on that list. Why? Because all I have EVER wanted is for our church to influence this world for Jesus. I remember thinking, “We will be there in about five or ten years.”
The same list just came out for this year and NewSpring Church made our entrance on the scene at #21. I have a few thoughts regarding this…
#1 - I Am Amazed!
Only God could have done this! Seriously, how in the world does a church in Anderson, SC that only started seven years ago make a list like this?
It’s not because we have it all figured out! Our daily prayer around here is, “Jesus, please don’t let us screw anything up!”
It’s not because we have all been properly educated by the finest seminaries in the land; in fact, there is only one person on our entire staff with a seminary degree. We are just the “unschooled and ordinary” men and women that happen to be obsessed with Jesus just like Scripture highlights in Acts 4:13.
It’s not because we had a goal to make this list. When we first began we did so with this thought, “There are over 80,000 people in this county that are not going to church anywhere…and we are going to do all that we can to reach them!” That’s it! We wanted to reach people—still do!
It’s not because of me—I am a former pagan who Jesus just happened to power wash with His incredible grace. Every good thing I have in my life is a result of meeting Jesus! Apart from Him there is NOTHING good in me.
NO—this is a God thing. Let me say it again—there is NO logical reason that we should be on this list—but we are—and I celebrate that because it is so obvious that Jesus is at work.
#2 - I Am Challenged!
OK—so we made a list! I celebrated it…now let’s move on!
You see NewSpring…I think the challenge before us is huge—and we will have plenty of time to celebrate what God has done when we get to heaven…right now, we MUST work to reach as many people as possible.
Some people may look at us and say, “That church is too big.” I actually think we are too small. Sure—we hit 10,000 in attendance this past year—but if we have over 80,000 in our community that do not attend church—DANG IT—there’s work to be done!
Jesus said in John 4:34-38 that there is a tremendous harvest that is just waiting to be reached…and we will not sit around and do nothing about it. I am more challenged than ever before!!! There are WAY too many people out there who don’t know Christ for us to ever think we can take a breather.
#3 - I Am Obsessed!
OK—this is a list of the top 50 churches—but where would the church fall if a list were made of the top 50 influential organizations in America?
- I think the church should be more influential than Microsoft!
- I think the church should be more influential than Apple!
- I think the church should be more influential than CNN!
- I think the church should be more influential than Hollywood!
- I think the church should be more influential than ANY political party!
My gosh people—THE TOMB IS EMPTY—JESUS IS ALIVE—OUR “PRODUCT” IS SO MUCH MORE SUPERIOR THAN WHAT THE WORLD HAS TO OFFER!!! Jesus promised us in Matthew 16:18 that HE will build the church—isn’t He much more capable of building something that will trump Steve Jobs or Ted Turner?
Jesus didn’t create the church so that we could become involved in business meetings, theological discussions and pot luck suppers! With heaven and hell LITERALLY in the balance I would say there are WAY more important things to deal with—such as sin separates us from God, Jesus paid for that sin, receiving Christ makes us right with God—and if we can get that message out there in a way that people can understand it—WELL—it will make a difference.
Hey NewSpring…we made a list…yeah God! NOW—let’s not let that distract us—let’s be even more focused on reaching those far from God—and let’s make the name of Jesus famous one life at a time.