Matthew 14:34-36
“Notice what you notice.” After Jesus walking on the water, Matthew has them landing at Gennesaret, some 3-4 miles from Capernaum, down the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Reading into the story a bit clarifies some things for me. Being only 3-4 miles from where Jesus had centered his Galilean ministry, presumably there was some measure of familiarity between residents of Gennesaret and Capernaum, but also some separation. Verse 34 begins with And when the men of that place recognized Him…, implying that Jesus was known to them, possibly from them traveling to Capernaum to see Him, but that He was not frequent among them. In addition, verse 36 notes that the people …implored Him that they might only touch the fringe of His garment, calling to mind the healing of the woman with a hemorrhage, an incident that had taken place in Capernaum, an incident that had become known to the residents of Gennesaret. Finally, because Jesus was not a frequent visitor to Gennesaret, when the men recognized Him …they sent around to all that region and brought to Him all who were sick (v. 35b). Not unlike today – word gets around that someone famous has come to town and people come from all around to see him/her. So Gennesaret is at the fringe of Capernaum, nearby but not at the center of what’s going on.
Which brings me to our “concentric circle churches”… It seems that most churches have an inner core of “leaders”, a nearby circle of “insiders”, a couple layers of “actives”, and an outer layer of “outliers”. Most new attendees come to a church as a visitor, initially an “outlier”. Depending on their level of Christian maturity and the gifts that they can offer, they may or may not choose to move forward, first to become more “active”, then eventually to move more inward to that level of “insiders”. But it is not simply an outcome dependent on that one person’s maturity and gifts, it is also a function of the “leaders” and “insiders” – their welcoming or their resistance to new people becoming more involved.
I don’t have St. Andrew’s or any other congregation in mind as I write these words. What I do have in mind is the mindset of individual parishioners. I would think that any dedicated, discipled Christian would naturally want to move toward the center, not because of any desire to be one of the movers/shakers, but to be closer to those who are in the business of seeking the Lord’s wisdom for the entire congregation. Not to be “in the know”, but to be “in the flow”… Not with a desire to lead, but with a desire to serve…
Thankfully, St. Andrew’s has a lot of “insiders”. We’ve all heard of those churches where 20% of the people do 80% of the work. That’s not us!! Glory!!
Slava Bohu!