Crowds can block us from Jesus. This is exactly what happened with the paralytic man and his friends. The reason his friends had to crash the party (punching a hole in the roof), quite literally, was because of the crowd.
Sometimes, a crowd draws you in. In fact, being too small can deter people from being interested in the first place. After all, if you ever want to find a good place to eat in a new town, you look for the one with all the cars and people waiting out front – there’s usually a reason for the wait. By contrast, you tend to drive right by the one that seems deserted – we assume there must be a reason for that, too. But just like a restaurant that draws a crowd, it can have the effect of keeping people from entering.
Sure – all analogies break down at some level. On that note, if churches manage to draw big crowds, that’s a good thing! We hope and pray for the Gospel to be preached and for there to be revival – many people coming to faith in Christ. All over the world, that’s happening. Yes, and that includes the trendy megachurches. Small isn’t always better.
There is a tendency, though, for the crowd to drown out real connection and real relationship. Often, the church crowd gets so busy with itself that it fails to even see those looking in from the outside. Let alone the people who will never seek the crowd out in the first place.
By the way, that means they need to be invited. They need someone to seek them out and bring them. They don’t have any connection to the church, and they don’t have any connection to God. Unless someone invites them. Unless someone brings them. Sits with them. Connects with them. Does life with them. Matthew 23:13 says:
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
It’s much easier to form a circle than to join one. When you are joining at the beginning – at the ground floor – it’s easy to feel like you belong . . . that you’re part of it all. But, when you’re a latecomer, it’s often difficult to break into the inner circle. What’s even worse is when people in the circle make others feel unwelcome or even purposely exclude others. Wittingly, or unwittingly, we (in our crowds) can often block people from Jesus.