A young Methodist pastor was ready for his first appointment. As is often the case, his DS gave him an enthusiastic pep talk before he moved to the small rural town that boasted one Methodist church, one Presbyterian church and one Baptist church.
"This church has a lot of potential!" his DS said. "But they've been under-performing. They haven't had any new members in three years. I want you to go and help this congregation become the congregation that God is calling them to be!"
The young man moved to the town, got settled in the parsonage, and "got his feet under him" with his new appointment. A few months after his move, he called the pastors of the other two churches and asked them to meet him for lunch.
"I've got a great idea that is going to help all of our churches," he said. "Let's have a revival! We can bring in a dynamic preacher, organize our churches to do mission work in the community, and have lots of delicious meals together. There are a lot of unchurched people in our town - let's show them what our churches have to offer!"
The other pastors agreed; and the revival was held. It was glorious! The preaching was inspired, the mission work made an impression on the community; and the food was, indeed, delicious.
A month after the revival, the young pastor again called a lunch meeting, so the pastors could evaluate the revival.
"I am so excited to meet with you!" he said. "I can't wait to tell you that our church - which hasn't had a new member in three years - welcomed four new families to our congregation after the revival!"
The Presbyterian pastor shared his enthusiasm: "That's great!" he said. And I want to tell you that we had six new families join our church after the revival. God is good!
The two men looked at the Baptist pastor, who said, simply: "Well, I have to confess, we did not have any new families join our church after the revival."
The other two pastors didn't know what to say.
But then a slow smile spread across the face of the Baptist pastor. "But we had ten of the most negative, meanest, most stubborn and least welcoming families leave our church, and our church has never been healthier or happier!"
