My daughter, Bailey, is an old soul. She’s infatuated with all things vintage, from jewelry to furniture, and mostly old vinyl records. For her 16th birthday, we bought her a restored vintage stereo system with an old school Pioneer record player. And let me tell ya, it shakes the house! She enjoys some CCR, jams out to Dire Straits, and absolutely loves the Beatles.

Her favorite thing to do when she’s home alone is put on a record, turn the volume up to the max, and let the music start to move her. The majority of the albums in her collection are used, and every so often, there’s a blemish on the vinyl. We all know what that means, and it always seems to happen during the best part of the song! 

The saying “like a broken record” is a cringy reality when you’re trying to listen to your favorite jam. 

I absolutely loved the direction and heart of this year’s Summit – Answering The Call. This issue, along with many others in the local church seems to be broken. In all reality, the church isn’t broken. Just like Bailey’s favorite Beatles record isn’t broken. We just have to be wise enough to move the needle. 

I get it. As a pastor, many times it looks and feels like no one cares anymore. I hear phrases like “this place would be packed if…”, and I hear small group leaders disheartened from the lack of participation. I see kids and youth leaders giving up on the idea of “Church of tomorrow.” Where is everyone at?

Here are my thoughts. The Gospel isn’t broken. I truly believe that Christ is compelling the church not to throw up our hands and toss the record. There may be skips from time to time (things that aggravate us). Don’t change the record. Just reposition the needle. We also must not ignore the skip by acting like there’s not an issue. (Ya know, doing the same thing but expecting different results?)

In Mark 6, we read that the apostles are gathered around Jesus, reporting to Him all they’ve done and taught. Jesus must have been thinking, “Man, you haven’t seen anything yet!” Fast forward a few verses and the apostles were faced with a challenge: Hungry people with not enough to eat. No, I’m not talking about fellowship dinners here. I’m talking about real hungry people, and a ton of them! They were tired, it was late, and there was no food.They just couldn’t fathom where any food could come from.

Wait, didn’t they just finish bragging about all they had done and taught? The very men that were walking with Jesus wanted to send the hungry away. To them, the problem was bigger than the problem solver. In this moment, Jesus could have gotten angry at His men for “not getting it.” He could have said, “Ya know what? On second thought, I don’t want you to follow me.” In true Jesus fashion, He didn’t throw the record away, He just moved the needle. He completely changed the conversation with this command: “You give them something to eat.” In that moment, the Gospel wasn’t broken, but Jesus brought the Gospel to life! We can learn a couple things from this. 

Number One

Many leaders look at bigger churches and say things like “If I only had that worship team, or that small group… If we were older… If we were younger…”. You get it. Jesus didn’t wish there was enough to eat, and He didn’t wish His men were more faithful. In that moment, He used what He had. Some tired men, five loaves and two fish. God can use the young, the old, the tired, the strong. He can use one piano player, or no piano player! He can use an entire worship team, or someone that can barely carry a tune. It’s time for us to stop getting down about what we don’t have, start looking at what we do, and let the Holy Spirit work in that capacity! 

Number Two

Pray for what you don’t have. Jesus, after taking the five loaves and two fish, looked up to Heaven, gave thanks, and broke the loaves. The multitude ate until they were satisfied. We can get so hard hearted on what’s not going on in our church that we forget the simplest, yet most crucial thing: prayer. When we pray for God to stir hearts and to send teachers, singers, builders, preachers… God will supply! Why? Because the people are hungry and the only food that will sustain is the Bread of Life! On the outside, this was an overwhelming “bigger than life” moment. This was a skip; a blemish on the record. This skip allowed Jesus to have a conversation in real time, showing the apostles what the value of the album was. 

I believe that the beat of the Gospel message still has the power to feed the hungry soul and give living water to the thirsty. The Gospel record still has the power to move a soul from dead to alive. So I have one question: why would you change the record when you think it’s not working? Keep the record on, just move the needle.

About the Author: Mark McDowell is the pastor at Pleasant View GBC in Risco, Missouri. He describes himself as an average, ordinary guy who serves an extraordinary God. His mission in life is simple – Love Jesus, love people.