An experience with others and God that makes a difference in this world

I have been thinking a lot about the church lately. These thoughts come upon the heels of a vision God has been crafting in my heart/mind. There are two distinct categories in which my thoughts have been circulating.

1. There is great cultural pressure among church leaders to grow the church.
Let's face it - church leaders are as susceptible to the subtle influences of culture and even peer pressure as much as anyone else. As a teenager I can remember thinking about ministry in a local church with a sense of fear and awe. I thought to myself, "I must focus on Jesus Christ and lead out of my relationship with Him." Now ten years later I find that while I have tried to keep that simple focus, I have succumbed to influences, many which were so subtle I didn't recognize them. So what are these influence I am talking about?
Influence of the world to be successful in the terms it provides (possessions, wealth, notoriety and prestige)
Influence of the leadership culture to be a strong, confident leader (this influence has revved up considerably within the Christian culture but continues to remain strong in secular culture).
Influence to be more than a man (shouldn't ministers have halos and walk around with a slight glow from being in the presence of God? After all they are God's chosen; Oh wait so is every follower of Christ).

Some of the pressure I face in ministry to grow the church comes from myself, however, such pressure was birthed out of the aforementioned influences. Anyhow, I am at the point of just wanting to reclaim my once simple focus while relinquishing the weight of trying to grow the church. I know most will make the argument that if you are focused on discipleship and mission your church will grow. Perhaps, but maybe I disciple people one at a time and learn to love them rather than just trying to win them over. Perhaps I stop worrying completely about the growth of the local church as an institution and start worrying more about being obedient. Perhaps I begin asking hard question among those I live out my faith with such as, "What would it look like for us to become less busy and more purposeful in our obedience and love?"

I guess what I am saying is that I'm having a hard time anymore trying to do programs where I have to motivate people to join for the purpose of making the largest impact I can. I just want to be with people who want to know God more and are willing to make sacrifices to do so. I don't want to convince people they should join  a class or group and I don't want to pretend that someday I am going to be the next great leader. I just want to be obedient and quite honestly there are some areas in my life where I am struggling to be.

2. What would a local church look like where the only important things were discipleship and mission (and not growing the church). 
What would it look like for a handful of Christians to gather together, not to study the Bible, not to do a service project, not even to share prayer requests, but rather to be real with each other and start loving each other to the point of sacrifice? Would that make a statement to our neighbors and relatives? I am not against Bible study but I am against the idea of Bible Study as the main purpose for Christian community. Don't get me wrong here, I believe Christian community must sit on the foundation of Biblical truth. However, Bible Studies often make us feel spiritual but produce no fruit whatsoever. Prayer is also important but lets pray because we actually are spending time with God and depend on him. I don't want to pray for John's uncle who lost his job when John hasn't even felt a real commitment to lift his uncle before God. However, I want to pray for John's uncle when I see the burden he has for his uncle. And I dont' just want to pray, "God help John's uncle?" I want to pray, "God how can we help John's uncles." Think how few prayer requests might actually be shared in Christian circles if we expected that God would use us as the answer to those prayers.  If you are burdened enough to pray then you should be burdened enough to take action. If you are not burdened enough to take action then maybe you shouldn't bother praying. No more prayers that are simply niceties - let's pray when we get burdened, when we begin to feel God's heart!

Lest your are covering your mouth in astonishment right now and can't wait to go and tell the closest religious leader what I said please hear me. I am not knocking the local church. God is at work within the people and leaders of local churches all across the world. Some of these churches are thousands and thousands large, while others are comprised of five people who meet in living rooms and backyards. Both are called to make an impact on the world, but neither are called to grow the church. Jesus said he would build the church - we just have to be obedient. Does obedience really mean that we "have an experience with others and God that makes a difference in this world? (Scott Boren, Misseorelate)".

Christian,  if you and those you live out your faith with are not impacting your world then your faith is dead and you are living exactly how Satan wants you to live. Faith is not passive! Figure out how you can get less busy and more purposeful and obedient.