The Grasshopper Myth (Book Review)

Kent Murawski

Have you ever struggled with your identity and significance as it relates to numbers of people, size of your building or the size of your budget? Whether you are in business, ministry or some other vocation, how people measure success is usually related to outward performance. What if there is another way?

 

There are not many books specifically for pastors of small churches, but honestly, regardless of the size of your church, this book will help you think about success from a different angle. Drawing from years of experience in small churches, author Karl Vaters brings a new and refreshing perspective on why small is good. His book, The Grasshopper Myth: Big Churches, Small Churches and the Small Thinking that Divides Us, was one of the more refreshing church leadership books I’ve read in recent years, simply because it meets you where you are. Here is the premise of The Grasshopper Myth (taken from the book) ,

Definition: The false impression that our Small Church ministry is less than what God says it is because we compare ourselves with others.

Origin: The Hebrews at the edge of the Promised Land.

All the people we saw there are of great size. …We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them. (Numbers 13:32-33)

Symptoms: Lack of vision, faith, courage, effectiveness and freedom.

Prognosis: A lifetime of wandering, whining, and placing blame. And yes, it is contagious.

Treatment: There’s a New Small Church in town – a place of hope and healing.

We’ve discovered the benefits of thinking small. And it’s got nothing to do with small thinking.

We’ve come to realize our small size in not a problem to be fixed, but a strategic advantage God wants to use.

We’re heading out with vision, faith and courage into the places God wants us to go. Places giants cannot tread.


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Does Small = Broken?

You hear it at every conference, you read about it in almost every leadership book, and it’s usually one of the first questions you are asked when people find out you are a pastor. Can you guess what it is? How big is your church? In the Western Church, many would have you believe that large healthy and successful, but is that always true? I’ve written about this in a previous blog There are No Small Leaders, Only Leaders.  


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So what defines a small church and just how many are there? According to Carl F. George, “At the 100 mark, your church has become larger than 60% of your peers. 93% of churches are small (under 350) and 80% of churches are very small (under 200).[i] Mr. Vaters goes on to ask a probing question,

If size equals success then 93% of pastors are unsuccessful while 80% are very bad at their jobs. Can that be right?

The answer of course is no. Mr. Vaters goes on to say,

There are more than 2.2 billion Christians in the world. Almost 1/3 of the world’s population. 100-150 million attend mega-churches. That is something to thank God for. But over half the Christians on earth are involved in churches with less than 250 people in them, which, when you do some basic math, leads to this astonishing conclusion,

        More than one billion people choose to worship God in small churches.[ii]

Are these 1 billion people worshiping at small churches simply because they can’t find a big one or could there be other reasons for this? Here are a few reasons why so many people love small churches:

  •       Your pastor knows your name
  •       There is personal care
  •       There is relational intimacy and accountability
  •       There are more real (and sometimes awkward) moments
  •       You don’t have to be an expert to serve in visible roles
  •       There is permission to make mistakes

My Top Takeaways

Here are some of my top takeaways from the The Grasshopper Myth:

  1.      Many pastors are not called to manage systems but to pastor people.
  2.      If you are a small church, stop thinking like a big church.
  3.      Don’t despise your size. If you don’t have a reason to despise your small size, you have no reason to despise their large size.
  4.      Small ≠ broken. You don’t need to find a solution to something that isn’t a problem. We don’t need someone to fix us.
  5.      Big change often starts with small churches.
  6.      Find what you can do that nobody else is doing and do it!
  7.      Loving God and loving others is not a church growth strategy. It’s the mission of every gospel believing church, regardless of size.
  8.      When we minister to the people we’ve got and to the people around us, we aren’t selfish or settling. We are caring for people.
  9.      We should measure success not merely by the size of our church but also by the depth and quality of spiritual growth in people’s lives. (David Kinnaman, UNChristian )
  10.   There is no place on earth where a small church won’t fit.
  11.   Myth: Just like the fruit of a healthy tree is other trees, the fruit of a healthy church is other churches. Truth: Not every church is called to formally plant other churches. Unlike the tree-producing-a- tree -metaphor, the tree-producing- fruit -metaphor is in the Bible.

Conclusion

Finally, I love Vaters’ observation about growth. He said, “We need to stop using numerical growth as the primary indicator of success in ministry and start looking at health as the primary indicator of success in ministry.”

Not only do I recommend this book for pastors of small churches, I recommend this book for pastors of any size church as well as every congregant. This book will help pastors of small churches find freedom from unbiblical and destructive thinking that keeps them from enjoying and finding validity in the ministry that God has called them to steward. It will also help pastors of midsize and large churches gain a fresh perspective on what it feels like to be the pastor of a small church and how to better work together to bring the kingdom to a city or a region. After all, the spiritual landscape of a city is a fabric made up of many different churches.

You can order The Grasshopper Myth here.

Feel overloaded? Get my seven day guide to rest in a busy world here. 

[i] George, Carl F., The Grasshopper Myth , p. 41

*Picture from David Graham via Flickr

 

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By Kent Murawski July 28, 2025
When was the last time you ended a summer feeling more energized than when it started? ​​Summer brings changes for many of us—minimizing our motivation to work, disrupting work routines, and altering schedules. With summertime often comes a desire to slow down, and yet, we're not always sure how to do that. This week is my last new post for a little while (though I may resend some popular posts from the 2024-2025 season). I’m pressing pause to create space and pour my energy into finishing my new book. But stay tuned—when I’m back in six weeks, the newsletter will be refreshed with some exciting updates you won’t want to miss! Read to the end to find out more. In this week's edition of Catalyst, I want to share 3 ideas to help you effectively navigate summer. 3 Ways to Master Summer Without Burning Out 1) Stop and Think (Reflect) Socrates famously said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." For Socrates, life was more than pursuing the things that most men occupy themselves with, things like wealth, household affairs, status and position, and political clubs and factions. He believed that life only has value and meaning when we question what we think and know, and by more deeply understanding ourselves and others. The beginning of summer is an ideal time for reflection, and we all tend to occupy ourselves with the things Socrates talked about more than we probably care to admit. Taking a reflection day at the end of each quarter (consider removing "or trimester" for conciseness) can be an effective way to navigate seasonal changes. Finding a place far enough removed from your normal day-to-day life will help you get into a different headspace. A friend of mine often says: Change of pace + change of place = change of perspective. I've used hotels, monasteries, or even a beautiful outdoor location if the weather permits. Here are a few questions you might want to ask: How am I feeling spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically? How are my closest relationships doing? Am I living out my core values? Is my life moving in a direction I feel good about? What do I need to change or adjust? Here are a few ideas for how to conduct a reflection day: Prayer, meditation, or silence Review your biggest wins and assess your goals from the previous quarter Work on high-impact projects that require focus Preview the upcoming quarter and set your Big 3 goals: personal, marriage/family, work/business 2) Cut the Non-Essentials (Reevaluate) Both my wife and I work, so when summer arrives, we need to re-evaluate our schedules to accommodate our twelve-year-old son. In the past, I've made the mistake of trying to keep the same workload despite being home with him two days a week. I ended up frustrated all summer long, living in the tension of wanting to spend more time with him while trying to carry the same workload. Summer requires me to pare down my work roles to the essentials: Writing (currently working on a new book) Executive coaching (6-8 coaching clients) Relationship building and outreach Necessary administration (keeping this to 30% or less of my responsibilities) Moving forward, I will probably keep things this way. It feels more sustainable than the unrealistic expectations I previously held myself to. Once you define your key roles and responsibilities, the question becomes how to achieve better work-life integration not work-life balance. I use the Big 3 System. Choose only three big things to focus on at one time—quarterly, weekly, and daily. That's right, just three. Those three things are usually a combination of personal, marriage/family, and work. Each quarter, I typically choose 1 personal goal, 1 marriage and family goal, and 1-3 work goals, depending on the quarter. Here are a few questions to consider. If you have a partner, discuss them together: How does your schedule change in the summer? What work-related responsibilities and expectations do you need to adjust? What are 3 things you want to do this summer? What do you NOT want to do? 3) Choose What Matters Most (Rest) Paring down expectations isn't only for work, it applies to rest, too. Because it's summer, there is the temptation to want to fit in everything (—vacation, visit family, trips, fun, etc). In the past, we would try to do so much that by the time fall rolled around, we were exhausted. Last year, out of necessity, we planned a staycation instead of going away. It was one of the best vacations we've had in a long time. And besides, summers in New England are gorgeous! We went to see a movie, ate out, went to Six Flags, had a beach day, and took days in between just to relax. We loved it so much, we're doing a staycation again this year! Write down your list of summer expectations and plans. Now, cross out everything that feels exhausting and unfun. Don't try to fit everything in this summer. Pick a couple of things that feel life-giving and focus on those. Your Move Reflect. Re-evaluate. Rest. Choose one of the three and work on it in the next 24 hours. Plan a day of reflection. Have a conversation with your spouse. Choose how you're going to rest this summer. I don't care which one it is, just take action. Here’s one question to consider: What would you stop doing this summer if no one was watching? Most people think summer is about maximizing experiences and fitting everything in, but the truth is that the most productive leaders use summer to strategically subtract, not add. They understand that rest isn't what you do after the work is done—it's what makes the work sustainable in the first place. You've got this.
By Kent Murawski July 23, 2025
When was the last time you ended a summer feeling more energized than when it started? ​​Summer brings changes for many of us—minimizing our motivation to work, disrupting work routines, and altering schedules. With summertime often comes a desire to slow down, and yet, we're not always sure how to do that. This week is my last new post for a little while (though I may resend some popular posts from the 2024-2025 season). I’m pressing pause to create space and pour my energy into finishing my new book. But stay tuned—when I’m back in six weeks, the newsletter will be refreshed with some exciting updates you won’t want to miss! Read to the end to find out more. In this week's edition of Catalyst, I want to share 3 ideas to help you effectively navigate summer. 3 Ways to Master Summer Without Burning Out 1) Stop and Think (Reflect) Socrates famously said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." For Socrates, life was more than pursuing the things that most men occupy themselves with, things like wealth, household affairs, status and position, and political clubs and factions. He believed that life only has value and meaning when we question what we think and know, and by more deeply understanding ourselves and others. The beginning of summer is an ideal time for reflection, and we all tend to occupy ourselves with the things Socrates talked about more than we probably care to admit. Taking a reflection day at the end of each quarter (consider removing "or trimester" for conciseness) can be an effective way to navigate seasonal changes. Finding a place far enough removed from your normal day-to-day life will help you get into a different headspace. A friend of mine often says: Change of pace + change of place = change of perspective. I've used hotels, monasteries, or even a beautiful outdoor location if the weather permits. Here are a few questions you might want to ask: How am I feeling spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically? How are my closest relationships doing? Am I living out my core values? Is my life moving in a direction I feel good about? What do I need to change or adjust? Here are a few ideas for how to conduct a reflection day: Prayer, meditation, or silence Review your biggest wins and assess your goals from the previous quarter Work on high-impact projects that require focus Preview the upcoming quarter and set your Big 3 goals: personal, marriage/family, work/business 2) Cut the Non-Essentials (Reevaluate) Both my wife and I work, so when summer arrives, we need to re-evaluate our schedules to accommodate our twelve-year-old son. In the past, I've made the mistake of trying to keep the same workload despite being home with him two days a week. I ended up frustrated all summer long, living in the tension of wanting to spend more time with him while trying to carry the same workload. Summer requires me to pare down my work roles to the essentials: Writing (currently working on a new book) Executive coaching (6-8 coaching clients) Relationship building and outreach Necessary administration (keeping this to 30% or less of my responsibilities) Moving forward, I will probably keep things this way. It feels more sustainable than the unrealistic expectations I previously held myself to. Once you define your key roles and responsibilities, the question becomes how to achieve better work-life integration not work-life balance. I use the Big 3 System. Choose only three big things to focus on at one time—quarterly, weekly, and daily. That's right, just three. Those three things are usually a combination of personal, marriage/family, and work. Each quarter, I typically choose 1 personal goal, 1 marriage and family goal, and 1-3 work goals, depending on the quarter. Here are a few questions to consider. If you have a partner, discuss them together: How does your schedule change in the summer? What work-related responsibilities and expectations do you need to adjust? What are 3 things you want to do this summer? What do you NOT want to do? 3) Choose What Matters Most (Rest) Paring down expectations isn't only for work, it applies to rest, too. Because it's summer, there is the temptation to want to fit in everything (—vacation, visit family, trips, fun, etc). In the past, we would try to do so much that by the time fall rolled around, we were exhausted. Last year, out of necessity, we planned a staycation instead of going away. It was one of the best vacations we've had in a long time. And besides, summers in New England are gorgeous! We went to see a movie, ate out, went to Six Flags, had a beach day, and took days in between just to relax. We loved it so much, we're doing a staycation again this year! Write down your list of summer expectations and plans. Now, cross out everything that feels exhausting and unfun. Don't try to fit everything in this summer. Pick a couple of things that feel life-giving and focus on those. Your Move Reflect. Re-evaluate. Rest. Choose one of the three and work on it in the next 24 hours. Plan a day of reflection. Have a conversation with your spouse. Choose how you're going to rest this summer. I don't care which one it is, just take action. Here’s one question to consider: What would you stop doing this summer if no one was watching? Most people think summer is about maximizing experiences and fitting everything in, but the truth is that the most productive leaders use summer to strategically subtract, not add. They understand that rest isn't what you do after the work is done—it's what makes the work sustainable in the first place. You've got this.
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