missional
in prepping for this week's sermon, I found this great meditation on being missional...
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I have made a promise to myself. I will stop inviting people to my church.
Hear me out now.
I spent nearly a decade with my well paid job in the church trying to get people to come to church. We would develop strategies, advertising through TV, radio, print, internet, marketing plans... wowing them with worship experiences, video, dramas, amazing sermons, direct mail strategies.. on and on..whew. all designed with one aim. That when you would invite your friend, they would say yes and go to church with you. All you would have to do is invite them, they would respond to the engaging message and multi-sensory worship, become curious, eventually come to Christ, and eventually become a part of our church. The problem is, it didn't work very well.
Sure some came, just enough to make us think we were being effective. But still as the Barna Institutes research shows " The unbelieving world remains unconvinced.", and each year the Church continues to loose ground and a credibility voice in our communities.
(Disclaimer Note: I still love, support and honor any church that is doing all it can to reach out to others. God will still work through imperfect people as well as strategies.)
Allow me to be very honest. I see too many of us in the house church falling into the same trap and pattern of fruitlessness. And some are suffering unnecessarily from disillusionment. I hear the same words over and over, "If only we could get more people to come to our house church." Sound familiar? The benefits we offer are different, but the hope is the same. Please come to my church.if we could get them there they will be so captured by our Jesus through our community, intimacy, casualness, or great food... that they will accept Him and become a part of our church. Old habits die very hard don't they.
We can no longer afford to be "come here" people, we must be a "go there" kind of people.
I can honestly say that I have never invited someone to join me for coffee, lunch or breakfast and had them say no. Not ever, not once.
I'm slow but I'm learning.
Here's to forsaking old habits.
May His presence dwell in you richly,
Mike Lyons
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3 Comments:
Good post. I am just now becoming extremly passionate about reaching people. I live near Michigan State and am spending my Thursdays in bars there trying to meet people. I'm also playing texas hold em on Wednesdays with a bunch of guys, we are inviting guys and having great conversations. We'll see.
Also, great post on Andrew Jones's blog.
Nice post. Although I do not consider myself as a part of the emergent movement (if saying that even makes sense), I do appreciate many of the views you emphasize.
I've always been curious about when in time people started treating the visible gatherings of the body of Christ as the time/place for gathering together as many who are not yet a part of the body (within the last 100-200 yrs perhaps? Who knows). Although I am thankful that unbelievers often come and God blesses that, it seems to me that scripture doesn't present the harvest as happening within the gathering, but as happening in the field of the world. When souls in the world are ripe they are harvested & gathered together with the rest of the body. Anyway, just a few thoughts.
Thanks for the great post.
hey that is so true. people don't want to go to church, and when we go to them, it need not be door to door, or a tent in their nieghborhood. not that this doesn't work, but for most it is in relationships. just hanging with the homies and being on their level, but not of their level. the only thing that even remotely separates us from them is that we have jesus christ the hope of glory. and when we come across any other way they are repeled. we do need to reach out to them, and there are so many ways to do that. the key is being led by the spririt, and being real. in my area, i have found this to work great, and not only that, but those who do get saved and come for discipleship, have a genuine relationship with god and us, and it is not a giddy two shoes act. thanks for the blog man. it is encouraging to hear this from others. shalom,waybac
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