This is a question I think that requires immense reflection. I sat and thought about this the other day whenever I people watch and ask : Would you like to come to my church? This got me thinking would you really want people to come to your church?
Disclaimer--this is with the understanding you know what a church is supposed to be. If not read Acts 2:42, 4:32-37, 5:12-16.
I see churches and the invitation in 3 ways:
1. You are the kid who didn't have sleepovers cause you didn't want other kids to see how dysfunctional and broken your family was.
These are the people who have churches that are broken, in decline spiritually and numerically, have no accountability, no church discipline, they have small cliques keeping the church alive, hardly any transformation...they look similar to the Corinthian church but worse---they have lost influence and their focus. They do not want to change, nor be relevant to today's culture. Most people do not want to invite people to this church. These people want to but realize that there just isn't anything healthy at their church and have even visited other churches to find a possible new home. They have no vision, no mission, therefore they cannot carry it out. They are coasting until every member either leaves or dies.
2. You were the kid who was excited to have everyone over cause your parents or family was fun, open, loving, relevant and you wanted people to see the atmosphere was exciting and there were many things to do.
This group loves to invite people to their church. They can't wait to invite people....why? Because the people are growing in Christ, they are meeting together for the biblical fellowship of praising God, not fulfilling their religious attendance. They have small groups meeting for intimate time with each other and God, they have missions (local and global) taking part for their members, they have outreach to meet with the local community and meet various needs (economic, social, fiscal,. They love people, they greet people, they preach God's word, they have facilities to meet the various needs of various demographics. Their members feel more like a family than a person attending a meeting because they can share, love and worship Christ freely. This does not exempt them from having problems as they have church discipline, and their leadership authority established in their church because they have a clear vision and mission, and it is executed through its various ministries, and everyone in the church knows it.
3. You were the kid who didn't invite others because you didn't have any video game systems, board games, or a yard bigger than 4ft by 4ft or just anything to do. (Don't joke I lived in a townhouse like this).
These people have a church, and it could have good people who love Jesus. They could preach the Word, but they simply do not have anything else. I call these churches One Hit Wonders because they try to do all they can only on Sunday. These churches do not have what is essential to growing: small group ministries, community outreach, evangelism, and local and glo bal missions. They simply cannot retain people as they are a Sunday only kind of church. Growth is either plateaued or is declining. You could invite people here but they can't grow. Its like buying a plant and watering it but once a week. Or imagine eating as much as you could on Sundays and then not eating again until the following Sunday. You simply can't grow. This church has nothing outside of its occasional special events. They have a vision (or not) but do not convey it to their church (cause they dont have one), they may or may not have church discipline and no one really knows who is leading the church (congregation, individuals, Jesus, the leadership??) or who has authority. The thing that these churches most is a lack of discipleship ministries and outreach ministries. So you could get people in, but do nothing with them.
So my question is posed for those to think and answer in the comment section: Would you really want to invite someone to your church and why? If not then should you really be at that church that is not growing, not feeding you, and where you do not get intimate time and fellowship with other members ?
Be Blessed
No comments:
Post a Comment