Drawing people in OR meeting them where they are...
We had a neat discussion at a planning meeting last night. The topic was how to reach college students. Lots of ideas were tossed around and chewed on but the question I came away with and have been pondering for a long time is, why does the church feel the need to "draw people in"??
It seems to me that, at the very least in our small town, church going people are church going people. They may stay at one gathering for years or they may float from church to church. They are the people who have ideals about what Christainity is and church attendance is important to them - some desire true worship - others go because they feel they are supposed to.
Then there are others who believe in God - possibly believe in what God did through Jesus - who are puking sick of what institutional church has become and who are refusing to get involved in "the system" ever again.
And then there are others who are out there searching for something real but have refused to believe anything we "christians" have to offer because we're hiding behind masks, smearing icing on cow piles trying to attract them, etc. So my question is, will it do any good to come up with some grand scheme or plan to draw people to church? Will we attract anyone? Yeah, probably so - but most will be "churched" people looking for something fresh and new. And that's not a bad thing but when you look at the "great commission" (I am really hesitant to use that phrase), isn't the message to GO and make disciples? Aren't the people we're truly attracting already primarily disciples? Maybe, maybe not, but the whole thought of drawing people in to church seems so incredibly unnatural biblically as well as in today's society.
Truth be told, I think we as believers are terrified to truly do what God would desire - go into the world and live our lives IN the world, trusting Holy Spirit to guide us in truth. Then let God direct our paths and learn how to love other people regardless of whether they become believers or not - regardless of their belief systems. We should drop our agendas and learn how to love ourselves and love others the way He does - unconditionally without expectation or requirement! I believe in my heart that as we do that, God can actually do what He desires with us "preoccupied" in relationship. That allows us to be part of the process but requires us to surrender all control to Him. Sounds simple... but with the church crap we've been fed for so long, just seeing scripture without that tainting is a monumental task all it's own.
We had a neat discussion at a planning meeting last night. The topic was how to reach college students. Lots of ideas were tossed around and chewed on but the question I came away with and have been pondering for a long time is, why does the church feel the need to "draw people in"??
It seems to me that, at the very least in our small town, church going people are church going people. They may stay at one gathering for years or they may float from church to church. They are the people who have ideals about what Christainity is and church attendance is important to them - some desire true worship - others go because they feel they are supposed to.
Then there are others who believe in God - possibly believe in what God did through Jesus - who are puking sick of what institutional church has become and who are refusing to get involved in "the system" ever again.
And then there are others who are out there searching for something real but have refused to believe anything we "christians" have to offer because we're hiding behind masks, smearing icing on cow piles trying to attract them, etc. So my question is, will it do any good to come up with some grand scheme or plan to draw people to church? Will we attract anyone? Yeah, probably so - but most will be "churched" people looking for something fresh and new. And that's not a bad thing but when you look at the "great commission" (I am really hesitant to use that phrase), isn't the message to GO and make disciples? Aren't the people we're truly attracting already primarily disciples? Maybe, maybe not, but the whole thought of drawing people in to church seems so incredibly unnatural biblically as well as in today's society.
Truth be told, I think we as believers are terrified to truly do what God would desire - go into the world and live our lives IN the world, trusting Holy Spirit to guide us in truth. Then let God direct our paths and learn how to love other people regardless of whether they become believers or not - regardless of their belief systems. We should drop our agendas and learn how to love ourselves and love others the way He does - unconditionally without expectation or requirement! I believe in my heart that as we do that, God can actually do what He desires with us "preoccupied" in relationship. That allows us to be part of the process but requires us to surrender all control to Him. Sounds simple... but with the church crap we've been fed for so long, just seeing scripture without that tainting is a monumental task all it's own.
posted by walkietalkiegg | 11:10 AM
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