Over the years, I have read a lot of books and materials that attempt to help congregations be better about reaching out with the Gospel. I've noticed a bit of a theme to many of them. They tend to say something along the lines of, 'do this, and people will just naturally begin to come to your church.' If you go to a local Christian bookstore, many of these kinds of books are located in the section usually labelled "Church Growth."
There have been a large number of churches that have embraced these principles and put them to work in their congregations. There have likewise been a great number of churches who have claimed that these things are not the Gospel, and might confuse the Gospel with tactics for simply having more people attend.
As I've reflected on these things, I've come to a couple of conclusions. You may or may not agree with me, and I'm okay with that. I happen to be of the mind that walking together as God's people doesn't mean that we see everything exactly the same.
There are things about churches (both the building we call "church" and the gathering of God's people) which can actually serve to deter people from entering and hearing God's Word. I would be one of the first to admit that if I entered a church that had a lot of junk laying around, I probably wouldn't be all that eager to go back there. In this case, it's not the Gospel message that is turning me away from hearing. It's the condition of the building. That's not God's work in driving me away. That's something that God's people can do something about.
In a similar way, if I were to enter a church, go to worship, and leave without any of the people there welcoming me, or at least indicating that they are glad that I was with them, I'm probably not going to return there. Friendliness and a warm welcome are not the Gospel message, but as in the first example, I'm not being driven away by the Gospel message. I'm being driven away by something that God's people can do something about.
In my mind, I see that a lot of churches can do something in this regard. There are things that are not the Gospel which drive people away, and God's people can remove those obstacles. The only obstacle that we should strive for should be the obstacle of what God says. If we are doing things that serve as obstacles to even the hearing of the Gospel, that's not God's obstacle. That's ours. That's something we can remove. Sure, it may not necessarily mean that they will hear the Gospel message and stay, but if we are the ones who introduce the obstacles to the Gospel, that's our sin that needs to be dealt with.
There have been a large number of churches that have embraced these principles and put them to work in their congregations. There have likewise been a great number of churches who have claimed that these things are not the Gospel, and might confuse the Gospel with tactics for simply having more people attend.
As I've reflected on these things, I've come to a couple of conclusions. You may or may not agree with me, and I'm okay with that. I happen to be of the mind that walking together as God's people doesn't mean that we see everything exactly the same.
There are things about churches (both the building we call "church" and the gathering of God's people) which can actually serve to deter people from entering and hearing God's Word. I would be one of the first to admit that if I entered a church that had a lot of junk laying around, I probably wouldn't be all that eager to go back there. In this case, it's not the Gospel message that is turning me away from hearing. It's the condition of the building. That's not God's work in driving me away. That's something that God's people can do something about.
In a similar way, if I were to enter a church, go to worship, and leave without any of the people there welcoming me, or at least indicating that they are glad that I was with them, I'm probably not going to return there. Friendliness and a warm welcome are not the Gospel message, but as in the first example, I'm not being driven away by the Gospel message. I'm being driven away by something that God's people can do something about.
In my mind, I see that a lot of churches can do something in this regard. There are things that are not the Gospel which drive people away, and God's people can remove those obstacles. The only obstacle that we should strive for should be the obstacle of what God says. If we are doing things that serve as obstacles to even the hearing of the Gospel, that's not God's obstacle. That's ours. That's something we can remove. Sure, it may not necessarily mean that they will hear the Gospel message and stay, but if we are the ones who introduce the obstacles to the Gospel, that's our sin that needs to be dealt with.
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