Are we too concerned with getting people saved? Are we perceived as just trying to get another notch on our belt, one more soul saved?
But aren’t we supposed to evangelize and spread the good news to the whole world? We need to be careful in this step. We cannot simply stop trying to reach out to people who do not yet believe. That would be a horrible twisting of the Great Commission. The reality is that we are supposed to help people “get saved.”
It has always been my assumption that if we could just get people to church then it would be easy. The hard part is getting people to church. But research shows the following about nonChristians, 16-29:
—————–82% have gone to a Christian church at some time in their life.
—————–Most of those people attended for at least three months.
—————–65% have had conversations about faith with a Christian friend in the last year.
—————–53% have specifically been approached about becoming a Christian in recent years.
The good news: nonChristians are coming to church. The bad news: nonChristians are coming to church and then leaving again.
What has your experience been with the church? With people who do not go to church?
How do we stop just caring about “getting people saved?”
with personal life i have never really been concerned about getting people “saved”, which is probably a harsh thing for a Christian to say. i believe the way to getting people to church (to God) is through relationships. one must establish a relationship in order to be influential into someone’s life. going up to a person and just saying “hey! you should come to our church, its awesome!”, even though we have never carried on more then a five minute conversation with them, most likely they will just shrug off the invite. if an actual relationship is established and an invite from the heart is made then that invite is more pertinent.
i have talked to many people who have been to church and no longer attend, most of the time they are holding to some grudge or bad past experience, and they are so impacted by it that most of the time they will not step back into a house of God. this is nuts! are we freaking people out so much that they only come for a little while see something and decide that this whole church thing isn’t for them? do they feel judged or persecuted from the very moment they set foot into our doors that are supposed to be loving and forgiving? most of the time the answer is yes. maybe some analyzing of how the church treats each individual is important. maybe accepting people with every kind of different thought, belief, logic and life style needs to be a big factor in how we reach a community, to an individual. and, maybe this only comes from really understanding who we are and how we treat others around us, if we were to accept faults, flaws, and ideas others would be more open to our thoughts and maybe be more influenced in what we really had to say…
I mostly agree with Jamie here, except for one thing. We have to be careful in distinguishing the difference between acceptance and complete tolerance. Yes, we need to be accepting of everyone – and perhaps it’s time we make a special effort to accept those who aren’t like us (mostly white middle class, really) – but we also need to be encouraging them to take the step to make radical changes in their thinking and beliefs. I’ve known a lot of people who have come to church and left never to return because they felt convicted – overwhelmed by the enormity of their own shortcomings – and want to tack that on the idea that Christians are too judgemental or just trying to get them saved. They refuse to look at themselves because they know it will require a change.
I think it’s important that we show acceptance and love to others, but be careful about how we do it. There is a fine line between showing acceptance and flat out tolerance for any act. In other words, that old cliche “love the sinner, hate the sin” actually makes sense here. I can accept the man who abuses his family and show him that God loves him and wants him to grow and be better – but I need to be cautious of allowing him to think that God loves him AND his actions. And there is a vast difference between those two things. At what point do we stop just being their friends and telling them God loves them and really get to the point of change in their lives?
I think a lot of times, people come to our church and “get saved” in the last couple minutes of the service – but they don’t understand that getting saved also means getting changed. Life doesn’t automatically get switched to better. Or, as we say in worship practice: we can’t just turn down the sucky knob! There is a change that is required – something more than just repeating a prayer – it’s a whole BIG decision to change. I think we make light of that decision sometimes & it doesn’t hold the same gravitas for the person just visiting as it does for those of us who understand the true meaning of that acceptance of Christ.
Maybe we need to focus less on getting people saved and more on encouraging change – big, significant change.
I think Ann brings up a great point…The majority of friends and acquaintances who I know that used to go to church but no longer go have left because of offence. Someone offended them by calling them out on a flaw or failure, so they left and never came back. This offence may have been valid emotionally at the time, but it was – as Ann said – conviction of the truth that kept them away. Offence is a difficult emotion to handle, and it impacts an “outsider’s” view on Christianity because they want it to. As Christians who do not want to appear “unchristian” we are then expected to appease “outsiders” by tolerating their behavior, when in reality we should love them in spite of the behavior without condoning it.
Doesn’t the Bible say that once the seed is planted, it is no longer our job to persuade them to Christianity, God does that through the Holy Spirit…Were any of us persuaded by someone? I doubt it…We all have had doubts and questions, but the difference is we have also had encounters with God and encouragement from friends, family, and mentors. Christ is the only one who has the power to “save” anyone so why do we even call it that? Our job, according to Jesus’ commission, is to train, baptize, and teach. We should be putting the truth out there, showing Christ’s love, being active in our Community, and proudly demonstrating the true message of Christ, but I think we should remember that Jesus never pressured anyone…He even let them come to Him when they had questions and concerns. He made Himself available to them and spoke about the truth. At the same time, He never tried to skirt the issues at hand or lessen the reality of truth, and I don’t think we should either. This honesty and accessibility brought hoardes of people to His feet wanting to know what made Him different.