DOES THE CHURCH HAVE SOMETHING TO



DOES THE CHURCH HAVE SOMETHING TO

SAY?

Colossians 4:5

A cynical church leader once said, "Our church is looking for a great

year. That year is 1961. If it ever comes back, we're ready." His reason

for saying this was that 1961 was a "golden age" in church attendance.

Church attendance was at an all-time high that year. It was considered

the right thing to do--the patriotic thing to do--for the family to wake up on

Sunday morning, pile into the station wagon, and attend church together.

Even parents who didn't attend church were urged to send their children.

J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI, urged American parents, "Send your

children to Sunday School so they won't end up in reform school!" (Of

course, based on what we know about Hoover now, this statement loses

some of its impact. But remember, in the fifties and sixties he was still a

cultural icon and had significant influence.)

In the twenty five years since that "golden age", church attendance has

been on the decline. Right now it is at an all-time low in this country. This

is surprising, since there is every indication that interest in spiritual things

is at an all-time high. There are 78 million unchurched Americans today.

That means about 33% of the American people don't go to church at

all--yet more than 87% of the American people say they believe in prayer,

and more than 50% pray on a daily basis. These numbers tell us that

there are millions and millions of people in this country who are interested

in knowing God, but they just don't go to church.

Why don't they? Well, as one well known pastor said, "People don't go to

church because they've been to church." That statement may seem

harsh, but apparently it is true. The overwhelming majority of people in

this country have been to church enough to develop an opinion about it,

and the opinion most often isn't flattering.

As we move toward the 21st century, we're finding fewer and fewer people

consider church attendance a priority in their life. Several mainline

denominations have lost millions of members in the last two decades.

The United Methodist Church has been losing members at the rate of

1,000 per week since 1968. Of course, it's not just the Methodists--the

Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians are losing members also. In

fact, 53,000 people who are in church today will make a decision to never

come back again. Why? Well, according to numerous surveys, the three

reasons people don't go to church, or quit going to church, are:

1. The services are boring.

2. The sermons are irrelevant.

3. The people are unfriendly.

It appears that there are millions of people in American who want to have

a relationship with God, but when they go to church the preacher doesn't

preach the gospel and the people don't act like Christians, so they

decided not to go back. One Generation Xer said it like this, "It's not that

our generation doesn't believe in God. We just don't believe in the

church." We live in a generation that believes the church has nothing to

say to the world. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. We

do have something to say, though we must admit that we haven't always

been faithful to say it. What is our message? Jesus Christ can give you

life to the fullest. (John 10:10) That's our message. There are many

elements of that message that we must make clear: repentance, faith,

salvation, holiness, good works, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and on

and on--but the Christian message can be summarized in the words of

Jesus, "I came to give life -- life in all its fullness." (John 10:10 NCV)

Instead of proclaiming this wonderful message of hope to the world, the

world by and large perceives Christians (and the church) as being

judgmental and holier-than-thou. As a result, many non-believers don't

feel welcome at church. One preacher made this statement, "We've been

judging the world and talking to ourselves, when we should be judging

ourselves and talking to the world!"

How can we do that? How can we speak to the world? How can we make

our church a "user-friendly" church that reaches people for Jesus Christ?

There are three things that I am going to recommend that we do in order

to give this church more impact in our community--three priorities we

should adopt in order to be the church God has called us to be. First of

all...

1. We must design uplifting services that help people

connect with Christ.

This is rather obvious isn't it? Isn't this what all churches are trying to

do--help people connect with Christ? But we must ask ourselves how

effective are we at doing it.

Earlier, when I said that people don't come to church because the

services are boring, I wasn't stating my own opinion. This is the opinion of

the unchurched. A Gallop poll revealed that Americans said the most

boring place to be is church. The comedian Gallagher once said,

"Growing up, church was the weekly reminder that there is something in

life worse than school." There is no need for people to have that

impression. God is not boring, and worshipping Him isn't boring, and

being in His presence isn't boring. If people find our services boring it's not

God's fault--it's our fault. It is our responsibility to communicate the truth

of the gospel to the world.

If a person goes to Venezuela to be a missionary, but refuses to learn

Spanish, he won't win people to Christ. Many churches make the same

mistake right in their own hometown. We are well aware of the fact that

we are strangers in a strange land--we are foreigners and aliens and (as

the song goes) this world is not our home. So, in order to reach the world

with the good news of the gospel, we must speak the language they

speak, and express it in terms to which they can relate.

This is the litmus test of every aspect of every service and ministry of this

church: does it help us help people connect with Christ? Is our music

helping us reach people for Christ, and is there something we should do

to make it better? Is our order of worship awkward and dull, or does it flow

with the power of the Holy Spirit? Is there something we can do to

improve our order of worship? Do we place enough emphasis in each

service on prayer, on the Word, on fellowship? Is the preaching helping

people connect with Christ? (I'll say more about this in a minute.) We

need to take seriously our responsibility to help others connect with

Christ. This is what Paul referred to when he said,

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of

every opportunity. (Colossians 4:5)

A second priority we must adopt as a church has to do with the

preaching ministry, as well as the overall message that our church

presents to the world.

2. We must proclaim an uplifting message of hope.

The fact is that most people don't look forward to hearing a sermon.

Whenever you hear the word "sermon" or "preach" used in a context

outside of church, it's always negative. If someone talks too long or too

loud other people will say, "Don't preach me a sermon!"

I heard about a minister who was thrilled to have been invited to speak at

the local high school's Baccalaureate service--until he found out how he

had been chosen. Each member of the selection committee attended a

different church on a specific Sunday and timed the message with a

stopwatch. The preacher with the shortest sermon was invited!

Most people don't expect a message to be uplifting. For some reason,

there are even some people that think if a message isn't negative it's not

biblical. But that's just not true. You see, I've read the Bible, and I know

how it ends. God wins. Everything works out. This world is a terrible place

and there is so much wrong with it that at times it may seem unbearable.

Sin is destroying the fabric of society. That's the bad news. But we have

been called to preach the good news: Jesus Christ came into the

world to save sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15) We have been called to preach

the good news: If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will

forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John

1:9) We have been called to preach the good news: I came to give life

-- life in all its fullness. (John 10:10) There is no amount of bad news

that power of the gospel cannot overcome. Our message to the world is

not one of doom and gloom, but one of hope. God loves you and Jesus

wants to save you! That's good news.

Growing up, when I would hear hard-hitting hell-fire sermons on sin, I had

the impression that there were millions of people out in the world

committing sins and having a tremendous amount of fun in the process,

and what they needed to do was to stop having fun and start coming to

church. That was my distorted view of reality. When I became an adult I

discovered that there are, in fact, millions of people in the world who are

committing sins, but they're not having much fun--at least not in the

long-run. Their lives are falling apart. Their relationships are a mess.

They've become emotional wrecks. They're living proof of the biblical truth:

"The wages of sin death." We must proclaim the whole gospel to them.

We need to tell them that they can come out of their misery into

everlasting joy...out of their darkness into a marvelous light...because

even though "the wages of sin is death; the free gift of God is eternal

life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23) There is no amount

of misery, or pain, or sin that the good news of the gospel cannot

overcome. Therefore, our message to the world is a message of hope.

In order to be the church God has called us to be, we must adopt a third

principle...

3. We must make the effort to connect individually with

people.

Surveys reveal that many people stop going to church because, they say,

the people are unfriendly. That's why Paul urges us...

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders, make the most of

every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace.

(Colossians 4:5-6)

When I was in my early twenties, I moved to a new city. Immediately I

began looking for a new church home. Being a "company man," I

attended the church of my denominational affiliation. The first church I

visited, no one spoke to me but an usher. The second church I visited, no

one spoke to me, period. The third church was only slightly different. On

my first Sunday, no one spoke to me, but that afternoon the Associate

Pastor came by and invited me back to church. I attended another service

there. No one spoke to me but later in the week the Minister to Young

Adults came by and invited me to a Young Adult function. I attended, and

even though I am reasonably outgoing, I had a difficult time making

friends with anyone. It was a pretty tight knit group and I didn't fit in. I

ended up sitting quietly by myself that evening. I had decided to give up

when the Choir Director dropped by my house one evening and asked me

to sing in the choir. I said I would. I attended choir practice three

Wednesdays in a row and sang in the church choir three Sundays in a

row. Still, I had not had any kind of substantive conversation with anyone,

beyond "My name is Steve." It finally dawned on me that the only people

who would talk to me were the ones who were being paid to do it! Here I

was: lonely, living in a new city, eager to make friends, and motivated to

find a church home, but each church I visited seemed too self-absorbed

to welcome outsiders. When I quit attending I never heard a word from the

Associate Pastor, the Minister to Young Adults, the Choir Director, or

anyone else--until the church contacted me two years later asking for a

contribution to their new building program!

It's sad to say it, but this scenario is repeated every week of the year. I

challenge this church to make a commitment that it will not happen here.

Let's be honest about how much influence you, as an individual have in

this church. When it comes to hiring staff members or hiring a new

preacher, you have little say. When it comes to the budget and how

money is spent, you have a small voice. When it comes to building

projects or areas of ministry, your vote is only one of many. When it

comes to the preaching, (and I'll say this with a smile) you don't get a

vote at all--that's between me and God. However, there is an area of this

church where you have tremendous influence--more than I will ever have.

You can single-handedly show the world that this is a friendly church.

Think of how my perception of those churches I visited years ago would

have changed if only one person had made the effort to connect.

By the way, here's how my search for a church home ended. I attended

yet another church. While I was in the parking lot, walking towards the

front door, an older gentleman fell in step with me and began a

conversation. He asked me if I was new. I said "Yes." When we got

inside, he introduced me to two other people, one of whom invited me to

sit with his family. I later learned the man in the parking lot was a solemn

and stern judge--not one to waste words. However, his simple effort made

the difference for me that day: I found a church home.

Conclusion

In order for us to be the church that God wants us to be, we must strive

to have dynamic, uplifting services. And I give you my word that I will do

my best to preach the Bible faithfully, and present the good news of the

gospel week by week. But the real key to our success as a church

requires more than just entertaining people for an hour. We must connect

with people and help them make a life changing connection with Christ.

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