Christians will instantly sense if a worship experience will be attractive to their non-Christian friends. They may find a particular service wonderfully edifying for them, and yet know that their non-believing neighbors would react negatively.
Therefore, a vicious cycle persists. Pastors see only Christians present, so they lack incentive to make their worship comprehensible to outsiders. But since they fail to make the adaptations, Christians who are there (though perhaps edified themselves) do not think to bring their skeptical and non-Christian friends to church. They do not think they will be impressed. So no outsiders come. And so the pastors respond only to the Christian audience. And so on and on.
Therefore, the best way to get Christians to bring non-Christians is to worship as if there are dozens and hundreds of skeptical onlookers. And if you worship as if, eventually they will be there in reality.
Link (on page 6, 2nd paragraph)
1 response so far ↓
Jan // Dec 14, 2006 at 7:26 am
Hi Dee,
Perhaps because I came to pastoral life late, at 48, I’m already convinced of the truth your sharing, but more than that, Jesus makes it clear that in our discipleship, pastoral or otherwise, the burden and therefore vision of our hearts is not for the well but for the sick of soul.
Beginning as a lay preacher decades ago, I never assume the congregation are all committed Christians. Of course, there are times when we directly address in-house needs, spiritual or secular. However, few ideas have been more offense to my sense of gospel ministry than the proposition that most of those listening no longer need a rebirth. I make it a practice to preach or minister to the hungry and let the satiated fend for themselves, since that is what they do anyway.
Repentance does not lessen in Christian life. No, it deepens and it is the lack of a confessionally repentant lifestyle that I find so disturbing in Christianity today.
Thank you for bringing this to the front of the class.
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