The Main Difference
What makes a church grow? A simple and effective answer to that question could net an author millions should he choose to write a book about it. But seriously, I've seen churches stagnate for decades in their community just to have a new church planted not 300 yards down the road that grew from nothing to 1200 over the course of a year or so. So why do some churches grow while others stagnate and die? I'd dare say that "uber blogger" Tim Challies has presented the best answer I have read to date. The biggest factor is how we view the world around us. Are lost people our enemies, or are they potential friends? How you answer that question has a major impact on your church. I would encourage everyone to read his article here:
Distrust, Suspicion, or Love
posted by Pastor John @ 6:04 AM
2 Comments:
John,
Thanks for this post. I don't know if I would have made that connection on my own. I knew something was there, but couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe I didn't want to admit to that kind of enmity between our church members and those outside the walls.
I was the same way. I grew up in a series of small churches that talked about evangelism more than they did it, and then went to a very evangelistic church in Louisville, so I've seen both attitudes, but never really thought about it in these terms.
The big question left to ask is how do we take people who see the lost as threats and bring them to the point of acceptance?
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