Play along with me here. Let's say you didn't normally go to church. Let's even say you have an aversion to church. And you wouldn't describe yourself as religious or even spiritual. OK, now answer this questions:
Q:If you wanted to find a pastor, minister or priest where would you go?
A: "A church (although these days you might say Starbucks.)"
Q: "When do religious people go to church?"
A: Mostly likely you would answer, "Sunday mornings."
Q: "What happens at most churches on a Sunday morning?"
A: You might say, "singing (whether you liked the music or not), someone would talk about the Bible, God and/or Jesus (even if you don't buy what they are selling) and there would be an ask for money (every week!).
Q: If you were to go to church what would you wear?
A: You might think, "I will dress up."
Here's my point: I think there is still a need for conventicle churches in our day and age. The reason is because there is still a stereotypical image of "church" lodged in the collective consciousness of western society.
If one Sunday morning you, as the non-religious, non-church goer decided, for whatever reason, you wanted or needed to go to church where would go?
Would you go to church I work at and attended? Nope. We meet on Tuesday nights, not on Sunday mornings.
Would you go to a movie theater, Jr. High School or even a pub? Probably not. Who would look for a church in those places.
Would you try to find a church with the coolest name (eg. Vox, Mathew's House, Quest or b2x)? Doubt it, since these don't even sound likes churches?
Would you look for a themed church to match your style (eg. Cowboys, Skater or Facebook)? Nope.
You would probably find a church like the one your grandma took you to when you were six and it was Easter.
I say this because with the push to find all kinds of ways to "do church differently" there is still a need for smart, creative and passionate people to be a church that fits some of the old clichés in order to reach people with the gospel. Its not all about the new. Its not all about the different. Its not all about chucking the past, forsaking tradition and the being "progressive." It is about caring for people and establishing bridges to met right where they are. Sometimes the old is just as good as the new. Sometimes the old is better than the new.
1 comment:
Hey, we went to a church in a movie theater, the singing was lame, but the pastor always had movie clips to go with his message!
But, you're right, most people go with what they know. And most people resist change, but that can be a bad thing. My home church growing up did not want to change and eventually the old members died off and the church was no more, what a waste.
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