STOP INVITING PEOPLE TO CHURCH

Maybe, the title of this blog makes you a little uncomfortable. Maybe, it makes you a little upset and up for a good challenging argument. What ever emotion you are feeling, just hear me out...

I think the church in America has completely lost what it is to be the Church. 

I want you to seriously consider and ask yourself this question.... does my church look like the church that Jesus described in the New Testament? 

When reading Acts, the launch of the church planting movement, can you honestly say "my church is a good representation of that"?

In this season of life I find myself in a bunch of churches. All different kinds of churches. Non-Denom, southern baptist, charismatic, conservative... the works. And I am sad to say that there are so few churches that look like the church I read of in the New Testament. 

On a positive note, there are some! And these churches are doing incredible things and seeing God move in unbeleivable ways! Some churches even openly acknowledge they have done it wrong for far to long and are attempting to get back on track.

But... not the majority. 

Here's the problem... pastors are teaching their people the wrong thing.


I spoke at a church in the South Florida area and I spoke on Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:18-20. You know.... the typical missionary passages. (you can listen to it here. It is the same message but at a different church) 

I spoke primarily on how we are all commanded to go regardless of geographical location.

It was really meant to motivate people and move them to get out of the church building and actually be the church! I was commissioning them to go and make disciples just like Jesus commanded us!

At the end of the service I had this very nice lady who walked up to me and told me that she appreciated my message. She than told me a story about the family that lives next door to hers and how they always invite them over for dinner. 

Great! Right?

She then proceeded to tell me, quite proudly, that she always tells them; "I'll come to dinner when you come to church with me!"..... So far neither has happened.

In my mind I immediately began thinking, "did she hear my message at all?".

I very respectfully replied, "well what if you went to dinner and brought church to them? Who knows, maybe they will even one day come to church after all."

This story is the perfect example of the problem in our churches today. And pastors, we have to take responsibility for it. We have communicated this message of "bring your lost friends to church and we will take it from there"! Wether this was intentional or not, we have to honestly look into our churches and ask, "who is actually Going"?

We have to commission our people to go and make disciples just like Jesus did! And we need to help them realize that they really can do this. This isn't a job simply for pastors. We are "the Royal Priesthood of believers" (1 Peter 2:9)!

It's time we get back to being the church rather than going to church.