Meeting the Needs of the Unchurched

by Dewayne Griffin

A couple of months ago while visiting our children in Austin, Texas, Sue picked up a copy of the 20th Century Christian magazine. I found one of the articles particularly interesting and thought provoking. It was written by a brother who teaches at a Christian college in the far northwest. He made two main points; one was about how we get non-Christians to visit our worship services. The second discussed the most dangerous thing we can do for the un-churched. Concemmg the first point, he mentioned a technique that sounded very familiar to me. Simply asking people to visit with us is the most effective way to get them to come. We found that to be true during our recent mission trip to Covington. If we knocked on four doors, one person would talk to us. If we talked to four, one would agree study with us. If we studied with four, one would be baptized. At Mt. Juliet we have a beautiful new building that will seat almost 800 people. If we want to fill the building and are interested in the lost, we need to ask enough people and the Lord will work out all the percentages.
The second point, and the one I found most challenging was about what happens to the non-Christians when we invite them and they show up at our building. Most of them come with the expectation of being "bored". As a teacher and as elder, I constantly think about how we impress our visitors. Have we prepared our classes to the best of our abilities? Will we make them feel welcome in the classroom? Will our presentations hold their interest? Once in the auditorium, will we feel comfortable about moving over to make room for the visitors, or will we remain in place and make them climb over? Finally, will our visitors be challenged and uplifted by the sermon, or will they leave "bored", causing them to remember why they stopped attending worship service years ago? Ifwe are unwilling to meet, welcome and serve the un-churched, inviting them to our services can surely be a dangerous thing to do.
I am not suggesting that we get into the entertainment business, however, I do think we need to make a conscious effort to serve God with enthusiasm and attention-to-detail that is unsurpassed in any other phase of our lives.

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• Don't Be Afraid to Go Out on a Limb, That's Where the Fruit Is! -Jul 03, 2005
• A Woman in Chattanooga Fasted and Prayed -Jul 03, 2005
• Taking Jesus as We Go - Even to Iraq! -Feb 20, 2005