{"id":13641,"date":"2024-11-19T01:24:04","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T08:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2c63e13a-9abe-11e8-99ad-ca52c1e5b2af"},"modified":"2024-12-30T13:36:02","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T20:36:02","slug":"stop-going-to-church-but-dont-stop-going-to-church","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/stop-going-to-church-but-dont-stop-going-to-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Going to Church (But Don’t Stop Going to Church)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lately, the pastors at my church have been a little more vocal than usual about reaching out to our neighbors. Especially around major holidays, they often give reminders and share specific opportunities to invite guests who may not yet follow Jesus.<\/p>\n

This past Easter, we had a specific campaign that challenged our congregation to think of five people they regularly engage with who aren\u2019t Christians. The idea was to keep that list visible in our homes so we could regularly pray for them and look for natural opportunities to talk with them about our faith.<\/p>\n

All of this, of course, is good. We should always have this mindset, and the reminders have been helpful since (sadly) it isn\u2019t always natural for me to think this way.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the only problem: When it came time for me to work on my list, I had trouble coming up with five people. I really <\/em>had to work to think of five people in my life who aren\u2019t yet Christians.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been a Christian as long as I can remember. I went to a Christian college. A vast majority of my family members are Christians. I work at a church. The little old lady who lives next door faithfully attends the Methodist church down the street (that was one of the first things she told me). Most days, it is entirely possible I won\u2019t even speak <\/em>with anyone who doesn\u2019t know Jesus.<\/p>\n

Bubbles and tribes<\/h4>\n

Mostly because of my own life choices, I live smack-dab in the middle of the proverbial Christian bubble.<\/p>\n

It’s easy to see why. Our church always has a long list of opportunities to get involved \u2014 and they\u2019re all good things! If you\u2019re in a small group, volunteer with AWANA, attend the young adult bowling night, and eat with friends after church on Sunday, all of a sudden your social calendar is pretty full of events designed for Christians.<\/p>\n

Besides, whether you\u2019re a Christian or not, we all tend to nestle into a \u201ctribe\u201d \u2014 a group of people who subscribe to the same beliefs you do, probably have similar entertainment choices, dress similarly, have similar incomes, etc. That\u2019s the natural drift we all fall into. It\u2019s comfortable and easy to surround yourself with people who look and think and act and believe a lot like you do.<\/p>\n

How will they know?<\/h4>\n

In the book of Romans, Paul asks his audience a couple of hypothetical questions. He just finished saying that there isn\u2019t really a difference between Jews and Gentiles, and he reminds them that\u00a0anyone <\/em>who calls on God will be saved. Then he asks:<\/p>\n

\u201cBut how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him?
\nAnd how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him?
\nAnd how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?\u201d (Romans 10:14<\/a> [NLT])<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, how do you expect people to come to know Jesus if they\u2019ve never heard of him? If your friends don\u2019t understand faith, how can they learn? If the people in your community are going through life without the hope of Christ, what can you do about it?<\/p>\n

If that isn\u2019t motivation enough for you, the next verse<\/a> quotes an older passage from Isaiah that says, \u201cHow beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!\u201d<\/p>\n

You do <\/em>want beautiful feet, don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

Attention, Bubbleville!<\/h4>\n

Let me be clear: I\u2019m not saying we should stop going to church. Not at all. The author of Hebrews clearly warns us to not give up meeting together<\/a>. It\u2019s very important to have Christian community and to regularly worship and study and fellowship together.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also not blaming the church. It\u2019s good for your church and mine to offer a ton of activities designed for all age groups to grow and engage with other Christians.<\/p>\n

My warning here is for people like me: the citizens of Bubbleville who maybe need to break out and meet new people. We all need to learn to surround ourselves with people who hold different opinions, and I believe it\u2019s a good<\/em> thing to have several non-Christian friends.<\/p>\n

How can they believe if they haven\u2019t heard? And who will tell them if it isn\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

Personally, I\u2019m not a fan of the brand of evangelism<\/a> where you walk up to strangers and talk with them about God. In my opinion and from my experience, that isn\u2019t very effective. In order to introduce people to Jesus and the truths of the Bible, you have to do it gradually with people who know and trust you, which is one reason why we need to develop those friendships.<\/p>\n

If you want to get started on this with me, here are a few tips: Don\u2019t make anyone feel like they\u2019re on your \u201clist.\u201d Don\u2019t make them feel targeted for being different. Don\u2019t crowd and attack them. Instead, just love them well and try to do two things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Be normal.<\/li>\n
  2. Be nice.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Let them know where you stand with your faith, but then be normal and nice. Odds are most non-Christians in America today know some Christians who are weird and mean. We do some weird and mean things sometimes. We should stop that.<\/p>\n

    Hopefully you\u2019re already doing better at this than I am, but I think all <\/em>of us would do well to increase the reach of our influence. We have good news to share that the world needs to hear.<\/p>\n

    Do you know any non-Christians? Do you regularly interact with them? What are some practical ways you can get out of Bubbleville and start developing meaningful relationships with your non-Christian acquaintances?<\/p>\n

    Copyright 2017 Matt Ehresman. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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