It is indeed true that we are not growing in the western Church (North America and Europe) for many reasons, but near the top because we have no consistent way to give people a chance to come to know Jesus.
Think about your own situation.
A. Do you do a simple, clear cut, passionate but not overly emotional opportunity for people to respond to trusting Christ with their lives? By “consistent” I mean at least 80% of the time? If not, you have some work to do.
B. Do you understand how to organize a single way to give people to respond at a weekend message? I.E., once you have given a great message, do you leave people hanging, or do you give them a chance to respond – to those present who don’t yet know Jesus?
C. Most Importantly: Are you building an invitational environment that both gives away simple tools to your people as well as building constant encouragement and excitement about seeing lives changed through easily approachable small risks.
4 users commented in " Make a way for a response… "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI love this site Steve. Thanks for all the work you and Charlie (and the rest of the staff there) give to help encourage and inspire us.
One of the things I like about your blog is that you give us the “push” to start working out these things in our own context (although sometimes I would much rather just have a “5 points to success”).
I would love to hear your thoughts on how people will come to Christ in the future. In the past we tended to celebrate a “decision of accepting Christ.” In our context here, we are seeing people “process” coming to faith in Christ. If this is indeed how people are moving to Christ, what part of the “invitation” is still relevant and how will we be able to use this to reach more for Christ?
Love to hear your thoughts.
Hey Steve - such great stuff. A request! Could you please give us a concrete example (script would be a bad word, but you know what I’m driving at..) of each of the items in a,b,c above?
Thanks Steve!
Giving away the simple tools of 5 packs of gum gave real feet to last week’s sermon.
It’s also gotten lots of communication about who we are reaching, what communities, etc. I’m grateful to have flushed out some inappropriate preconceived notions of what “outreach” meant. (One person didn’t think he should reach out to his community because the church building was in another community!!).
Marc
In response to Jeff L.’s question here is some clarification though I am about to release an e-book that will address all of this in greater detail - so look for that in the next few weeks.
Re an invitation - be consistent, be simple, be non-religious for Pete’s sake. One of the rapidly growing churches in the US today that is making “waves” is led by a guy who had emailed me several times to thank me for the counsel I have offered several times in this regard. In fact, if you watch him on TV you will hear him praying this exact prayer with those responding, ‘Well God, here I am…’
This is the most profound, the deepest cry of the human heart possible. Granted, it is not a substantially theologically deep prayer that would satisfy many who are not evangelists - but ask yourself, “Do those who are praying the prayer at hand really understand what they are praying when we toss in lingo they don’t yet get? To all relationships there is a process of growth - especially our relationship with God. We tell him we love him at first and we want to follow him - that seems quite enough AT FIRST. If they have really caught it they will of course begin to consume the scriptures like meat and drink. Maybe they will need to be told what is what - or more likely than not, they will figure it out for themselves like many.
There is little model for a “sinner’s prayer” in the scriptures, as there is little to no model for much of what we hold high in the U.S. church culture (many feel incredibly guilty when they hear the words “Quiet Time” even mentioned because their style of prayer is not in keeping with what has been the tradition of a given group… the truth is, there are many - perhaps as many ways as there are people who love Jesus - to engage in prayer…
Thus, the whole concept of “How does one best engage in a relationship with Jesus” is one that is best answered by pastors who have led churches who have seen many come to Christ. Let’s remove this discussion out of the arena of theologians. I know numbers of theological professors - admire them as long as they confine their counsel to what they have knowledge in - knowledge is not necessarily a theoretical matter, but an experiencial one as well.
I’ll stop here. Thanks Jeff and Co for the great question. This helps me understand where the “itch” exists most clearly so I can address it.
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