Most churches just keep doing what is comfortable - what they enjoy. It is just too painful to diagnose what is not working, so the leaders continue to focus on the purposes of the church, such as fellowship, worship, and Bible study, which they find easier to accomplish. Unfortunately, over time, as their Christian community becomes more ingrown, the chasm between their "un-churched" friends and them grows larger and larger.
One of the individuals surveyed in unChristian said it this way:
"So many Christians are caught up in the Christian sub-culture and are completely closed off from the world. We go to church on Wednesdays, Sundays, and sometimes on Saturdays. We attend small group on Tuesday night and serve on the Sunday school advisory board, the financial committee, and the welcoming committee. We go to barbeques with our Christian friends and plan group outings. We are closed off from the world. Even if we wanted to reach out to non-Christians, we don't have time and we don't know how."
But we soon find out that our church service is in an entirely different language that has no connection whatsoever to our friends.
Is that was Jesus had in mind when he dreamed up this thing called the church? When He came to earth to give his very life so that we might experience his love and grace, do you suppose he pictured churches where the people he died for would feel like outsiders?
Mark Beeson, pastor of Granger Community Church, once said, "It has taken the church two thousand years to make Jesus - the most compelling and attractive person that ever lived - boring!" Yet thousand of churches have made "boring" an art form. Is your church painting this very picture?
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