The situation is like this: You are talking to someone that is new to the community and they ask you, "Do you know of any good churches around here?" Your heart starts to race and you think quickly about what you can say about your own church that will get this person to attend your congregation. So you bring out the big guns, "Yeah, our church. We have a new building, we have great food in between services, the people are real nice, and we really like our pastor." You feel relieved because you have done your part of getting them to church and letting the Holy Spirit do the rest. Is there anything inherently wrong with this approach? Not necessarily. The only problem is this, Was there any Jesus or Gospel talk in that conversation? Not really. The conversation included the building, food, people, and the leader, but nothing on God, His gifts, and especially not on Jesus. Why do we do this? Not really sure. Probably due to our consumerism mind in America.
So what is a good response with this kind of situation? Well, I'm not fully sure. One example that I heard was this, "Yeah, our church. We preach Christ and His crucifixion on the cross. Each week we receive forgiveness, and we even get a taste of heaven every other week." The focus is on God, something perfect. Not on the imperfect pastor, the wearing down building, and especially on the food that might not be the favorite of everyone.
Any thoughts?
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