Friday, March 30, 2007

Who should be comfortable on a Sunday morning?

Check out this quote from Shawn Lovejoy:
I've never met a Christian that SAID they wanted the church to be all about them. Every Christian I have ever met has SAID they want the church to reach out to people disconnected from Christ. However, do you know what I've found? Most churches want to reach the unchurched as long as they don't have to get uncomfortable doing it! Most Christians want to unconsciously focus the ministry and philosophy of the church in such a way that it feels comfortable to them and what they are used to, while attempting to reach the unchurched. But you can't have it both ways!
To read the rest of the blog entry, click here.

Shawn is the founding pastor of Mountain Lake Church in Atlanta. They planted that church about 8 years ago and they're now running about 2,000 in weekend attendance. Two weeks ago they baptized about 300 people in one weekend!
After thinking about this quote for awhile, something struck me - they have thousands of Christians that are a part of their church. Not all of their growth has been from new Christians. I talked with the other pastor who helped start Mountain Lake and he told me that while their focus upon the disconnected turns away some Christians, they've attracted Christians who understand their vision and purpose.
Maybe you can't make everyone comfortable at the same time, but you can focus upon the disconnected while also pumping up Christians who share that same evangelistic intensity!

No comments: