(Less Than) 20 Questions

Recently stumbled across a list of 21 Questions I've Been Asking Myself by Tim Brister. Here are 7 that i found particularly relevant.

1. If our church ceased to exist, would it be missed?

I find this question a good test of whether we are actually being good news to the community, or just for the 'in-crowd'.

3. If the only possible means of connecting with unbelievers were through the missionary living of our church members, how much would we grow? (I ask this because the early church did not have signs, websites, ads, marketing, etc.)

I've sometimes wondered a similar thing: "If public worship was illegal, what would church be?".

6. What are we allowing to be our measuring stick of church health? (attendance vs. discipleship; seating capacity vs. sending capacity, etc.)

Ouch! Sometimes the thing that are the easiest to measure are not the things that actually matter.

7. Are the priorities of our church in line with the priorities of Christ’s kingdom?

This has got to be the biggest one hasn't it? Otherwise we should perhaps consider taking the word 'church' out of our name.

13. What can we learn about our evangelism practices by the kind of people are being reached with the gospel?

Have i mentioned black box theory? We reach people who fit our comfort-zone. Problem is, Jesus asked us to take his love to all people.

15. What percentage of our growth is conversion growth (vs. transfer growth)?

I'm sure we've all seen excitement over increased attendance, even when not one person is a new Christian. It's just shuffling churchgoers from one church to another. Kind of reminds me of the classic Bert and Ernie cookie sketch. Moving things around doesn't change how many there are.

17. How many people do I know (and more importantly know me) on a first name basis in my community and city who do not attend our church?

This kind of links back to number 3, and is kind of important if we are to fulfil the gospel.

Anyway, there's my thoughts. You can read Tim's full list here.