Should we be like a plant?

So we've all heard of church plants. Where some church people decide to start a new church. Sometimes they're quite successful. So who goes to them? Here's some interesting data on that.

Turns out that about half the people were previously not part of a church. This is a far cry from mainstream church where only about 2% are new to church. Most have always gone to church, or have switched from another church to their current one.

So what's the big secret behind this ability to connect with people from outside? Well there's data on that too. Turns out that the most successful way to connect with people is to invite them.

So if it's so incredibly successful why don't we do it more? Why don't we invite people we know? Deep down I think we know it's because we know they wouldn't like it. Why? Because it's designed for us, not them. We make church this weird thing that only makes sense to people who go. Sure Jesus is great, but church is weird.

We say we'd like more people to come, but we know they won't. We know it would be awkward. So we're not going to invite people we know. Why would we put a friend through that?

So perhaps the first step is to make church less weird. Something we could invite someone to. Something that a normal person could come to. It might be hard, but it could be good practice at thinking less about ourselves and more about our neighbour.

PS. There's also the possibility that we spend so much time in church and doing church activities that we don't have meaningful connections outside churchland. if you don't know any non-churchgoers, who would you invite anyway. More on that another time.

What's the difference?

Yesterday I summarised the first chapter of Radical, by David Platt. He wrote about how ignoring Jesus' words can result in church becoming quite self-serving, and a Christian lifestyle that is barely distinguishable from the secular lifestyle.

I recently read the following pastor bio on a church website (name deleted):

"____’s heart has been captured by the love of Jesus, who was prepared to lay His own life down [..] ____ enjoys spending time with his wife and young son, sharing a meal with friends, watching a good movie and playing pretty much any sport."

I'm sure the pastor is a great guy, but this bio is the kind of thing David Platt was talking about. First part: Jesus does something amazing for me. Second part: I live a life of family, friends movies and sport - precisely the same as millions of people who couldn't care less about Jesus.

Yes, I understand that these bios are designed to make the pastor look relatable; a person 'just like me'. But I think there's a case for balancing that with showing some sign of a life that is not 'just like mine'. Otherwise, what's the point?

Radical

I'm currently reading Radical: Taking back your faith from the american dream by David Platt. Long time readers may remember how i found this book.

Here's what happened in Chapter 1:

"We have missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable. We were settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves."

Why do we do this? Author David Pratt says we look at what Jesus asks of his followers, and find it too difficult. We decide (or perhaps pretend) that he didn't really mean those things. We effectively re-model Christianity to make a jesus that wants us to avoid any sort of danger or extreme behaviour. A jesus that comforts us as we live out our Christian version of the American dream.

This makes jesus a lot like us, which is convenient because that's who we're comfortable with. But of course this mean that when we say we worshipping god we're probably just worshipping ourselves.

He talks about the effects of Christians who don't follow God's command to gve to the poor, but instead buy larger homes nicer cars and more stuff. Such Christians gather millions on a nice building cushioned chairs and program to enjoy for themslevs.

David Platt tells of a Christian newsletter. The first headline reads "Church celebrates 23 million dollar building". The second headline declares "Baptist relief helps Sudanese refugees". In Sudan there were 350,000 refugees dying of malnutrition as a result of the war there. The Baptists sent $5,000.

Isn't that just wrong? For every dollar to help the poor and suffering we can find $4,600 to spend on ourselves.

Sometimes I wonder if this is part of the reason church struggles. Why would anyone outside the church go to the effort of joining it, just to live the same lifestyle but with a tiny bit of Christian flavour.

Perhaps if we want people to take Christianity seriously perhaps we should take it seriously first.

Is Good Friday too good to share?

Have you ever tried to find a church on Good Friday? I tried this year, as my church's 8am service was just too early.

I checked a couple of nearby churches. Both 8am. Out of curiosity I checked about 7 churches. The absolute latest was 9am.

Is this a problem? Actually it's two problems.

Early to rise - early to hide

It's Good Friday. It's a public holiday at the end of a working week. On a public holiday when most places are closed, why do churches think that we want to get up even earlier than on a workday? Particularly on one of the features of Christian calendar - and hence an opportunity to connect with newcomers - why do we schedule services for the most inconvenient time? Are we trying to keep our faith hidden? By the time most people are up and out of the house we'll all be finished and the church will be locked shut.

The war of Good Friday

Even if 8am is the 'prime time' for having a Good Friday service, why do churches battle each other for it. By clashing our services we pit one church against the other rather than working together for the common good.

Imagine a person thinking of going to church over the Easter long weekend. They do a search and find 4 churches all starting before 9. They choose to go to none.

Time to break ranks

Imagine how that could be different if there were local services at 8am, 9.30, 11 and midday. Perhaps the latter ones could even serve hot cross buns after the service.

Surely this variety of options would increase the possibility of new people engaging with the church and the message of Jesus.

Update: See what we tried in 2017

Prayer beats scare

Today I heard of a city-based church youth group that approached people in the streets on a Friday night. They made the offer to anyone they met that the cathedral, with lots of candles, is available if you would like to light a candle and pray about anything. People were quite open to that offer. 278 candles were lit that night.

The man telling me this story reflected on the evangelism efforts of his youth (many years ago). He and a mate would go up to people and ask them "If you died tonight, where would you spend eternity?". In hindsight he is surprised that it led to any meaningful conversations, given that it was such a blatant 'turn or burn' message.

Perhaps it was different in the 60s and 70s. Australia was less diverse. You were either religious or not. Religious people went to heaven because they were 'good'. Being good equalled religious equalled heaven. Why not sign up? Even if it was a bit guilt-based.

It seems these days are different. In a more multicultural society, there are questions as to whether any particular religion can be sure what happens after death. So presenting yourself as certain seems arrogant. Particularly in Australia, that's an instant put-off.

In today's society it also seems like there is so much more to be concerned about. In a world that seems so overwhelming, it's perhaps not surprising that prayer is of interest, regardless of a person's beliefs. There's just something appealing about calling out for help.

I know someone who volunteered at the Body Mind Spirit exhibition, giving people foot massages. This was quite popular at an exhibition where people are on their feet all day. After each massage she would ask each customer if there was anything she could pray for them about. Never got a single knock-back.

There's something about prayer that says 'I care about you'. There's something about hard-core evangelism that says 'Let me tell you what to think'.

It's not surprising that the first of these is more appealing.

Daddy, can I have a puppy?

How many parents have been asked that kind of question? I'm guessing almost every one*.

A kid sees a puppy at a friend's house, or on TV, or at the park. It looks cute and cuddly. Kid wants one. What usually follows is a discussion about how owning a puppy is a big responsibility. Feeding it every day before and after school, taking it for walks, cleaning up after it, etc etc.

How does this relate to church?
Churches often ask their treasurer a similar question. "Can we have a church sign like __ church has?" is a lot like "Can we have a puppy like Tommy's family do?".

The difference is that nobody has the 'big responsibility' talk that parents have with a kid. Instead it's a case of 'Buy first, think later'. For a while people get excited about the new sign (like a new puppy) but then the excitement wears off. And the result is signs like this:

Week after week it's neglected, sitting in the yard. It's obvious that nobody cares about it anymore. If it were a puppy, it would be taken to an animal shelter at this point.

There's nothing wrong with advertising the worship times, but the old sign can do that job (at a tiny fraction of the cost).

It's not about the money
While it is a waste of money to buy a sign that does nothing more than the old sign, that's not the saddest part. It's the waste of opportunity. A changeable sign offers the ability to communicate with the neighbourhood.

A sign is a chance to do something. It's a chance to tell the good stories about church. A chance to connect with community over things we have in common. A chance to inspire. A chance to offer Christian commentary on current events (see Gosford Anglican and their 22,000 facebook followers for a great example of that one).

Overall, it's a chance to improve people's apathetic or slightly negative impression of what Christianity means. The waste of this chance is the bigger waste.

Sadly, all we say is "Sunday 8.30" and people's reaction is "Yes I know - and I'm still not coming". And why would they?
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* At the beginning I said that almost every parent would be asked about a puppy. Obviously this is only in the rich western world - not in places were people struggle to feed themselves from week to week. If we are thinking about a sign, but don't have the capacity to use it wisely, it might be a more Christian thing to give the money to the poor.

Finding Money

When I buy books at a charity second-hand book sale, I'm not expecting financial gain. But that's what happened at the Lifeline Bookfest.

I picked up about 10 books that day, and was flicking through my purchases, and discovered $35 in one of the books (Radical by David Platt).

What to do? I checked the inside front cover for the previous owner's details - to return the money to them. The only words were "P.121 Just giving stuff away". Page 121 had some interesting words on Jesus...

"What if he told you and me to sell everything we have? What if he told us to sell our houses for simpler living arrangements? What if he told us to sell our cars for more modest ones - or for no cars at all? What if he told us to give away all but a couple of sets of clothes? What if ..."

A few pages earlier, the author mentioned that if we have shelter, clothes food and transport (even public transport) we are in the top 15 percent of wealthiest people.

I wonder if the money was intentional. As well as giving the books to support Lifeline's work with those in need, perhaps the money inside was a gift to the person buying this book. The previous owner's way of paying it forward.

It reminded me that part of why I buy books at Bookfest is to rescue great books and share them around. So if you know me personally, check out my library on Shared Bookshelves - and feel free to borrow any of these books from me. I'll add more as I read them.

If you're a far away reader, why not start a similar thing yourself? Put a list of your books on your church notice board - or on Shared Bookshelves - or on facebook for your Christian friends. It could be a real blessing to someone else.

PS. You probably won't find money in books you buy at Lifeline Bookfest, but you may get something even more valuable by reading these books. There are great Christian books available at a bargain price.