Stop Inviting People to Church

Ever since I started following Christ at age 16, I thought that "the thing to do" was to invite people to church. Oh yeah - as a pastor, I led congregational programs like "Bring a Friend Sunday." And we had Sunday school growth campaigns, where the idea was to invite family and friends to Sunday school. And I continued in this mode through the last 31 years as a lay member of my church.


But no more! I challenge you to stop inviting people to church!

Yes, you read that correctly. Stop inviting people to church. I started thinking about this after reading David Platt, “I realized I was on a collision course with an American church culture where success is defined by bigger crowds, bigger budgets, and bigger buildings. I was now confronted with a startling reality: Jesus actually spurned the things that my church culture said were most important. So what was I to do?”[1]

You see, 21st Century Discipling is NOT about growing bigger churches, bigger budgets, and all those things. It's about sharing Christ with your oikos (Greek word meaning family, friends, close circle of relationships). Sharing Christ should be a normal, natural part of life.

We do it by the language we use, by the attitudes we display, by the way we spend our money, by the people we hang out with, and by sharing our faith story whenever possible. Can you tell your faith story in 2 minutes or less? Try this:

1. Find the one word that describes what your life was like before you started following Christ. Write 2 or 3 sentences explaining that one word.
2. Then write 2 or 3 sentences telling what happened when you decided to follow Christ.
3. Then find the one word that describes the benefits of following Christ. Write 2 or 3 sentences explaining that one word.

Here's my faith story, developed by this process:

When I was 16 years old, the main thing I wanted was to be happy. I tried everything I could think of to be happy, but the end result was that I was miserable. That's when I asked God to forgive my sins and I prayed, "Lord, I've tried it my way and it doesn't work. I'm ready to try it your way. I'll do anything you want me to do." And when he forgave my sin, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. And ever since then, my life has been characterized by joy. Joy is so much more than happiness - happiness depends on circumstances, but the joy of the Lord is my strength, and I feel it even when circumstances are bad. 

My one word was "miserable." And my second one word was "joy." By remembering those two words, I now can share my faith story immediately, and in less than 2 minutes. The timing is important, because we live in a sound bite generation, and most people will listen for 2 minutes, but they won't listen to all the details of your life story.

Give it try! Stop inviting people to church, and start sharing your faith story. Your oikos will listen, and will want to know more about this Christ you follow.

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[1] David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2010), 2.