Invitation Mode
The church is in the invitation business. That was the core of my Y Church message last week. We're in the business of inviting people who haven't RSVPed yet to God's party.
I'm trying to live in invitation mode these days. I don't want to miss opportunities to invite someone to NCC. So I bumped into someone this morning who is essentially unchurched. He attends church very sporadically. I gave him a NCC AMR and invited him to our DTR series this Sunday. He accepted the invitation.
I feel like I preach better when I know someone is coming to church that I have personally invited. I try to put everything I have into every message every Sunday. But when I've invited someone to NCC I prepare to preach with them in mind. I feel like it sharpens my preaching ax.
Nothing changes the way we experience church like inviting someone to come with us. I have this simple rule of thumb: don't complain about NCC unless you're inviting people to church with you. Please don't take that the wrong way :) But if you attend NCC by yourself every Sunday then you aren't really "using NCC" the way it was designed to be used.
Let me walk out on some thin ice. It's very easy for church to become a self-centered endeavor. Our motivating question becomes: what's in it for me? And I certainly want people to get grade A spiritual food. But too many of our criticisms about church are really selfish in nature. I'm not really talking about NCC because we get like two complaints per year :) But here is what I know from personal experience. Inviting people to church keeps church from becoming a self-centered activity.
For what it's worth, if someone who is inviting unchurched people to NCC offers constructive critcism I'm all ears!
I dream of a church where everyone is in invitation mode!
Imagine the potential impact.
I'm trying to live in invitation mode these days. I don't want to miss opportunities to invite someone to NCC. So I bumped into someone this morning who is essentially unchurched. He attends church very sporadically. I gave him a NCC AMR and invited him to our DTR series this Sunday. He accepted the invitation.
I feel like I preach better when I know someone is coming to church that I have personally invited. I try to put everything I have into every message every Sunday. But when I've invited someone to NCC I prepare to preach with them in mind. I feel like it sharpens my preaching ax.
Nothing changes the way we experience church like inviting someone to come with us. I have this simple rule of thumb: don't complain about NCC unless you're inviting people to church with you. Please don't take that the wrong way :) But if you attend NCC by yourself every Sunday then you aren't really "using NCC" the way it was designed to be used.
Let me walk out on some thin ice. It's very easy for church to become a self-centered endeavor. Our motivating question becomes: what's in it for me? And I certainly want people to get grade A spiritual food. But too many of our criticisms about church are really selfish in nature. I'm not really talking about NCC because we get like two complaints per year :) But here is what I know from personal experience. Inviting people to church keeps church from becoming a self-centered activity.
For what it's worth, if someone who is inviting unchurched people to NCC offers constructive critcism I'm all ears!
I dream of a church where everyone is in invitation mode!
Imagine the potential impact.
1 Comments:
Mark,
Appreciated the "parable" about inviting people who haven't RSVPed to God's party. Wonder where I have heard that story before?
Good thoughts.
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