Five Church Reflections
I read Jim & Casper Go To Church on a plane to Kansas City this week. Just thought I'd share the cliff notes.
A longtime Christian, Jim Henderson, and an athiest, Matt Casper, chronicle their journey to eleven churches and share their evaluations. I'm not 100% sure how I felt about the book for this reason: some of what the authors perceived as negatives could be perceived as positives by other people so it seemed very subjective. And I'm not sure you can evaluate from one weekend service! I'd hate to have NCC evaluated on one weekend. Especially if my message tanked that week! I certainly don't want to be judged by one weekend service. So I felt bad for the pastors and churches that were profiled. Seemed a little unfair because I think about everything else they are doing for the kingdom--missions, outreach, small groups, compassion ministries, etc.
But I also think the book was a valuable exercise in church-reflection. It is so easy to become a closed system. The longer we are in a system the more we lose perspective. We stop noticing what guests notice. So in that respect, this book really helped me look in the mirror and evaluate NCC.
Here's the bottom line: if we want to reach people who are outside our churches then we need to view our churches through the eyes of outsiders!
Here are some personal observations:
1) You can be Too Excellent.
I'm all for excellence, but you can be "too contrived, too slick, too professional." There is a difference between soul-full and soul-less excellence. People perceive the spirit behind our preaching and singing and greeting! And anything that doesn't come from pure motives is seen as hypocritical. Excellence isn't enough! It's got to be excellence coupled with authenticity!
2) Actions are the Best Apologetic.
I really think justic issues present the church with an amazing opportunity to show what we're about. Yes, people need to know what we believe. But they would be more likely to believe if they saw what we do. We have a team of NCCers in Uganda right now building an orphanage. That may be the clearest expression of what we believe! That is a true apologetic! We need to silence our critics with our good deeds that are purely motivated by our love for Christ and His love for us!
We need to incorporate not just a call to worship but a call to action in our services. I think we assume people will know what to do with what we say. Bad assumption. We need to answer the question: what do you want me to do? Our preaching needs to be less theoretical and more practical. We need to be action-oriented and application-oriented.
3) Just Say Hi.
It's amazing, but one of the reminders from the book is that an entire church experience can be defined by one hello or the lack thereof! And it can't just be the greeters. It's got to be the unscripted, unplanned moments. There is no replacement for genuine hosppitality. Just say hi.
4) Keep it Positive.
Tone is just as important as topic when it comes to preaching. God speaks through our unique personalities, but there has to be an underlying humility. A negative tone is a huge turn off. We need to be more straight-up about what we believe to be right and wrong. But we also need to speak the truth in love!
5) People won't listen to us if they don't like us.
Lots of people have what I would call church scars. They have hurtful or irrelevant church experiences in their past and we can ignore that or acknowledge that. One of my favorite statements in the book was this: "When people like each other the rules change." That's a simple yet profound insight! People won't listen to us if they don't like us! I'm afraid the church's likability factor isn't super high because many people see us as judgmental and angry. We've got to get back to what should define us: love!
A longtime Christian, Jim Henderson, and an athiest, Matt Casper, chronicle their journey to eleven churches and share their evaluations. I'm not 100% sure how I felt about the book for this reason: some of what the authors perceived as negatives could be perceived as positives by other people so it seemed very subjective. And I'm not sure you can evaluate from one weekend service! I'd hate to have NCC evaluated on one weekend. Especially if my message tanked that week! I certainly don't want to be judged by one weekend service. So I felt bad for the pastors and churches that were profiled. Seemed a little unfair because I think about everything else they are doing for the kingdom--missions, outreach, small groups, compassion ministries, etc.
But I also think the book was a valuable exercise in church-reflection. It is so easy to become a closed system. The longer we are in a system the more we lose perspective. We stop noticing what guests notice. So in that respect, this book really helped me look in the mirror and evaluate NCC.
Here's the bottom line: if we want to reach people who are outside our churches then we need to view our churches through the eyes of outsiders!
Here are some personal observations:
1) You can be Too Excellent.
I'm all for excellence, but you can be "too contrived, too slick, too professional." There is a difference between soul-full and soul-less excellence. People perceive the spirit behind our preaching and singing and greeting! And anything that doesn't come from pure motives is seen as hypocritical. Excellence isn't enough! It's got to be excellence coupled with authenticity!
2) Actions are the Best Apologetic.
I really think justic issues present the church with an amazing opportunity to show what we're about. Yes, people need to know what we believe. But they would be more likely to believe if they saw what we do. We have a team of NCCers in Uganda right now building an orphanage. That may be the clearest expression of what we believe! That is a true apologetic! We need to silence our critics with our good deeds that are purely motivated by our love for Christ and His love for us!
We need to incorporate not just a call to worship but a call to action in our services. I think we assume people will know what to do with what we say. Bad assumption. We need to answer the question: what do you want me to do? Our preaching needs to be less theoretical and more practical. We need to be action-oriented and application-oriented.
3) Just Say Hi.
It's amazing, but one of the reminders from the book is that an entire church experience can be defined by one hello or the lack thereof! And it can't just be the greeters. It's got to be the unscripted, unplanned moments. There is no replacement for genuine hosppitality. Just say hi.
4) Keep it Positive.
Tone is just as important as topic when it comes to preaching. God speaks through our unique personalities, but there has to be an underlying humility. A negative tone is a huge turn off. We need to be more straight-up about what we believe to be right and wrong. But we also need to speak the truth in love!
5) People won't listen to us if they don't like us.
Lots of people have what I would call church scars. They have hurtful or irrelevant church experiences in their past and we can ignore that or acknowledge that. One of my favorite statements in the book was this: "When people like each other the rules change." That's a simple yet profound insight! People won't listen to us if they don't like us! I'm afraid the church's likability factor isn't super high because many people see us as judgmental and angry. We've got to get back to what should define us: love!
4 Comments:
hammer just hit head...thanks for those observations Mark...the whole assumption that our flock is understanding our "call to action" is HUGE...I am revisting my sermon notes for this week NOW!!
chill
even as a pastor's wife, it's good to be reminded of these things - things we take for granted. it's Christianity 101 , but it's good to be reminded.
Hi, Mark! Thanks for your review of "Jim & Casper Go to Church." I'm a volunteer with Jim's organization Off the Map and I wanted to let you know about our Live event coming up this November in Seattle. Both Jim and Matt Casper will be speaking at this event. Here is the link if you want to find out more: http://www.offthemap.com/live
Mark, I read your blog from Texas and also read this book. Alhtough I understand your reservations about the book, I soaked up everything about it. I have had so many of the same thoughts as Casper, but as a Christian. And I'm sure that the rest of the unchurched will only pay attention when the actions PRECEED the words. Love your blog. Thanks for serving in Christ.
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