A recent survey found that on any given Sunday in the Jenison, Hudsonville area 25,000 people attend worship while 34,000 stay home.
The question which surrounds this truth is, "Who are the 34,000?" Are they believers who just attend church a once or twice a month? So it's a different 34,000 each week? Are there a large group of people who have quit church or don't believe? If it is the first group, why don't they believe worshipping God weekly is important? If it's the second group, what does the church need to do to get to know those who have quit church or don't believe?
1 comment:
well, I looked at this website with "unchurched" people who were surveyed.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-01-09-unchurched-survey_N.htm
Found this the most interesting..."Most of the unchurched (86%) say they believe they can have a "good relationship with God without belonging to a church." And 79% say "Christianity today is more about organized religion than loving God and loving people."
Then read the lines right after that one...89% will listen to people about their beliefs and 71% believe that Jesus has a "good impact" on a person's life.
This doesn't surprise me at all as I run into people coming out of college or around my age that have left the church all together. There is a sense among these people that church is filled with hypocrites and empty religiosity. They are still open to talking, but have a hatred towards organized religion.
I think a key to getting people to church is to think of more ways to follow out on our current message of "making passionate follower's of Jesus." It is the reflection of the lives of people in our church community that will make people want to come. It's easy to say things and put a pretty bow on it, but it's life-change that people are waiting to see. If I've been in church for 5-20 yrs and my life looks no different than the person next to me, Why would anyone want to waste their time. I believe God wants to see more people in His church, but first, I think He wants the people that are there to go deeper in their relationship with Him.
So, We go deeper = Our faith becomes more real and transformation/life-change occurs.
Life Change Occurs = More people want that life-change
More People Want It = More people come to the body of Christ.
More people come to the body = We Feast!
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