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I Corinthians 9:22
Once upon a time I met a pagan woman. The odd thing about this woman was how she would say grace before her meals. I still have no idea who she was thanking. The point I took from our chance meeting is that people are different. Most people today cannot be reached just by singing “Jesus Loves Me.” People really need to see Jesus working in their lives through the loving acts of individual Christians or congregations. That comes right out of I John 3:18. This idea that people are different nearly coincided with a conversation I had with a leader of a small congregation.
I expressed an idea to this church leader about how their building could be rented from noon – 2 p.m. for a new congregation which didn’t yet have a building. This was suggested as an idea to reach unchurched people. This would occur at some point in the future. This was nothing I would be involved with personally; I was just planting a seed with that church leader. Those to be reached, would be people that see no relevance of Jesus Christ to their lives. They would be people who would not attend a typical 9:30 a.m. Bible class and 10:30 a.m. worship service. The services of this new congregation would begin with a meal each week around noon, followed by a casual worship time with more contemporary singing, and a good gospel message (although maybe shorter than a typical sermon). The only meeting time at the building would be Sundays from noon-2:00 p.m. Other meeting times would be mid-week small groups, service projects, and various other fellowship events. This congregation would in no way interfere with the current one meeting at the church building. The new church might even reach out to people who would eventually gravitate toward the smaller congregation that met in the building on Sunday mornings, which catered to a more traditional crowd.
The argument against such an idea was, “If people don’t want to come worship with us (our congregation) and don’t like the things we do, then they don’t need to use our building.” I explained that the congregation would be made up, for the most part, of unchurched people. These would not be your typical early rising Sunday morning church goers. The answer to that was, “They get up early for their jobs on Monday morning. They should get up early for Jesus too. There’s something wrong with the society if they won’t get up early.” I sort of agreed with that assumption but tried to explain we have to reach out to people at the place they currently reside in their thoughts and beliefs. Paul did it, why shouldn’t we?
Church leaders must not assume that people who don’t go to church will one day arise thinking, “I want to be a traditional church member today. Where’s the closest church door I can break down so I can hear the gospel message of Jesus Christ?” Excuse my improper English but, “It ain’t gonna happen!”
Paul did become all things to all people so he might win some to Christ. We can do that today and still provide a powerful message concerning the good news of Christ. We can do that, even if it means our congregations meet a little later, or meet only once a week at the building. Oh my! I’ve rambled haven’t I? Or worse yet, I’ve begun to preach!
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