Incarnational Practices
I ran across this article today and wanted to share it with those of you who read my blog from our church as well as other planters/pastors out there working to lead a church to be incarnational in the local community.
Next-Wave Ezine > church & culture
posted by John Henson at 10/04/2005 11:53:00 PM
3 Comments:
Thanks for the link, John. It's definitely a thought provoking article, but I can't say that I completely agree with all of his conclusions - particularly #7 - "Limit your attractiveness."
I really don't believe that "Come and see" and "Go and tell" are mutually exclusive.
But if you're attracting a few too many, just send em my way...:)
But then again, I'm just another blog monkey, so what do I know? :-D
I agree . . . with the former not the latter. I do know that there are plenty of churches using an attractive model, attracting people to attend but not having much beyond the worship service and maybe a small group. I like the book mentioned in #7, the Shaping of Things to Come, and how it addresses the need for churches to think beyond gathering a crowd on Sunday for a service to strategically positioning itself to be salt and light in the community during the week--gathering only to scatter. There, however, should be balance to this thinking. I realize that we will have a greater impact on our community by including more people in the work, which involves doing things in such a way to get on the map in a community, attracting people with a readiness for attending. You and I both know that excellent programs and 4 color mailers are legion in our community, all of which can't compete with the attractiveness of a Christ follower who has become incarnational in his neighborhood, loving his neighbors like Jesus. I struggle with marketing to attract, wanting people to know how wonderful it is to gather for worship and experience community but still not wanting to get lost in the conusmerism of our culture. As I look back on this post, I remember why my blog is called what it is.
Well said, my friend.
You know, for a cartoon, you're pretty smart...
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