"If your church closed its doors tomorrow, would the community miss you?"
Read that last sentence again. Did you catch what I am asking. Do you understand the significance of the question, and, especially, the answer that accompanies the question. How about I ask it in a different way...
"If your church closed its doors tomorrow, would your community even know?"
These two questions are not meant to indict your church, nor are they meant to send you down a "pity-party" road. They are simply meant to get you thinking about your churches role in the community. As many of you ponder the question, I am sure that thoughts of relevance, being missional, and intentionality come to the forefront of your mind. I have to believe that the overwhelming answer for most churches would have to be "NO, the community wouldn't miss them." The reason for this conclusion is due to the fact that a lot of churches sit mostly empty throughout the week, including Sunday morning.
If you are like me, the next question that goes through my mind is, "how did this happen?" At what point did a church go from being active in the community and relevant, to be nothing more than another building sitting on a street corner?
If you're having trouble coming up with an answer, allow me to get the ball rolling by asking you three questions. These questions are not comprehensive, but are meant to begin the process of self-examination.
- Does your church expect people to show up just because the church doors are open?
- How involved is your church in community events? (football games; carnivals; fair; etc.)
- Does the vast majority of your outreach events involve people coming to your building or you going to the people?
May all of our churches be impacting the community in such a way that there would be a huge void if the church did close its doors.
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