OK, I have to air out a frustration here. For those of you who like to think planting a church is always wonderful, God-inspiring work - you may want to turn your head for a minute.
This has happened a few times since we started, and some of the names and places have been changed to protect the innocent: Said Christian family visits the church one Sunday and grabs me after the service to begin the game. Stop me if you've heard this before - they have been shopping around for a church for a while, and we seem to have a few things that might interest them. "Could we meet for lunch sometime this week so you can give us the full sales pitch?" I say "sure", because I'm always there for food and we set a date.
At lunch over burritos, I share my heart and they probe for why we would be more deserving of their attendance than the last 5 churches they have tried out. I'm a nice person, so at the end of the interview I pick up the check and tell them I hope to see them on Sunday.
Said Christian family shows up a couple more times to kick the tires a bit...see what other incentives we could offer them to join...could we possibly throw in a leadership position to be named later? Something obviously goes horribly wrong because suddenly they disappear for a couple of weeks.
That's all fine - I kind of understand most of that - but here's what really gets me: said Christian family decides to call me one day to let me know that they have prayed about it - a lot, and we just are not the church for them. But if the other church somehow fails to fulfill their duties as their church of the month, we might still be the winner! O glory be!!!
Sometimes, lost people just seem to be nicer than us Christians. Why is that?
Alright, I'm done. It's safe to look again... :)
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5 comments:
can you imagine for a minute what the mild-spoken apostle paul -or better yet, peter- would have done in your situation?
ouch.
i know it ain't easy to see from the beginning of something like that, but man, i'll tell you what - sometimes you thank God they didn't vote you the winner. and i also have seen this to be true - for every one that you "lose" (if that's really a loss) like this, there's another one God has in mind that is the perfect fit for your gig - who'll catch your vision and be there because God brought you together, not because of your burrito-filled sales pitch.
don't lose heart, friend. you're better off.
Chris, whenever you get a chance shoot me an email, I have a question for you and can't find your email and can't get the one in your profile to open on my dumb mac. :)
gary@ridgestonechurch.com
A truer blogg was never written. Are we having fun yet?
I like the one where they look you in the eye, ooohh and ahhh over you and tell you that they are so excited about the church... and you are exactly what they are looking for and then...
::::poof:::: you never see them again.
Spirituality is not a commodity. It isn't something to haggle over, or find the best deal. You don't look for the best deal in a church or place of worship.
It's non-negotiable. Either you praise the lord or you don't. Place of worship is of no concern, other than spiritual guidance or insight. If you feel that a certain place is not meeting your spiritual needs or beliefs, you move on. But to treat the fate of your spiritual growth as if it were a product...
Sometimes I am amazed at the attitudes of some "christians". A vast majority somehow treat their day of worship as some type of "story time" with no discussion or input. It makes me sad.
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