I read a few pages of Philip Jenkins book The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South and I began to wonder about what makes a church an attractive place for people. I mean, whether I like it or not, that is one of the things I think about as a pastor – why this church? Why do people come here and not there? Or worse – why do people go there and not here?
We are tempted to believe that when things are going "well" from a ministry perspective and you’ve got lots of people and lots of programs for those people that this is occuring because you are becoming more and more like the body of Christ and therefore more and more attractive to people. But – is the body of Christ attractive? This sounds like an easy question to answer…of course Christ is attractive, to say otherwise would be blasphemy, but consider the following verse from the Gospel of John 1:9-11:
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Does this verse tell us that Christ, the Word made flesh, was attractive? It tells me that the world was not in the least attracted to Him…that in fact He did not reflect the world and therefore the world ignored Him (to its own peril). What are the implications of this for the church? Should we be wary of too much "success"? Should we be wary when the world is beating a path to our door and overwhelming our sanctuaries? This goes for whole denominations as well. When the world is beating a path to your door is that because you are so good at reflecting the character of God that they can’t resist or is it, perhaps, because you are so good at reflecting the character of the world they see you as one of their own? It has been said that growth is good and a sure sign of health. This is true, growth can be a sign of health but growth can also be a sign of cancer. By definition uncontrolled growth, growth for its own sake, is cancer and if left unchecked it will surely destroy the body.
The goal of course is not to intentionally make the world hate us by being intentionally anti-world and anti-contextual. God did the most contextual, culture-pandering act ever when He put on flesh and became one of us to deliver the good news in a way we would understand. We should never slander fellow churches for attempting to deliver the gospel in a culturally contextual way…nor should we be critical of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ for doing this.
We should however always question our motives. If we are clergy we need to ask ourselves why we do what we do and plan what we plan. Is it to draw more people or is it to better emulate the character of Christ to the world? As Christians the question we should ask ourselves is why do we like or not like something about a particular church or person? Do I dislike my church because I find it boring? Do I find it boring because I want to be entertained? Am I more focused on having my needs met then on meeting Christ in every situation no matter what the circumstance? The reverse of the question should also be asked: Do I like my church because it meets my own self-centred needs or because I am genuinely meeting Christ?
Harnessing Chaos 
My ears are not tickled. Pertinent questions for this generation of believers. I don\’t go to church because I am too lazy. I so wanted to add an exclaimation point at the end of the previous sentence. Covetous of leisure time I whine, it is mine.
Good post.
Soul searching,
j
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It\’s the sacrifice thing man
Totally unattractive
I like the conquering Messiah better
More sex appeal
I think we can sell it
j
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Sweet – great poem…it says it all
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I just read your current post "Scandal of Christian pity" and drifted back to a continuing thought on this one: But what about the lamb?
You are so right about the scandal. No need to apologize. Rant needed from all pulpits.
But what about the lamb?
j
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