INVITE! IT’S THAT SIMPLE
I have a confession to make, I struggle with inviting people to church. Maybe you do too. Considering, “Only 2% of church members invite an unchurched person to church, and 98% of churchgoers never extend an invitation in a given year” (Dr. Thom Rainer, The Unchurched Next Door), it is safe to say inviting people to church must be difficult for the majority of us. But, why is it so difficult?
It seems like people say no, more than they say yes. We don’t want to be too pushy and turn people off to the idea. I also think we forget the reason we invite people to church. A few years ago I read a book where the author tells one convincing story after another, about how he went from inviting people to church to inviting people to give their lives to Jesus. One of the more compelling stories led me to commit to never invite anyone to church again; from that moment on I would only invite people into a relationship with Jesus. While that may sound spiritual and for a moment I might have even felt super-spiritual, I was wrong. I misunderstand what inviting people to church was about. I also misunderstood WHAT CHURCH IS.
I THOUGHT CHURCH WAS A BUILDING YOU GO TOO, OR MAYBE SOMETHING I DID FOR AN HOUR ON SUNDAY.
But, THE CHURCH is so much more! The church is an active noun! It is a community of people going throughout all the world doing as Jesus did; serving as His Hands and His Feet in our communities. Church, brings healing to the hurting, and Good News to the poor. The church is for the weary and for those who carry great pressures and struggles. The Church is the place where we become a part of Jesus’ mission and ministry and a place where we may find rest! We do not invite people to church for the music, or the programs, or even for the preacher. When we invite people to Church, we are inviting them into a life-transforming experience within a community that is committed to cultivating and nourishing one another’s spiritual identities; Following Jesus is about having our lives changed radically for the better. It is my hope that as we consider sharing Jesus in our community and inviting people to join the life-transforming community called the church, our prayers, and our intentions will match those of Jesus as he prayed for His disciples, for all believers, and the world in John 17:20-26:
20 “I’m not praying only for them but also for those who believe in me because of their word. 21 I pray they will be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I pray that they also will be in us so that the world will believe that you sent me. 22 I’ve given them the glory that you gave me so that they can be one just as we are one. 23 I’m in them and you are in me so that they will be made perfectly one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you have loved them just as you loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you gave me to be with me where I am. Then they can see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, even the world didn’t know you, but I’ve known you, and these believers know that you sent me. 26 I’ve made your name known to them and will continue to make it known so that your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”
DID YOU KNOW…
Most people come to church because of a personal invitation – Dr. Thom Rainer, The Unchurched Next Door’
7 out of 10 unchurched people have never been invited to a church in their whole lives – Dr. Thom Rainer, The Unchurched Next Door
82% of the unchurched are at least somewhat likely to attend church if invited– Dr. Thom Rainer, The Unchurched Next Door
“A study including more than 15,000 adults revealed that about two-thirds are willing to receive information about a local church from a family member, and 56 percent from a friend or neighbor. The message is clear that the unchurched are open to conversations about the church.” – Philip Nation, LifeWay Research and National Spokesperson for Back to Church Sunday
“Perhaps one of the most underestimated reasons people return to the church is that someone simply invited them back. 41% of the formerly churched said they would return to the local church if a friend or acquaintance invited them” (Outreach Magazine, Jan 2007. Thom Rainer and Sam Rainer)