When we started The Journey, we saw a need for something different. There are a lot of churches doing some good things in our area but they did the same things and looked like the other churches. We realized that if we were going to reach people who weren't getting reached, we would have to do things that other churches don't do. We began to think, ask people and research why people don't go to church. What has kept them away? Why did they stop going? With that in mind, we began to think about how we could break down walls and unfold arms for people to be able to connect with God. We wanted to create an environment and some steps for people at all different spiritual places on their journey. We want people to experience relationships, not religion. There are a lot of things that play into this process like style of music, music playing before church, coffee bar, language we use on stage or publications, what's on the slides, being relevant, how the message is presented, the look & feel of the building, dim lights, volume of the music...the list goes on and on. This doesn't mean we water down the message, avoid hard topics, or don't call people to follow God. It means we don't make assumptions, we respect people & the process and we present everything for people to take first steps or next steps.
We never want to lose sight of this. Every week we have guests. Every week might be someone's one of only shot at church; the one time that they give God a chance. We want to make sure that in everything we do from Sundays, to Networks, to Kids/Teens, to Group, to our own relationships - we live with that pressure. We never want to overlook people just because we're focused on ourselves. So what about you? In your areas of serving at The Journey & in the relationships in your life, are you sensitive to those far from God?
For more thoughts on this topic, check out Listening to Outsiders on practicalspeaking.org. A lot of these thoughts are developed from the leadership of Andy Stanley and his team. If you want a copy of 7 Practices of Ministry, ask one of staff to hook you up and take your next step as a leader.
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