Our holiday sermon series has been looking at some of the fears Christians have over evangelism, one of those being the fear of inviting people to church. Just like you and I might be reluctant to go to a ‘Young Liberals’ or ‘Young Labour’ meeting, due to it being so foreign to us, so too are non-Christians likely hesitant to walking into this weird thing called church. So how do we overcome this fear?
It’s by realising how important church community has become in recent decades. I heard a non-Christian social commentator recently say they believe the main reason for the increase in tribalism in western culture is individualism. While the Bible tells us it’s a bit more complicated than that (i.e. add to that sin, idolatry, no neighbourly love, judgmentalism, insecurities, selfishness, etc), this non-Christian has realised the damaging effects of individualism.
Individualism says my needs are more important than the needs of others. This not only fosters a breakdown in relationships, it suppresses community behaviour due to fear that others might encroach on my rights, or at least wants.
The problem is, psychologists tell us community is one of the most important tools to a healthy lifestyle, teaching that the duty of every adult is to seek out communities where people will love and accept them unconditionally. Sadly, the church is one of the last bastions of community left in the west. What this means is, when we invite people to church, we’re inviting them to an incredibly important thing; community. Yet even more important is we’re inviting them to a community that worships the Lord Jesus, which has advantages no other community can claim. According to Acts 2:42-47, the early church was so impacted by the generosity of Jesus that they too ‘had everything in common’. A Christian community is one that goes out of it’s way to put the needs of others ahead of their own. So we should not fear inviting people to such a community. For church is good.
