Schmunday

a young native man, wearing a crucifix around his neck, approaches me. before he introduces himself, or asks my name, he says,
"what church do you go to?"

oh, such a difficult question to answer. Sunday morning? i sleep in. i align myself with the train of thought that we ARE the Church. our lives should be so taken over by Christ and His Body that we don't need to go to church, because we are constantly surrounded by it.
still, i recognize that to answer this boy in the negative would be a bit misleading.
"um...i don't really go to a church on a Sunday morning...but i'm involved with the Salvation Army."

"you should come to my church! (nodding and smiling and thinking-- no thanks.) you'd fall in love with it. they have real Tim Horton's coffee every week, and free cappuccinos!
and you know the band The Police? they did a concert at our church once! we've also had Evanescence and even Petra. i KNOW that if you came you'd LOVE it."

verily i appreciate the fact that this fellow was making an effort to evangelize. or was it evangelism? is inviting someone to come with you to your meeting considered preaching the good news? or is it just inviting them to come hear someone else preach the good news potentially, but perhaps a message that means nothing to them?
anyway, i do value the offer, and recognize that it takes some boldness.

his technique, however, i do question. didn't work for me.

coffee and cappuccinos-- i could get at a thousand other places in this city.
music-- i could go to a club. go to a concert. listen to the radio.
those were the things that he used to draw me-- and while i recognize the value of making Church enjoyable, all i could think about was how he wasn't offering me anything unique. he wasn't offering me something that could be found only within the Church.

now, i admit that i appropriate the same strategy. two things that i regularly use to persuade people to come to my cells are food and family. i say, "i'm cooking dinner, it's really low key, lots of great people, community, a place to share, etc." so you see, i'm not trying to criticize this man, i'm simply questioning the entire method.

firstly, it doesn't work the majority of the time(sinners vote with their feet-- they don't like church).
secondly, it's deceptive. i have an agenda. i'm only giving them coffee and company so that they'll run into Jesus.

i don't want to invite people to a church meeting (that is, if i was part of one).
i want to invite people to be reconciled with the God Whom they formerly thought was unknowable.

so, if i was going to say "yes" to some one's offer to go to church, they'd have to be inviting me to go to something that was so exciting, and so distinct that i knew i wouldn't experience it anywhere but the church.

what are some things that the church has to offer that the world can't?
-- meaning and purpose in life to the dry.
-- authentic community to the lonely.
-- freedom from addictions, fears, and sins to the frustrated.
-- healing for the sick and wounded.
-- friendship with the Divine for the seeking.
-- perhaps food, shelter, medical care, justice, water, and education to the poor.

even with all of these attractive offers, people are not coming into our churches at a very impressive rate.

maybe that's because we're not encountering these things. maybe we're only experiencing the same as what the rest of the world is experiencing.

or maybe it's because they don't know that it's happening, because no one has told them.

whatever the cause, the effect is that people are not drawn to the Church.

if the Church doesn't attract people to come to Her, then i suggest that we go out and introduce Ourself. and then introduce Him.