The real competition for the local church isn’t another church, the megachurch, online church or the weather. It’s indifference.
You ready for this?
People aren’t thinking about you. Or if they are, they don’t see enough value to drop what they’re doing to join in.
I know that hurts, but it also paves the way for you and your team to reposition yourself for the future.
Indifference is the enemy of all churches: Large, small, mega, micro, growing, plateaued and declining.
The average unchurched person doesn’t lie awake on Saturday night wondering what you’re going to preach on next.
He does lie awake at night though, wondering if his marriage is always going to be this bad, if he’s going to be stuck in a job that leaves him feeling so unfulfilled and if his drinking is starting to get the best of him.
That average unchurched person lies awake at night wondering if her kids are going to be okay, how bad her husband’s porn problem is, and if the emptiness in her soul will ever go away.
As you know, these are all spiritual questions.
Unchurched people are asking spiritual questions. They just don’t think the church can help.
Of course, you can help. The key is to cut through the indifference.
1. Be the Local Church-
Love your city, township, village….your people.
Nobody should be able to out-local the local church.
2. Make Your Passion for the Mission White Hot-
One of the differences between individuals who are effective over the long haul, and those who are not, is that the effective people always find a way to keep the passion for the future alive.
3. Play Your Unique Role-
It can be so easy to feel inadequate for the job…that you’re not gifted enough, talented enough or smart enough to do what you’re called to do. If God wanted you to be the person you’re comparing yourself to, he would have made you that person. But, he made you, well, you.
-Carey Nieuwhof
