When your friend won't come with you to church

Have you invited a friend or family member only to have them say “no”… repeatedly? It can be frustrating and discouraging. UIt may be time to stop talking with them about the church and start talking to them about Jesus.
As I said in my last blog entry, 20 years ago most people would be open to accepting an invitation from a friend to attend a relevant worship service. There are still many who will do so, but today most (maybe most) preChristians are not interested in going to a service, no matter how cool it might be.
Reaching preChristians today requires a different strategy than 20 years ago. Now, instead of only inviting people to come to worship with us, we need to go to them with the message of Jesus.
When speaking with someone who doesn’t go to church, you need to discern whether to talk with that person about the church or about Jesus. Some will respond to an invitation to worship. So go for it!
For those who won’t respond, we need to talk with them about Jesus. They may not be open to attending a service, but they may be open to discussing their beliefs and hearing about how Christ has changed your life.
After all, our mission isn’t really to get them to come to worship, it is to help them find their way back to God.
It is important that we get equipped to share our faith in Jesus with others, because that’s what will reach the 60% of preChristians who won’t step into our building.. at least not at first. Many preChristians say “Jesus yes, Church no”. Yet, when they start to respond to the Gospel, they become a new person and the Holy Spirit will help them realize that the church is essential to their following Jesus.
So to penetrate the world today we need more than a great worship service. We need to equip believers to connect with preChristians and to learn how to share their faith. This is much more effective than a postcard invite in the mail, because the most compelling evidence to the Gospel is a changed life.