“Attractional vs. Incarnational: Which Ministry Will Survive?”

Last week my friend Kim posted an insightful comment on my blog site. Those who subscribe by email or follow by Facebook may not have seen our exchange. I will summarize it here.

Kim responded to why I prefer disciple over volunteer. She alluded to a story she shared with me a few weeks ago at a writer’s conference. In one church Kim offered her willingness to serve, but the leadership turned her away. Gatekeepers in charge of “the ministry” there didn’t want her help.

A lack of service doesn't mean disciples are apathetic; they could have been rejected. I appreciate my friend adding her perspective to flesh out the larger picture.

---

Q: What other thoughts come to mind about ministry?

A: Aging churches are struggling now with an attractional “come to us” mindset. Father Time keeps taking away members faster than new attendees can replace them. As deaths and shut-ins shrink a church further, it will be that much harder to convince younger families with children and youth, "Come join us."

Over the next 20 years, I suspect a number of churches will close or merge. Many others will cut back from full-time to part-time pastoral leadership.

All is not lost, however. Churches that embrace an incarnational “go to them” model will not only survive, but thrive. God will surely bless any church that intentionally seeks to do ministry the way Jesus did.  

Q: Say more about this.

A: The training I received during and after seminary mirrored the culture I grew up in. The goal is to attract as many people as possible to your programs and worship services. Success is a full parking lot; members have gathered inside.   

But Jesus took disciples into the world to be salt and light in their community, even if those they served never came to their temple. Success is an empty parking lot during the week; baptized ministers are deployed outside the walls.

Q: Shouldn’t we want more souls to worship God and learn about Jesus?

A: Absolutely. Yet when “come to us” defines the mission, success is measured by nickels and noses rather than the visible fruit of changed lives.

"Come to us" members feel good if much time and money is spent supporting their worship and programs…even if the impact on their community is minimal.

Jesus focused not on temple head counts and meeting the budget, but on touching lives wherever people were.

Q: Didn't Jesus worship at the temple and teach in the synagogue?

A: Yes. Worship and Christian education are important. But Jesus spent most of His time outside the institution.

The woman at the well, the Sermon on the Mount, the feeding of the 5,000, the paralyzed man by the pool--these encounters happened because Jesus was outside. He didn’t spend the bulk of His time indoors leading Torah studies and meeting with the Pharisees and Sadducees to plan their annual bazaar.

Jesus primarily poured Himself into 12 men. Jesus invested in some women as well, a very radical idea in a patriarchal society. He took the disciples into the community to the last, the least, and the lost: those not currently reached by the religious institution.

Q: Information minus Application equals Frustration. Give a practical example of how a church can "go to them."

A: This summer, instead of having VBS in their fellowship hall, what if a church held VBS in a park or some other public place where children naturally gather? What a positive message that would send the community. Plus they'd reach kids who otherwise wouldn't come to them.

This doable step could open doors for other opportunities to minister like Jesus.

What ideas can you add? 

David