Against The Flow

Our church’s competition is not another church.

The question we must ask within our local churches is not: “What will cause someone to pick our church over another church?” Wrong question! The question we ask is: ” What can cause someone to pick us over their BED on Sunday morning?”  ”What would cause someone to pick church over going to the lake?” “What would cause someone to pick church over bar-hopping on Saturday Night?” We’re trying to reach people who DON’T go to church, right? Therefore, a church’s competition is not another church! It’s everything  else!

We’ve got to change the way we think about church! We’ve got to stop basing our ministry approaches on what other churches are doing and then just trying to do it better.  What we need to do is look at the Mall, the bowling alleys,  the amusements parks, the coffee shops, and the bars, and ask ourselves :”Why are people CHOOSING to spend their time THERE instead of HERE?” “Why are people CHOOSING to do life outside the church rather than in it?” “What are the ways in which people are seeking to get their relational needs met that the church can better meet?” “The question then becomes, not “How can we get them to come to church?” but “How can we take the church to them?” If we can just begin to think that way in the church,  lives will be changed and new people will be reached for Jesus Christ!

There is a great encouraging book out called, “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day.”  Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington DC.  In his new book he address the question, “What if the life you really want ant the future God wants for you, is hiding right now in your biggest problem, your worst failure, your greatest fear?  The book is built around the Old Testament passage for 2 Samuel 23:20-21

²⁰Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab‘s best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. ²¹And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.

 

Recently, after much success from the book, he has released what he calls “The Lions Chasers Manifesto,”  may it challenge you in the days to come.

 

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshipping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion!