Hey guys, this is a call for help! When you remodel an old house, or renovate an older building, you often have to do some rewiring to bring everything up to current building codes. At True Life, we think it might be time to do a little rewiring on the church. Actually, our building is quite new, so that isn’t the issue. It is the approach to, and perception of, church that might need a little updating. Let me tell you why I say this. A recent survey told me that over 90% of Americans believe in God or some sort of superior universal being. In addition, over 75% of Americans believe in the same God that I do. Here is the problem: less than 20% of Americans go to church (in my hometown of Chattanooga, the number is about 18%). Let that register for a second… 9 out of 10 Americans believe there is a God, but less than 2 in 10 think church would be a good place to learn more about Him, or to get better acquainted with Him! Is it possible that, just like codes for wiring in buildings need to be updated fairly often to keep up with new innovations, so do our approaches to this thing called church?
This is where I need your help: I started a new series called ReWiring Church this past Sunday. My goal is for it to be a very interactive dialogue (not monologue) about how we approach this thing called church. We need as many different viewpoints as possible. If only members of True Life respond, then we will hear a lot of similar viewpoints based on shared experiences. I would love to hear from people who are parts of other churches; and it would be especially helpful to hear from the 82% of people who don’t attend church! I want to hear things like:
- What do you love about church?
- What do you wish was different?
- If you attend church, why do you attend?
- If you don’t attend church, why not; and what would make you want to try it?
- What is something you wish just one church was radical enough to try?
- What role should the church play in the community around it?
This past Sunday was the first message in the series. It was entitled ReFocus, and in it, I asked two questions:
- What is a church?
- What is the primary mission of the church?
You can watch it on our True Life mobile app. Just download true life church – ga from the app store and look under the messages tab. It is free. It is also posted on our website: http://www.thetruelife.org. It was simply a starting place for our conversation, but it was a good chance to refocus on exactly what Jesus had in mind when He established this thing called the church. In each of the upcoming weeks, I am going to incorporate some of your comments and emails I received. Here’s how you can get in the conversation:
- Email your questions or ideas to rewiringchurch@gmail.com
- Go to the Rewiring Church Facebook page
- Comment on this blog site or on Facebook
- Tweet me at @dlance10
Please jump into the conversation. We might just be a church crazy enough to try your idea!
Thank you in advance,
Danny