There is something wrong here.
by Tom
Found this comment posted to the blog of another pastor in town. Am I the only one who gets a weird feeling?
That’s so different from what I get. I keep hearing "Oh!! Like Port City, we love going there" I tell you I am going to put a sign showing Port City directions and have it going to us since we are so a like they will (maybe) stay with us.
Now, all biases aside... really? Are we as the Church really so concerned about attendance figures that we will go this far to recruit other believers to attend our home churches?
Granted, this is certainly a joke but I have to wonder if it doesn't actually reflect a deeper motive. I know that it's something I have to deal with. I like being associated with a "successful" church that has a large college ministry and has a large body of small groups where myself and the people I associate with daily are growing in Christ. But if there's anything God's been working me on over the last year or so, He has been hammering it in my skull that there are far bigger things at stake than attendance...
Update:
The comment I quoted above along with my own and a couple of others all disappeared from Jeff's blog yesterday evening. Probably for the best... apparently this was a confusing topic?
Comments
Tom,
I pastor that "other church" and I want you to know that I echo you sentiments completely. The last thing we want are people from other churches. Because our style is similar to yours, we get the "you're like port city only smaller" label quite a bit.
Last time I checked there are people in Wilmington who do not know Jesus. Our mission is to reach them with the love of Christ. Please don't hold this comment against us.
I think you guys are doing an incredible job and I pray for Mike and Pc3. I'll never forget the phone call I got from Mike the day before our launch to encourage me and let me know that you guys were praying for us.
Keep it up!
I agree with you Tom. God is counting the ones in the houses on Sunday's, not the ones in the chairs.
Just for the record we don't get excited when people come to Lifepoint from other churches. From bars in town, yes. From golf courses, yes. From sleeping in, yes but not from other churches, even good ones.
Oh, for sure. For the record, I did not mean to imply that the Lifepoint staff are pushing this kind of a mentality. I have attended once before and everyone seems first-rate. I've simply been thinking about things like this a lot recently. Thanks for the posts, however! Clarity is never a bad thing...
thm
Love the attention this post got in such a short amount of time. Voices being heard... love it.
I don't think there should be any shame, though, on either part. I mean think about it. It's a true conversation. We all come to each other with these conceptions... mis- or otherwise. Thm's conception of the original COMMENT.. not the church... led him to believe something about the said-church's mindset, resulting in a blog posting. Said church's pastor recognizes the misconception and voices a defense, as well as attempt to create a new image in the mind of dear Thm. What said church's pastor is hoping that everyone understands.
Now onto MY conception. (keep in mind I'm only considering the EXCERPT of the comment from some unknown original location). Regardless of real feelings and opinions... we can only take in what we see. When a blog reads as the joke above... humorous undertones and good-intentioned jokes can lead people to believe something that (as having been clarified) isn't truth. As Christ-followers, we're called to spread TRUTH... in every form. [Insert understanding that I am a hypocrite who leads my life in lies against the truth of God everyday... in jealousy, pride, anger, and laziness...]. If the truth isn't that said church isn't number-dwelling, then maybe we should really take to heart what kind of lies our undertones might be spreading, rather than being ready for a defense. Stop the misconception from the start.
Instead of letting kids believe that 5+2=52 before we correct them, teach them truth before the misunderstanding can even come up. Instead of giving people an opportunity to even fathom that said church is focused on numbers, whatever blog this is from should be speaking the truth of the church body's heart, rather than wasting time attempting to correct the misunderstanding.