In my previous blog entry, I started a conversation about how to grow our church. I brought up two very common points that seem to be jumping off places for many Christians.

Both of these points, (1) making the worship services attractive to non-worshipers, and (2) advertising how fabulous our worship services are, both boil down to a common misconception in the church. Allow me to imply it and shoot it down by saying that the worship service is not necessarily for the unbeliever. Think about this logically for a minute. What is the best way to reach large numbers of unsaved people all at once? To go where they are. Do you think unchurched people naturally gather in large numbers at churches on Sunday morning? Of course not! Worshipers do gather in churches on Sunday morning, and it is worshipers we target with our worship services.

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying you shouldn’t invite your unsaved friends to church. Please, bring them in by the truckload! I’m also not saying that during the service we shouldn’t give unsaved visitors a chance to accept faith in Christ. All I’m saying is believers, not unbelievers, should be the primary target of our worship services. Successful churches recognize this. Willow Creek has a variety of services. Some, they specifically label as “for believers.” Others, they label “evangelistic.” They understand that believers need to be in a worship service where they are taught beyond the elementary truths of the faith. Yet, at the same time, they know it’s really easy to bring an unsaved friend to church, so they ask their members to bring their lost friends to the “evangelistic” services. Billy Graham understood this. That’s why he held special rallies to preach to the lost, and regular worship services to grow the saints.

Time out - Now, let me almost contradict myself. I said worship services are primarily intended for worshipers, not unbelievers. Even though bringing unbelievers to a worship service targeted at Christ-followers may not be the most effective way to reach them, it is far better than doing nothing. We should bring our lost friends to church because we know they won’t come unless we bring them. Simply having a cool worship service does not take the responsibility off of you and me, we still must bring them in the doors. If 1/2 of our regular members brought one person to one service a month, our church would grow. - Time in

Alright, making worship attractive to non-worshipers, and proclaiming our greatness to the world doesn’t get us far with church growth (remember, we want to reach the lost). So what does? Our church’s philosophy of ministry is built on six core values (how many can you name?). Among these is building relationships. Now we’re beginning to get somewhere. I submit to you this: the only way we will ever have a significant impact on the lost in our community is through building relationships with them.

Continued in part 3 . . .