DALLAS, Texas – There’s a good reason why a Christian might not feel completely comfortable inviting someone to church, said Jim Milley, a former missionary to Ethiopia and the founder of Bridges.
“There’s a tension within us. We want to invite our friends to church. We love our church. Yet, when we get [to the point of inviting friends] there is something that happens, and we don’t issue the invitation.”
The reason Milley told those attending his seminar at last week’s 2014 National Gathering of ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians and the Fellowship of Presbyterians, is that the “culture in the church has become completely different than the culture outside the church, and it is not your fault. It is not your church’s fault.”
Milley said that 100 million people go to church in the United States. “The challenge is that there are 200 million who don’t go to church anywhere and Jesus says to us ‘Go and make disciples.’”
During his seminar, Milley showed a photo of a bridge, which used to span the river, until a hurricane changed the water’s course. Now, the bridge sits on dry land.
He asked if it was a good bridge, to which he received answers of both “yes” and “no.”
“This is a symbol of the church in America,” he said. “The church is a good church. It was built by faithful, dedicated people. It is serving dedicated Christians.”
But for those who don’t attend church, who live on the other side of the river, and look back at the bridge (or the church), it doesn’t make much sense, he said. “The bridge (or church) is not necessarily relevant … as good as the bridge is, everything around it has changed.”
The church has a new challenge, said Milley. “The culture on the other side of the river is different from this culture on this of the bridge … If I invite someone to church, I have to ask her to cross that river, and that is hard.”
Milley said that the church in Ethiopia is growing because “ordinary folks like you and me have learned how to cross the river and be Christian people where they live and work, everyday,” and that is something believers in America need to learn.
“If we view the U.S. as a mission field, and understand that we have not been taught the skills of cross-cultural ministry – and there is no way we could have been, since when the river went under the bridge we didn’t need them – it’s a whole new adventure,” he said.
Referring to the Scripture where Jesus said “Go and make disciples,” Milley pointed out that Jesus is saying “Go. Not come. Not go and invite. But go. We cross the river … If you want to live like missionaries in America, the first thing you have to do is go. You plant yourself.”
A missionary leaves the church culture, swims across the river and joins the group, whether it is a biker club or a mommy and me group, said Milley.
Pointing to the photo, Milley said that there are 200 million people across that river and most of them will not come to church, “so instead of inviting them, go and join them. … We must make a conscious choice to go and join the group instead of sitting on the bridge.”
Milley is the founder of Bridges, a ministry whose mission is to provide the very best support and capacity for leaders wanting to start new Christ-following communities, especially among people who think church is irrelevant.
4 Comments. Leave new
an interesting concept, on paper. i’ve actually been trying to do this for about 10 years, in my little local community. venture out in the ‘jungle’ almost every day, talk to the natives, or mostly just listen to them; ranting and raging, about politics and money mostly, grunting and moaning. it’s not as simple as it sounds. i have yet to see any concrete results,almost all of them have become defiant, and several have gone in the exact opposite direction. it’s a quaint notion, inviting them to church. even mention the word and most of them scatter.
Isn’t the whole idea behind inviting the outsiders to church that the pastor will lead them to the Lord? What if you did not even invite them to church until you had already led them to the Lord? Perhaps it is time to train church members to do cross-cultural evangelism and quite trying to get outsiders to come to church since it will not make any sense to them anyway.
Church members want to be like to world rather than a special generation of Believers in Christ. Friendship with the world is enmity against God says the Holy Bible. Rock and roll music is appealing, yet, lacks the Biblical message of the Blood of the Cross.
Times have changed. 20 years ago I could invite someone in my hometown to church and there was a 50% chance they would come. These days, I estimate 1 out of 20 people I invite will bother to show up. And of the few that do, there’s an even lesser chance they’ll come back. 20 years ago our mayor and city council members were all church goers. These days not a one is active in church. 20 years ago the city ball park did not allow practice on Sunday morning on Wednesday night. Not the case now. My hometown is deep in the so-called Bible Belt. A man who moved here recently from Chicago was surprised to find how secular we are in real life.