There is yet one more chapter to the “God stories” culture that will transform your church. Most Christians don’t comprehend the transition trauma from moving from life as an unbeliever to that of believing in God and belonging to a church.
- There needs to be a middle step between the world of the world and the world of the church.
If you have developed a spiritual entry point to your relationship with someone, and shared some of your God stories, and they respond, what is your next step, if the person is showing interest? What if they are receptive?
For most Christians, the answer is: “I’ll invite them to church.”
A better answer would be, “I’ll bring them with me to church.”
However, there is still one better answer. If you have been sharing your God stories with someone and they have not asked you about your church or asked how to attend your church, your next step is critical.
- Don’t invite them to church unless they ask.
Why?
- Church…a worship service, is traumatic for those who have spent most of their lives from God.
- It is a form of spiritual culture shock.
- Instead, invite the person to coffee, or lunch, or whatever—wherever you can talk privately, and allow them to ask deeper questions about Christian faith and life.
- The key is to develop a relationship and move faith conversations further and deeper.
Remember, the new Christian-in-process is like the birth of a baby: handle with care!
- They may not be ready for a worship service.
- They may be overwhelmed by all that worship represents.
- They may feel culture shock by the size of the crowd at worship.
It’s like feeding steak to a baby. The new child of God will want to begin this journey with baby steps!
- Don’t take them from 0 to 100 miles an hour in one step.
- Tomorrow we will look at a “middle step” approach.
If you would like to know more, you can also subscribe to my podcast on Apple Podcast and Google Play. We will expand on this theme further in our series beginning on March 6, 2018.
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