Are we too afraid to ask?

     Why am I so afraid to ask people to come to church? Why do I simply expect them to say no?  What makes me think they’ll be offended or judged by my asking? What if me asking someone to church results in a ‘religious’ argument that goes so bad the person is even more anti-Christian than before?

      I wonder how many of us have had these fearful thoughts when thinking about asking people to church…?  But then, what of the even more fearful prospect of your friend actually turning up to church? Does that thought put us off as well? So we end up saying to ourselves….

"No they’ll never connect with the way our church works."

"No they’ll find it too weird and uncomfortable."

"No I’ve got a long term friendship strategy in place and coming to church now would be too soon for them."

"No they are too smart and would find intellectual holes that our pastors couldn’t deal with or won’t address."

"No they are not intellectual at all and will find a 30 minute monologue too boring."

"No there are too many people at church and they will find it overwhelming."

"No there are not enough people at church and they will find it too intense."

"No they only sing when drunk at the footy, so being sober in church won’t work."

      I’m sure we can have some fun and you could add any number of creative reasons why not to invite people to come and join you at church. And I’m sure we could all reel off some horror story of how a church experience was really terrible for someone. But I wonder how many of these fears really stack up?

      Perhaps it is more likely that we keep forgetting that God does actually want to save people and bring them into His church. 

      Perhaps we fail to remember that Jesus promises never to leave nor forsake us and will be with us to the end of the age. 

      Perhaps we ‘under-estimate’ people assuming they just wouldn’t really be interested in spiritual things and considering Jesus’ take on the world. 

      Perhaps we fail to remember that God does the miracle work of conversion and it’s through the proclamation of the truth that most people come to know it and love it.

      Looking back at my own experiences it seems very few of my fears have been grounded in reality. Very few of the scenarios I muse over come to pass…indeed even if church hasn’t gone as well as it could on the night my friend or family member shows up, there’s always been helpful discussion as a result anyway.

      I think I’m becoming more convinced that people hearing the truth and wonder of Jesus in the midst of a group of people who love Jesus and love each other is a very powerful and effective witness. What a gospel driven and gospel loving church offers is very compelling and my hope is that every week at church is an opportunity to invite someone else along.

After all, we are asking people to come and hear news that is better than any other. 

      Yes the Gospel is humbling.

      Yes the Gospel may be offensive.

      Yes the Gospel is exclusive. 

But:

      Yes the Gospel is the power of salvation.

      Yes the Gospel is far better than all your Christmases at once.

      Yes the Gospel makes you fully alive! 

I dearly want people to know that and see it and taste it. I long for our church to be a place where that’s exactly the discoveries people make…the very ones you and I have made thanks to the mercy and wonder of Jesus....at church.

      An inviting, opportunistic and gracious people who work together so as many as possible can hear the Gospel....that sounds like the kind of church we should be. I'd be more afraid if we really didn't want to be.  

      Which reminds me of one final truth I’ve been convinced of for a long time. That is, people will and can say "no" to our invitations to join us at church. Sad, but true, it will happen. However they certainly can never say "yes", indeed they don’t ever have the option of saying "yes"….unless we ask.

      Is that a "yes" or a "no" from you?