I've been encouraged to invite people to church my entire life. It is assumed that if I can get my friends, family and co-workers to church...they will hear the Gospel and accept Jesus as their Lord and their lives will be changed.
Question: How many times has that worked out for you? Probably a lot less than you would have hoped.
The more I think about this, the more I think we've become a little LAZY in our view of "winning people to Jesus." Perhaps we've allowed the pastor's sermon to become our CRUTCH. A crutch that allows us to sit back and depend on the pastor to convince people who Jesus is.
Question: Is this what Jesus modeled? No! However, that has become the model that our Christian culture has adopted.
Has this happened to you?
- After weeks of inviting your friend to church, begging and even bargaining a delicious lunch afterwards, they show up as a favor to you. They stand out of respect during praise and worship and everything seems to be going well. Then the pastor gets up to preach. You're thinking, "Oh yeah...here comes the message that's going to rip their heart out of their chest!" However, this is the week that your pastor is preaching about tithes and offerings...NOT the message you wanted your friend to hear just yet!
- You're thinking, "Man...why can't he preach a message about Salvation today? I was hoping my friend would jump out of their seat and run to the altar!"
- But it doesn't happen. You're disappointed and your friend decides not to come back to church with you again.
Is it easier for us to bring our friends to our church...
or is it easier to bring
or is it easier to bring
the church to our friends?
At at Catalyst conference in 2009, Erwin McManus described us all as having different "spaces".
- The first space is our COMFORT SPACE. This is the place where we live, thrive and connect with people who are just like us. This can be our home, church, or anywhere where everyone knows our name. This is the place where relationships are close and established.
- The second space is our COMMON SPACE. This is the space we share with others. This could be work, school or somewhere public. It is a place where people are mutually out interacting, but not as intimate as our first space.
- The third space is our FOREIGN SPACE. This is the place that is first space to someone else and is unfamiliar ground to us.
When we invite an UNCHURCHED friend to visit our church, we're inviting them to an unfamiliar place (their foreign space). We're asking them to come out of their comfort zone into a place that is unknown. In essence, we're telling them, "You need to leave your space to come to mine."
The Apostle Paul took his MESSAGE to all THREE SPACES! In Acts 17:16, Paul became so disturbed by the rampant idolatry that "his spirit was provoked within him." So, he went to the synagogue (his first space) and reasoned with them. Then, day after day, he went to the marketplace (second space) and reasoned with anyone and everyone he could. He was considered a "babbler" - but he kept at it! Eventually, he made such an impression that a group of philosophers invited him to come to their first space (Paul's third space) where he was able to share the Gospel! (Acts 17:17-21)
The point is this...Paul didn't have to drag people out of their spaces...he met people where they were! Jesus did the same thing and He continues to meet and love people where they are!
Most of Jesus' work was not done inside the walls of the synagogue, but in the streets, the market places, and homes of others.
Friends, we must love people where they are. We cannot rely on the pastor to share the Gospel with our friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers.
The first two letters of the word GOSPEL is "GO"! We must become better at making an impact in our SECOND SPACE so that people invite us into our THIRD SPACE (their first space)!
It boils down to us connecting with people RELATIONALLY! Perhaps, before we invite someone to our church...we should invite them to our house for dinner.
Let's be willing to meet people in their FIRST SPACE not just ours!
Obviously, I'm not saying we should stop inviting people to our church...I'm saying we should take the church to them by BEING the church in all three of our spaces. Sadly, we tend to hang around our FIRST SPACE so much that we are too intimidated to charter out into the deeper waters of the SECOND and THIRD SPACES.
I challenge you today to move to your SECOND SPACE! Get out of the box of religion and tradition! We must BE the church in the context where the unchurched live!
Imagine how exciting it will be when you get invited to someone else's FIRST SPACE (your third space)!
