Attracting Interest
Evangelical Christianity is now tragically below the New Testament standard. Worldliness is an accepted fact of our way of life. Our religious mood is social instead of spiritual. – A.W. Tozer
Is that not true in CCF and many of our fellowships? How often have we, on committee and as leaders, strained to devise worldly management strategies to attract and retain people and interest? Surely not all that CCF does is miguided in this way, but neither is it an uncommon thing.
We’ve made decisions about the shape of small groups, how to lay out Friday nights, what outreach activities to have, how to pep up announcements, how to have good worship night transitions and flow… even how to arrange the tables and chairs — to keep the interest of the people. Often this is the question. It ties into our goal of making Christ known, but we must be distinct on this point. That the goal is Christ and not people’s interest. That is, it is spiritual, not social.
To focus so heavily on attracting interest is Marketing. Of course, we need to be sensitive and connect to people where they are, but let us be clear on the goal: it is spiritual.