Nonbelievers will not come to the traditional church building and Christians will not go to where the unbelievers hang out. Its a stalemate. How can we reach them if we do not go to them? Any ideas? Do we just do church for the believers and let the lost go to hell? I blame myself also.
2007-03-19 05:30:52 · 20 answers · asked by handsomeworshipper 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
we feel comfortable preaching to the choir and we are not criticized by the choir...but you are right!!...we MUST go to the lost and bring them the good news.
2007-03-19 05:39:48 · answer #1 · answered by TNT 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The traditional church has perfected the art of entertaining the saints instead of going out to reach the lost sinners. We have an untraditional church. We are meeting in a motel, witnessing to the transient guests, and every person has an ministry. Senior pray. Some lead a bible study, Some minister in the prisons, and in the schools and to hurting folks wherever they find them. One of the tools is the God Mobile. It is a mobile trailer we take to the county fairs and festivals and in the last 5 years we have led over 8,000 people to Jesus. It is fantastic. We prayed with each one...one on one. It is a tool used by some of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowships. It has big signs that invite people... Are you ready for heaven, Come and take our two question test to be sureThey flock around the trailer because this younger generations wants to know and no one is telling them.... We give them a quick test... 1. Are you going to heaven when you die? A. Yes, No, Maybe, Not sure... 2. I Think I am going because.... I have been a good person, I go to church... I read my Bible.... I pray.... I give to the needy... I obey the 10 commandments... etc... And of couse they check most of those off and then we grade the test and let them know that none of those things will get them to heaven. It is not what we do that gets us there... It is what Jesus did and our willingness to accept Jesus and ask Him to forgive us. Then we ask them if they would like to accept Christ into their heart and ask Him to forgive them. Most say YES! They pray with us...and often tears flow... It is wonderful. Then we give them a gospel of John, and some follow up material and encourage them to go to a church near them....we suggest a few....as well as a Christian radio station to listen to. Most churches don't lead more than 10 to Christ in a year. We have had the joy and priviledge of leading thousands each year to Jesus. This younger generation is spiritually starving and hungry. When they come to us...it is so easy...
If you are ever involved in a fair you can try to do this same type of ministry. It has fantastic results.
2007-03-19 12:48:20 · answer #2 · answered by rejoiceinthelord 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I think the simple answer to this is that most of the "lost" as you call them feel that they will be judged in a church. I have had issues like this with friends of mine. I am not a non-believer, but I also do not attend church on Sunday, which tends to get me labeled as "lost" by my church going friends. I believe, but I have questions, and many of the christians I have come in contact with do not believe you should ever question the lord, so I end up being shunned. Which in itself seems judgemental to me. So it's a vicious cycle. Not to say that all churches or churchgoers feel that way, but that has been my experience, which makes me not want to attend a church even more. I agree with the statement "Reject Religion, Embrace jesus".
2007-03-19 12:43:12 · answer #3 · answered by Amy 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I was a Christian for 10 years and I found the majority of Christians had NO unbelieving friends ... that's a huge problem. Many were also very quick to judge outsiders. I know that's a human trait but Christians should see things differently.
Have you ever heard of Alpha? It's a non threatening introduction to Christianity that many churches use and is a very effective outreach tool.
2007-03-19 12:41:36 · answer #4 · answered by me 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
i see where you're coming from and i believe some people are reaching out but most aren't they just think that we need to say that we need to but then do nothing about it. I think the best way to get people saved is to invite you re friend and then they(after getting saved) will invite there friend and so on to (your church). That's the way are church does it but mission trips also help to plus we could just pray for people too that someone would come across their path that will light the fire in their lives so it might take a while for one person to believe but it might have been a long line of small events that lead to it. like a Friend inviting them to church or a friend praying at dinner when there there or a TV preacher or something or just you praying for them anyway...hope this helps...may the force (the holy spirit) be with you.
2007-03-19 12:40:21 · answer #5 · answered by outrun_7 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
This is not true. I have been in plenty of places where unbelievers are. I don't live in church. I work, I take my kids to the playground, I go to the grocery store, and even a happy hour or two (yea thats right) .... I've talked to people of all shapes/sizes/color/nationality about Jesus. Most people I find aren't that snobbish. but... I guess some Christians "don't dare" .... I'm not one of those.
2007-03-19 12:36:34 · answer #6 · answered by sassinya 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It is Jesus that changes hearts, we just give the message he gives. The only way to succeed is to ask Christ to help. God is working in many hearts and lives daily. We as a chruch though should seek the lost more than we are now.
2007-03-19 13:13:50 · answer #7 · answered by S A 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
the traditional church has become the place for traditional religion, pastors dont teach their flock the power of Christ in them to go tell the good news to a hurting world. so....what do we do?.....break out of the walls and dont wait for the approval of the "church" to go to the world, where they are and tell the truth. Gods already gave you the command to do it, so you have His approval. The problem is alot of us get all freaked out cause we think we cant do it...truth is we cant...but He that is in us can. †
2007-03-19 12:37:30 · answer #8 · answered by implumbus 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The non-traditional churches makes people into angry Atheist faster than anyone else!
2007-03-19 12:41:45 · answer #9 · answered by tonks_op 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
First of all, I am sorry to hear that there are those who openly call themselves former Christians. The Bible has some very strong warnings about apostasy so I must believe that those who call themselves former Christians either haven't read the warnings or never were taught properly about walking with the
Lord. Someone once said, "A backslider causes more damage than a million demons from Hell." The world has enough problems believing sincere Christians in light of all the liberalism being pushed on society now, and everyone who turns from their faith gives people another reason not to believe. To those people I say, repent and return to Christ if you ever really knew Him. If you were led to believe you were Christian because you attended a church or followed some religious creed or practice then I call you to examine true Christianity that is a vitally alive personal relationship with God made possible through His Son Jesus Christ.
There are still some gospel preaching churches on earth, but you will have to seek them out. You will know them because they exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and rebuke sin and challenge the lazy Christian to move on and fulfill their responsibility to God and man. The love of God shown in these churches is not the sloppy agape pushed in many churches but love that tells the truth including the hard truths of the Bible. There is not one ounce of compromise in them because they care more about pleasing God and loving others than being winsome to their hearers. You will know the power of God in this church, and nobody will have to tell you it is there.
The believers in this generation are not effective in reaching the lost because many of them have been seduced by the politically correct spirit of this age. Further they have become
desensitized to sin, and don't see it as the horrible evil it really
is. Further they do not acknowledge the Holiness of God and the absolute sinfulness of the human nature. This results in no
fear of God in and out of the church in this generation. This in turn makes mocking God easy because men and women outside of Christianity see the weakness and despise it.
All this and more has resulted in a weak and anemic church in
a generation determined to renounce God and destroy itself through vain "wisdumb" of men and practices that would have been shunned long ago by men and women of intelligence and conviction and purpose in life. The preaching coming from the vast bulk of pulpits in this generation suffers greatly because there is no clarion call to repentance and commitment! We talk about the love of God to the exclusion of His wrath, and everyone in and out of the church feels they can live comfortably in sin.
The believers are sleeping on the job and the world is slipping slowly but surely toward a horrible eternity of wrath and judgment by a God who will not countenance sin. Revival
must come to the church in this generation or the world will continue to get worse and worse to prepare the way for the coming of the Anti-Christ.
It is a good thing that many Christians in the world today don't go out into the highways and byways because they wouldn't know how to answer those who are lost. Knowledge of the scriptures and powerful praying necessary to deal with this kind of adversity is waning among God's people. Remember
that the Bible tells us that we are to "be ready always to have an answer to every man for the reason of the hope that lies within us." We had better be sure we have the answers or we
need to pray and study the Word until we do.
The people with honest seeking hearts in the world today are still seeking to hear from someone who has heard from God.
I call every Christian who has a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ to pray fervently that God would send us individually and corporately a powerful Revival that would turn
the tide of evil and preserve this great nation. It will take more
than casual praying and casual Bible study. It is something we must do with all that is within us for the sake of those who still want truth including many we associate with every day as we walk this earth. We are a sorry lot if we cannot see the need around us, long to see God move in power to change it,
and do what we must to see it come to pass!
2007-03-19 13:14:08 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sorry, you couldn't get me to church no matter where you went. I was Christian once, but am not now and never will be again. It is not a question of where you are. I am not there.
2007-03-19 12:38:33 · answer #11 · answered by KC 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋