Thursday, March 10, 2022
“Invite Someone to Church”
Yikes! Today’s Challenge will be difficult for lots of us. Attending (any) church ourselves is difficult enough, but inviting someone to church takes it to a whole new level. If I would have seen this challenge ahead of time, I probably wouldn’t have worked so hard on this past Monday’s challenge to have a good day. Bummer.
But this Challenge has a definitive purpose. Inviting someone to church (in-person or online) compels us to take a serious look at our own attendance. Why do we attend church? Or, if we don’t currently attend church, why not? This is not an attempt to make us feel guilty about church. Rather, the purpose of this is to encourage us to be proud of our desire to develop a closer relationship with The LORD. Whether we attend in-person or online, our involvement in church makes a statement about our character and identity.
Maybe that’s why we don’t invite folks to church: Maybe we are afraid of being identified as someone who cares. I know, that doesn’t make much sense. People who read stuff like this obviously care about life. However, if our friends and neighbors recognize this about us and we don’t invite them to church, what message are we sending them? Are we telling them that they aren’t good enough to attend with us? Or, are we telling them that we’re ashamed of our own attendance?
Let’s not become lost in “Why” people don’t attend. Rather, let’s attend and invite someone to attend with us. Let’s share something that we consider important. If they say, “No”, then okay. We tried. But if they say “Yes” (most people will accept the invitation), we may be giving someone a gift that pays eternal dividends.
“I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ.” (Philemon 1:6, NRSV)
