We Don't Need You
I've heard people from time to time tell others something like this, "you ought to come to our church we really need you." Many of the people that I've heard say this are faithful Christians and church members. I also respect that they say this from the best of intentions. In one instance, I know that it refers to a church that does desperately need new members. However, "we need you," is one of the worst slogans for evangelism I can imagine.
From a practical standpoint, "please join our church, we need you," is more likely to drive someone off than it is to induce them to join. This sort of phrase invests all sorts of hope that this person or family will somehow fix a church that is broken, will somehow save a church that is dying. I doubt that anyone that a church would actually want to have will join if he or she is going to be looked at as some sort of savior/hero figure. The person who would like to join understanding that he or she will be a hero figure is very likely to be the very last person that a small struggling church actually does need in membership.
From a theological perspective, the "we need you" slogan for evangelism is equally lacking. That phrase is inherently self-serving. "We need you" to teach adult Sunday school, to chair this committee or that committee. "We need you" to put a nice offering into the collection plate on Sunday. "We need you" to be a warm body in our otherwise cold sanctuary. The last time I checked, the Gospel is about what Jesus does for us, and living the faith is about what we do for others. If that is really true, can a church long live with such a self-serving approach to evangelism?
It is very true that healthy churches grow and seek to bring in new members, particularly people with no prior faith background. This is part of the evangelical DNA of the faith. Christianity is an inherently evangelical faith, by prescription and description. The healthy approach to getting the visitor to join, to getting your neighbor to visit must be rooted in something more than the need for their check in the plate or the need for another person to be occupying space in worship. The healthy approach should be rooted in trying to draw the other person into something. If the person does not come from a background in the faith, he or she needs us the church to introduce the life-giving grace of Christ. In that instance they really need the church, and not the other way around. The church can seek to draw others in to the missions in which it participates. Believers who are new in town will be much more likely to join in where there are missions and ministries in which they can get involved, in which they can serve others. At rock bottom, in either case others are being drawn into something bigger than they are, into the work of God in the world.
From a practical standpoint, "please join our church, we need you," is more likely to drive someone off than it is to induce them to join. This sort of phrase invests all sorts of hope that this person or family will somehow fix a church that is broken, will somehow save a church that is dying. I doubt that anyone that a church would actually want to have will join if he or she is going to be looked at as some sort of savior/hero figure. The person who would like to join understanding that he or she will be a hero figure is very likely to be the very last person that a small struggling church actually does need in membership.
From a theological perspective, the "we need you" slogan for evangelism is equally lacking. That phrase is inherently self-serving. "We need you" to teach adult Sunday school, to chair this committee or that committee. "We need you" to put a nice offering into the collection plate on Sunday. "We need you" to be a warm body in our otherwise cold sanctuary. The last time I checked, the Gospel is about what Jesus does for us, and living the faith is about what we do for others. If that is really true, can a church long live with such a self-serving approach to evangelism?
It is very true that healthy churches grow and seek to bring in new members, particularly people with no prior faith background. This is part of the evangelical DNA of the faith. Christianity is an inherently evangelical faith, by prescription and description. The healthy approach to getting the visitor to join, to getting your neighbor to visit must be rooted in something more than the need for their check in the plate or the need for another person to be occupying space in worship. The healthy approach should be rooted in trying to draw the other person into something. If the person does not come from a background in the faith, he or she needs us the church to introduce the life-giving grace of Christ. In that instance they really need the church, and not the other way around. The church can seek to draw others in to the missions in which it participates. Believers who are new in town will be much more likely to join in where there are missions and ministries in which they can get involved, in which they can serve others. At rock bottom, in either case others are being drawn into something bigger than they are, into the work of God in the world.
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