If you want to see disciples being made...first model it!

I hear the following question raised quite often from our newly start-up congregations in the LCMC: "Help us grow our church!"

My response is aways the same,  "If you really want to grow your church, focus first on making disciples instead of making members."  How?  By modeling what it looks like to follow Jesus!

After all, if you want to see something you've never seen before...you'll need to do something you've never done before! 

People use to flock to Jesus, but they are not flocking to our churches.  Probably because our churches don't look much like Jesus!  Even if we do practice being "little Christ's" inside a church facility, we often forget to follow him out the doors and into the marketplace.  It is there, in the simple, sometimes mundane or regular moments of every day life, where Jesus shines brightest.  For it is "in life as it happens" where people are either attracted to you because of how you look "in Jesus," or turned off to Jesus because of you.  

Friends: If we continue growing our churches by doing membership-like activities, all we will get are more people with a membership mentality (i.e.: what's in this for me?).  If, however, we start our new churches by first focusing on training people to follow Jesus with the help of real-life mentors and models, that's when we will truly grow a church.  It's been said many times that a church's lasting impact is not in it's seating capacity, but in it's sending capacity.  In other words, when churches learn to give themselves away to the community, God will bless that movement and it will grow...maybe in numbers, maybe in finances, but for sure it will grow in influence and city transformation in the life-changing name of Jesus!

Here now are just a few simple ways to model to others what it looks like to follow Jesus in a neighborhood:

-When you are outside doing yard work, keep an eye out for others to strike up a conversation.  (People will begin to see you as someone they can know by name and even trust).

-When others are doing yard work, ask them if you can lend them a hand.  (Doors open to talk life).

-Adopt your street in the Spirit and then prayer walk your your neighborhood, sharing the peace of the Lord over every household.  (The spiritual climate will be changed and in your favor!).

-Invite your neighbors over to your home for a lunch or dinner.  God created our need for food for more than keeping us alive in the flesh, but as a tool to stay alive in the Spirit by connecting with others.  (My 21-year old daughter, Aimee, is planning on baking home made pies and gifting them to our new neighbors in Prior Lake...stay tuned for what happens next!).

-organize a neighborhood garage sale, or trip to a game, or a picnic.  (It doesn't have to be complex, just relational). 

As we develop trusting relationships, people are way more apt to share their felt needs.  Their lives become open doors for you to walk into and share your faith story.  Don't worry, they won't reject you, because they now know you better.  They trust you and they want the same joy you have.

Remember: If you want to see something you've never seen before, you'll have to do something you've never done before!