Whatever the mission statement of your church is, every church has the goal of helping people connect with God.
As church leaders, we want to see people experience salvation. That’s a no-brainer.
But our relationship with God goes beyond that initial experience. We’re called to a lifetime of living for God and experiencing all He has for us.
So as a local church, we’re called not only to lead people to have an experience with Jesus, but also to guide people in their life-long journey of growing in their relationship with God.
With this in mind, what should we push? What should we encourage?
We could build a long list of things that are good, but what are the non-negotiable things that people need?
Here are 3 Things Every Church Should Push:
1. Personal Growth in Biblical Truth
As a person comes to Christ, no matter what their background, it’s so important that they develop a strong relationship with their Bible.
Some have said that our current society is the most Biblically illiterate society in modern history.
In a recent study, Barna revealed that only 4 out of 100 teens hold a true biblical worldview.
It’s scary to realize that, if challenged, many Christians can’t even defend why the Bible is a trust-worthy document.
We need more than “Because my parents said so…”. People need to know why the Bible can be trusted, and they need to constantly be learning the teachings of the Bible.
Without truth, people wander around in a world guided by opinions and feelings.
And God never meant it to be that way.
This is why the scriptures have been supernaturally preserved for centuries. God wants us to have it in our hands! And He wants to put it in our hands, so we can put it in our Hearts!
Of course, we all have things in the Bible we disagree about, and that’s fine. Not everybody in your church will agree on every point in the Bible, and that’s fine.
But as people develop a lifestyle of reading and studying God’s Word (without becoming judgmental and critical of others) they become stronger in their Christian walk.
What can we do as church leaders?
Continually remind people how important this is. Weave it into the sermons regularly.
Make sure we have environments where the Bible is studied and taught (classes and groups are critical)
Use technology: Offer video curriculum to new believers. Maybe through your website. (even if it’s not your own – as long as you approve the material)
2. Relationships with other believers. (Beyond Sunday)
Of all the HABITS we should develop as Christians, this is probably the most important. I know that sounds radical, but without a doubt, the best way for your life to change is through RELATIONSHIPS.
When you’re doing life with other people who are chasing after God, even if you don’t get it perfect every day, you’ll probably continue to grow closer to God.
Our circle of friends has more influence on our actions than almost anything else.
As a church, we get to play a part in this.
We do that by creating Easy Environments to Build relationships with other believers.
Small Groups is one of the best ways churches help people connect, find friends, and build long-lasting relationships.
There are lots of different models that work. The key is to find a model that you like, and that you think will work best during this season at your church, and then commit to it.
And it can even feel risky. But you can reduce the risk by learning from other churches that are already doing it well.
>It’s tempting to believe that people get everything they need from our preaching, and our Sunday services, but they don’t. They need Relationships!
So we have to work HARD to create the culture of connecting in your church.
And here’s a warning: This is probably the hardest part of growing a church. Building a culture of groups is difficult and it requires a long-term commitment. The enemy doesn’t want this to work at your church, because it’s so powerful.
We have to push Relationships.
How do we do it?
By creating easy environments for people to connect with others and find strong relationships.
3. Involvement in Serving
Being involved in the work of the local church is not just for the Bible School graduates. It’s for everybody. Part of the fulfillment we all need comes through serving.
There’s a part of every single one of us that will not be fulfilled by anything else other than serving in the work of God, and having the opportunity to make a difference for HIM.
- People need to be involved.
- People need to use their gifts.
- People need to be part of a team.
- People need to know they’re making a difference.
- People need to be celebrated and appreciated.
It’s more than a WANT… It’s a NEED we all have
One of the hardest things about leading a church is allowing people to get involved. We hold the reigns, and struggle to let people onto the serve team. But God wants them involved.
God has given everybody gifts and abilities, and it’s up to us as church leaders to pull those gifts into action.
No matter what size your church is, one of the things you need to push is Involvement in Serving.
How? Here are some possible action steps for you…
- Make a list of all the ways people can serve in your church.
- If your list is short, you probably need to add to it.
- Think about your assimilation process.
- How do people learn about the opportunities for them?
- Lots of churches use a consistent multi-week class where new people can learn more about the church, and how they can be involved.
- Make it known …over-and-over.
- Consistently talk about it from the pulpit. It can seem redundant, and even like “If they want to get involved, they’ll ask.” But we have to continue to let people know that we would love for them to get involved.
Lets Recap`
As church leaders, there are so many things we can focus on.
Our attention can get pulled in so many directions. But our primary responsibility has to be leading people into a growing relationship with Christ.
What we Push matters. What we Encourage people to do matters.
What should our church push? These three things are at the top of the answer list.
- Biblical Truth
- Good Relationships (beyond Sunday)
- Involvement in Serving
As a church leader, regularly come back to this question:
Is our church pushing these three things?
