Skip to main content

Your Security Is Important To Us



    A preacher friend was lamenting how frustrating of an experience he had recently trying to get the full names of visitors.  He had introduced himself with first and last name to a couple different young couples but they had only responded with their first names.  He went to check the visitor cards but they had not filled them out.  “How are we supposed to reach out to them if we don’t know who they are?” he retorted.  To him it was an absurdity, but I think I understood their reluctance.
   Younger generations are much more protective of their personal information. While older generations don't think much of giving out names, numbers and addresses; younger generations have become very suspect.  In the digital age information is valuable.  Personal contact information is a highly sought out commodity.  Marketers want that information so they can fill your in-boxes with offers.  Telemarketers want to call you at all hours to offer the best rates.  Advertisers want to know what you do and like so they can target ads to get you to spend more.  So when someone asks for your name or email, your “spidey sense” starts tingling.  Why do they want it?  What are they trying to sell?  What are they getting trying to get out of me?
   Now I know not many churches are not looking to sell information. They want to reach out to people that have an interest in spiritual things.  Still, I think it is important to understand that the world has changed.  People are not as trusting of any organization as they used to be. A friendly smile, a smooth pitch and fancy brochure don’t go as far as they used to.  People are looking for those that really care about them not just those that say they do.  They are looking for legitimacy before they will make a full commitment of themselves.
   That is why it is essential for the church not to try and look like the “right church” but to be the right church.  Gimmick and bits may get attention but destroy our credibility as those seeking to please God.  The best way to lure in the hesitant is transparency. We are what we are, no gimmick, cons or tricks.  Not trying to mask our beliefs or hide our intentions but honesty in what we do and who we are.  Not in whitewashing our persona for mass appeal but being bold enough to stand for what we truly are and respectful enough of those that we come in contact to be up front about it.
   I truly believe that what most people are searching for are churches that are not just interested in making them “members” but those that are concerned about their souls.  Brethren that are as much about “serving” as they are “sales”.  A place where you are more than just a number on the board but part of a family. An attitude in the body that’s not just worried about getting them in the doors but helping them get to heaven.
    People are seeking meaning and not just marketing. What are we giving them?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Does A Lion Tamer Use a Chair?

  Ok, I know you have seen the image. A lion tamer enters in the cage of the beast and forces it to obey his commands using a whip, a gun and a chair. Now you can see how the whip and gun could come in handy but you might be wondering why a chair would intimidate an animal as powerful as a lion? Clyde Beatty taming a lion with a chair   It's not that the lion is afraid of the chair -- it's that the lion is confused by the chair. Cats are single-minded, and the points of the chair's four legs bobbing around confuse the lion enough that it loses its train of thought. Casually put, the chair distracts the lion from wanting to claw the lion tamer's face off. The powerful creature could destroy the chair in moment’s notice but instead it is distracted into submission.  It’s not too much different than how Satan controls us today. By the power of God we could overcome anything that he would use to subdue us. We can overcome the evil one (1 st John 2:13-14). ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Right to Arm Bears

  In the book of 2 nd Kings 2, we have one of the most unusual, violent and curious passages in scripture. It involves the prophet Elisha siccing a couple of bears on some kids that were mocking his bald head.    As a guy that is a little light on top that has been around some surly kids, I can feel for the guy. But seriously a bear attack? On kids? What is going on? ….young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!"  When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number. 2 nd Kings 2:23-25  It might help to explore the passage a bit more. The baldhead statement: This was an identifying mark of the prophet as opposed to Elijah who was hairy (1st Kings 1:8) a jab to say you are not him. The taunt to go up: Elijah has just been taken into heaven by the Lord a sight seen by ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Mighty Gulf

  It is hard to get people on two sides of an issue to come together. Each has their own viewpoint, their perceptive, their own foibles, their own understanding.  To gain any common ground there must be something in common. Something or someone that can bridge the gulf between the two.   Could there be a greater gulf than there was between God and man? How could a holy perfect God find a way to connect to the fallen, imperfect mankind? How can one without temptation connect to those who are beset by it? How could limited mortal beings understand an omnipotent eternal God?   In 1 Timothy 2:5, we read, “ For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus .” The phrase mediator here describes a person that bridges the gap, a go-between. Jesus was one who could stand in both worlds. A perfect holy one who can understand our temptations, a man who would die yet live eternally, One who was God yet became flesh and dwelt among us. ...
Post a Comment
Read more