Pulling Pants Down
I took my two boys (Sam, 5 and Stephen, 3) to a Harlem Globetrotters game. When the game was over I asked, “What was your favorite part?”
I thought for sure they’d love the ball handling skills or the slam dunking. They had a great time, but for total different reasons than I anticipated.
Sam loved when one guy pulled down the shorts of another player.
Stephen loved the cotton candy.
In the church world, as pastors, we often want to believe people come to church because of our preaching, or simply to grow spiritually. In many instances, they come for entirely different reasons:
Maybe they come:
- Because the church is close to their home.
- Because the church offers a Saturday evening worship time that fits their schedule.
- Because their three year old loves the teacher.
- Because the church has a mother’s day out.
- Because the church has a cute and single band member.
- Because the church service doesn’t last for half the day.
- Because someone remembers their name.
- Because they get to mow the church’s yard.
We’d like to believe everyone comes to grow spiritually (and we pray that will happen), but we have to remember most people come with a “consumer’s mindset.” We have to start where people are… then lead them deeper with Christ.
I just hope no one comes because some guy pulled down another guy’s shorts!
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Thanks for the post. It is a great reminder. I am so excited to see you guys blogging, I can’t wait to see what God shares through you! Thanks again!
Awesome post!!
Most people aren’t as deep as we think they are.
They want answers to real life questions.
They may just want comfort and convenience.
Whatever the reason, let us be there to love them.
[...] check it out here [...]
It’s great to have you guys blogging!
Your story reminds me of the time that we spent a small fortune to take our three children to Disney World. We did it all - The Magic Kingdom, MGM Studios, Epcot, and even one of the waterparks. On the last day, we went to the Disney Village and the kids saw a “Lego” store. The store had put out tables with bins of Legos where the kids could just sit down and play. Was it that the toys were familiar to them? Maybe. In any event, they later agreed that playing with the Legos was what they like BEST about the vacation. If Disney’s huge marketing machine can miss the mark, then anyone can.
[...] I just ran across Craig Groschel and Bobby Gruenewald’s new blog; http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/ . Craig is the author of the free book I listed in a post a while back, Confessions of a Pastor. Both Craig and Bobby have posted some good reading material with some interesting stories. My favorite, so far, is pulling pants down… don’t think about it… just take a short break and read it here. Swerve looks like it is going to be a new blog hotspot before too long. Check it out. [...]
[...] Craig Groeschel recently discussed the harsh reality that many people who visit your church may not come for the preaching or to grow spiritually but for reasons such as: [...]
You left out:
“Because the church has free Krispy Kreme Donuts”
I took over a youth group shortly after coming out here to Indonesia. I learned that it was once 30-40 strong, but had dropped to maybe 10 a week, if we were lucky. I asked the youth why they come to the Sunday School each week. I had some varied answers, but the most common answers were 1) tradition/habit, and 2) to see/spend time with friends. Indeed, this happens halfway across the world.
After announcing that we would be going through the LDP (Life Development Plan) series and devotional together, we have seen some new faces gracing our doors. And this happened after a clearly defined vision for the youth was cast. Ultimately, it boils down to vision. Without a clear, defined, and continually spoken vision, people can slip into coming simply for the free donuts.
Why do kids come to youth group?
Do they come to learn? To have a good time? To worship? To avoid homework?
Craig Groeschel, pastor of Lifechurch.tv, posted some reasons why people come to church. It made me ask the same question about youth group. We’d like to think it’s …
[...] Craig Groeschel, pastor of Lifechurch.tv, posted some reason why people come to church. It made me start wondering the same question but in regards to youth groups. [...]
[...] na igreja? Julho 23, 2008 Arquivado em: igreja — kelenfranco @ 8:03 pm Tags: igreja Craig Groeschel descreveu recentemente sobre a dura realidade de que muitas pessoas que visitam a sua igreja, [...]
[...] Craig Groeschel descreveu recentemente sobre a dura realidade de que muitas pessoas que visitam a sua igreja, talvez não venham pela pregação ou para crescer espiritualmente, mas por razões tais como: [...]