Why Aren’t Your People Inviting Other People to Attend Your Church?

Yesterday I talked about the difference between inviting and informing and I gave a shout-out to all The Gathering family, those who are a part of this movement, to go from informing to inviting.  So with that in mind, I have a question for you, why do the people attending your church not invite other people to come to the experience? They come. They’re faithful. They give and support, but they don’t invite other people.  If people in your church are not inviting people, they are not inviting people on purpose. We think they are intimidated, but they are not. They know very well how to invite people to great stuff. They do it all the time.You take an average person who goes to a great concert; it’s very easy for that person to invite someone to the next one. He went and had a great experience. He was moved, he was touched, it was a great value, and it was worth the time and the effort. He knows that his friend is going to benefit from it and he’s going to thank him afterward. So he invites him enthusiastically. They make the date, they plan, they spend the money, they anticipate. We’re really good at inviting people to places that we love going and knowing there’s a benefit at the end. So at the end of the day, maybe what you should be more focused on is helping your people love to come and to understand the benefit that others may have who come after them. Maybe people aren’t inviting people to your church because they aren’t that enthusiastic about it either.  As a matter of fact, my experience tells me that this is epidemic in the church in America.  When I survey, particularly men, and I talk to a lot of them in my coaching and consulting endeavors, I find that many, many men have parked their “church membership” in a church for which they have little passion. They seem to be attending a church that is the least objectionable to them. When asked they say, “For right now we are . . .”  This is usually followed up with, “I don’t get much out of it but,” This ought not be and it must change.  So if you’re responsible for anything that goes on in your church, sit down and ask, “Are we so jazzed with what God is doing among us, we can’t help but invited others we know and love to get in on it?”  If that is the case, then Yea God, but if not, what are you going to do together to change things?  How can you create an environment in which people can’t wait to invite other people? May our churches be places real people gather to experience the presence of God and the grace of Jesus.