2. Start LOVING Confronting the Christians in Your Church
Truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
We’ve been called inside the Body of Christ to address and confront each other to mature in our followership of Jesus. We’ve not been called to be unlikeable and untrustworthy to outsiders. We’ve also not been called to create an insider-focused gathering to the neglect of the lost.
After we fully recognize the extent of the issue, we must begin addressing it directly with our fellow believers. We are not the Holy Spirit. However, our job is to communicate in love and allow the spirit to convict.
3. Lead the Way
We can’t lead without moral authority. This means we must begin living a likable, trustworthy, and loving lifestyle for everyone in our path. Digital paths included!
I’m as digitally guilty as anyone here. I love a good social media punch, and I’m certainly opinionated. But I’m working to ensure the Kingdom is the most important kingdom in my life. That means putting politics behind the church. It means leading with grace, empathy, and concern for others over myself. It means making my agenda God’s agenda.
We, as church leaders, must be the model of Jesus in this culture of hate and rage. We cannot expect anyone to do what we’re unwilling to do.
While we’re on the topic, we must de-politicize the local church. The marriage between Christianity and the political right is a primary cause of the great dechurching over the past 25 years. You can read more about this in the book “The Great Dechurching.”
4. Actively Engage With Non-Believers
When you work at a church, meeting and engaging with non-Christians is challenging. The church can be an isolation chamber where we see and interact with Christians daily.
To understand how non-believers view the church and you, you must meet and engage them. Warning: If the data is correct, 92% of them may not have positive feelings about your faith. To combat this cultural reality, keep that little nugget in your pocket for a bit. Like it or not, people have opinions, and first impressions matter. Make a bad first impression and you’ve only solidified their perception.
I get how this sounds. I also believe Paul meant it when he suggested we “become all things to all people in order to win some.” Allow your life and behavior to do your speaking.
5. Teach Believers How To Engage With Non-Believers
We’ve allowed an “us versus them” reality to consume Christianity. This vantage point has created a war-like mentality against outsiders.
We should never forget that we were once “those” people to God, too. Yet he never wanted to fight with us. “While we were still sinners, Jesus died for us” was Paul’s way of reminding us that God was not against us even when we were living against him.
