The Attractional Church

If I were not already predisposed to believe the negative things bloggers and writers say about the Attractional Church, I would think that “Attractive” would fit into the definition. But as I read on and on no one ever says anything positive about being an Attractional Church. So I will take my liberty here to crank out a positive description of the Attractional Church. Why? Because I believe in the mission of Attractional ministry…the way ARC does it. Anyway, here are some thoughts.

The Attractional Church is attractive… The vocational church is not attractive… The missional church that is not attractive soon loses its momentum and becomes vocational. (Read my blog on the vocational church) It’s true that the Attractional Church has a strong focus on Sunday services, services that are designed to draw many unchurched people. For discipleship purposes an emphasis on small groups is commonly found. It has a city-wide vision that includes outreach to all groups of people and specific missions to the needy and hurting. Often there are small groups in the Attractional Church that are very missional in their approach. KEY: The more the pastor and leadership express the need to be missional, the more missional the church becomes.

The Attractional Church tends to draw people to its services because of its “attractive” style and relevant approach to communicating the Gospel. In most cases worship is contemporary but doesn’t have to be. Services are fun, happy and the people are friendly.

Theologically, the Attractional Church is biblically rooted and the messages are biblically based. There is also concern and consideration for the culture around it. Therefore, much is done to know the “market” or culture in the area, and subtle adjustments are made to be relevant to that market. So the way the Bible is presented is influenced by the culture/market that is being reached. The difference is not in the content of the message but rather in the style of presenting it.

Application of the truth presented is a big part of the message in the Attractional Church. “What I want them to know” and “What I want them to do” are huge elements in the presentation. It is in the application of the message that missions and outreach is encouraged. Application of truth is also related to everyday issues such as family, employment and finances.

The Attractional Church has a large variety of services that it offers the community. Eventually, with growth, its financial and human resources can be a one stop shop for nearly every need that a member would have. If I were going to make a comparison in medical terms, it is more of a “hospital” whereas the Missional Church is more of an “urgent care” clinic. The Vocational Church would be a classroom on the ills of society. Apparently we need all three types because people attend them all on a regular basis. One is not better than than the other…just different.

Challenges – The Attractional Church can become inwardly focused and lose sight of its mission to the under-churched culture around it. It can inadvertently train up a group of Christians who speak “Christianeze” and become introverted and isolated from non-Christians. The fact is that most churches lose their evangelistic and missional mindset after four years.

Alan Hirsch, who is widely attributed for coining the term “Attractional Church”, said at a recent conference, “To be missional means we must live as a “sent” people. People that go into their community and reach others for Christ. The church goes to people not the other way around. Sent people go into their community and reach others for Christ. Acting “incarnationally,” sent people equip those that they reach to reach their own culture” He added, that in a missional setting, when we act “attractionally”, we effectively extract them from the host tribe/culture and that this is highly problematic. The reason is, the Gospel travels along relational lines within any given culture or sub-culture for that matter. Acting “attractionally” in a missional context effectively extracts people from that context and leaves unreached people and cultures unchanged”

The lesson here is not to “extract” people from their culture once you win them to Christ. So “acting attractionally” is really acting “extractionally.” Bottom line is this. What I define as a true Attractional Church is one that lives as a “sent people,” reaching and discipling converts in their own culture through small groups and outreach, and then providing them with places of worship to bring their families and friends to hear Christ preached….anyway that’s what we’ve been doing for the past ten years. And it works.

Give me some of your thoughts. Billy

The Vocational Church

Vocational Church – What is being described as the “come and see” or “come to us” church is not “attractional” but rather “vocational.” By “vocational” I mean a church that is led by a “vocational” leader/pastor who sees his “job” as a means of income for his family and livelihood. He doesn’t necessarily feel “called” as much as he just enjoys the ministry as a vocation. He feels a strong suitability to the work and approaches it as his career. He is trained to lead a church, to teach his congregation and to provide guidance in the dispersing and partaking of the sacraments. He learns to be a good communicator, counselor, and leader…but it is his vocation…not necessarily the call of God on his life. This church is for the most part passive towards the community and inward focused. There is little or no concern for the lost and hurting unless there are family members of the congregation that are lost and hurting. Numerical growth is not an issue. As one pastor told me, “We are a small church that is not growing and that’s the way I like it.”

The Vocational Church focuses on its congregation. It is most often controlled by a family or a group of deacons or elders. It is mainly interested in having sermons on Sunday and the needs of its members attended to by the “preacher” or “minister.”

In most cases the Vocational Church does not have small groups and does not do community outreach. It seems to be somewhat opposed to having outsiders coming in fear that it would interfere with its quaintness or social order. One conversation I overheard on a flight from Atlanta to Birmingham two ladies were talking and one said, “That church was so big I didn’t know anyone there. At our church I know everyone by name.” Value is put on knowing everyone not on reaching everyone.

The Vocational Church is not attractive to the under-churched and is mostly avoided by people who think church is boring, irrelevant, and clannish.

Theologically the Vocational Church preaches its denomination or affiliation’s doctrine mixed with illustrations from everyday life. Application is not always made to the truth being presented.

Negatives – The overall lack of mission is the underlying weakness of the Vocational Church. Every other negative factor stems from that.

I will talk about the Attractional church later. Let’s not confuse the two….Billy Hornsby

Exponential Conference

Do You Attend A Bronze Church?

The BRONZE Leader- The Legislator – Moral Police

When I use the term “Bronze,” I am comparing it to Gold, like medals in the Olympics. Anyone that goes to the Olympics always “go for the gold,” not the bronze. They may end up with the bronze but that is not their goal. And so it is with many pastors that I know and have met, they started out with great visions for reaching many souls and ended up with a struggling flock of disheartened people.

In this post I am writing about those pastors who struggle with the freedom that Christ provides us as His follows in favor of legalism…rules and pastor imposed restrictions that accuse and condemn. Whether it is out of fear of losing their flock, which almost always happens, or just not knowing better, it makes it hard to for those who attend their churches to thrive spiritually. Christian’s long to love their church and see their children grow up and serve God but it doesn’t happen here. Too many of these churches have a negative impact on families and lose them to the world. There are way too many of these churches with this kind of leader and hopefully some will read this and ask God to help them find grace to change. I’ve been there and maybe you have too, so change is good for us and the church.

The bronze leader can be characterized as self-defined by his upbringing and personal views on Scripture and local church life. He lives by his own set of rules that reflect his personal weaknesses and temptations. He ignores the “Great Commission” in favor of an exclusive, “we are the real followers of Jesus.” He fails to grow the church so he begins to possess it. He gathers a small flock that supports him financially for what he does, and what he does could hardly be described as ministry. It is more the corralling of a few vulnerable souls into his fold that he dominates and controls with legalistic preaching. He can be very confrontational and critical of anyone who doesn’t agree with his ideas. He is fairly insecure and finds it difficult to tolerate those that challenge him. His church is most of the time very small but can grow to a couple of hundred if he is a good preacher. He is a good person with a negative outlook on life and the world around him, and therefore very critical.

The bronze leader focuses on the externals of life and demands outward perfection from his followers. His message is condemnation to the sinner, separation from the “world” to the congregation and adherence rules that he thinks are important to embrace. Most of his sermons deal with what he is against and are very shallow. He legislates your behavior and lifestyle. However, he knows certain doctrines that he is an expert in and comes across as a teacher of deep truth to a not-so-informed congregation

This type of leader does not have to worry about anyone getting the credit for accomplishments because there are none. It is just  the preacher with a building that teaches some Bible to a congregation that feels inferior to others and tries to hold on to an awkward kind of faith. This all serves the basic need that people have to feel forgiven and “right” so they can tolerate the world and “hold on until He comes to take them up.”

Attributes of a Bronze Leader

1. He leads from his position – not influence

2. He “pressures” everyone to give and to obey.

3. May know the scriptures but preaches mainly from traditional preferences

4. Insecure and very territorial – wants others to keep away from his flock

5. Very legalistic and has biblical “proof” for every rule he wants to enforce

6. Thinks that he has the inside scoop on all truth and that other churches and pastors are not spiritual

7. Almost never releases anyone into ministry but keeps them in his discipleship circle not for the sake of developing them but holding on to them.

8. Is likely to have many flaws that he covers up with a controlling, manipulative leadership style.

9. Always has an angle in his message and actions.

10. He doesn’t trust many people.

I have been in many of these churches and know that deep down inside this leader is a person who could reach many more un-churched people for Christ if he could find the liberty that Christ offers. If he could learn to embrace the lost with the love of Christ and learn to accept people they would flock to his church. If he would be willing to give up control to Christ and see value in people, saved or unsaved, and lead them with the love of Jesus he would reach more souls.

Why is this important to address? Because there are thousands of these Bronze Churches in America that could be so much more effective in God’s Kingdom if they would realize that Christ came to set people free. And when the church can lead un-churched people into freedom from sin and bondage it will flourish.

Disclaimer – Churches in small communities with limited numbers of people to draw from that don’t experience huge growth are not necessarily Bronze Churches. They can be full of life and will reach a proportionately larger number of people per capita than other churches in similar situations. The Bronze Church has totally different characteristics than the life-giving churches that we mentioned in this blog. Any church can be life-giving!

Change is Killing Me

Wow, our new government administration is throwing a lot of new legislation at us that could change life as we have know it FOREVER. Am I ready for all of this? What should I do about the things that I disagree with? What if I am not ready for all of the changes? These are questions we need to be asking ourselves.

Change, as a dynamic to life, is something we all count on happening, but we often allow ourselves to become complacent. “The change will be gradual enough that I will have time to adjust,” is the line we sell ourselves. “I’ll wait and see how it affects me and then I will do something about it.” “All this change won’t be that drastic” is what we console ourselves with. But it could be drastic and life could look totally different than any of us ever expected. So, how do we handle it.

There are 4 distinct ways in which we might choose to deal with a major upheaval in our lives:

1. Deny It.

“I wasn’t ready for it!” We don’t want to believe it could happen to us, or can’t admit it was coming. Or maybe even worse, we say to ourselves, “This won’t last long, it will all return to the way it was before.” Regardless of how we get hit with the news, shock and denial are often the first reactions that we experience when confronted with a major disruption to our routine lives.

If we deny that change is here, the very changes that we detest and resist, we will be left behind and unprepared for the future.

2. Fear It.

This could be you. You’ve just been told that you are being laid off because of budget cutbacks (Every week I get calls from pastor friends that have staff positions that are being cut). Or, that the house you need to sell before you lose it is only worth 65% of what you paid for it three years ago. That the new government bailout plan with the addition of a national health care program will raise your taxes 35%!!! What to do?

Don’t fear…respond! Sit down with everyone affected by the sudden changes and think it through. Make the tough decisions and come up with a plan. Anything you can do, do it. Anything that is out of your control commit to the Lord and be ready to accept the outcome. But, don’t fear it.

Just like you would turn on the lights in a dark room, it is important to apply wisdom in situations where fear runs rampant. By doing so, you will quickly learn the facts and be able to deal with the matter. It is amazing how facing the truth about your situation will help motivate you to come up with solutions.

3. Fight It.

As we learn in school, the fight or flight instincts in us come out when confronted with matters of survival. A common aspect of dealing with change is to attempt to fight back the coming tide. This can often be viewed as noble, and there are most certainly times where continuing the fight is exactly what needs to occur. Never just lie down and let it overtake you like a tsunami, rather learn how to make positive use of the tides that come in.

If you are rational about where you make your stands, and keep focused upon your long term goals, fighting can be exactly what you need to do. However, don’t get caught up in the backwash of fantasy when reality demands that you move on.

4. Embrace It.

Change will come, it is inevitable, and whether we like it or not we will sooner or later have to embrace it in order to move on. Embracing it does not mean that we like it, it just means that it is reality. Generally speaking, this is the final aspect of change management – acceptance of the facts as they stand. By embracing change you agree to view the world as it stands, and not howyou choose to see it. This allows you to make decisions clearly and concisely.

5. Final thoughts.

What I see coming down the pike is a little scary. Things like a government run national healthcare system, double digit inflation, extreme unemployment, churches losing status with tax exemption issues and many other disturbing changes have gotten my attention. So, what will I do? I will prepare myself spiritually, financially and emotionally for it. God has brought me though some of the most difficult events and changes that you can imagine and He will do it again.

When changes come that I don’t like, I will also respond pro-actively. As I resist what I disagree with I must also make the appropriate adjustments in my personal life that these changes affect. Next, I will become a change agent.  I will support the proponents of the ideals that I embrace in our nation that will re-establish what I believe would be better for me and my family in hopes that new changes will counter the bad changes that take place. After all, this is America and I am an voting American.

This could take a while…..I’m ready for the journey.