INVITE, Part 2

Hmm...so my second INVITE blog did not, as promised, come last week. Sorry about that! I am still trying to get on a more routine blogging schedule. Some weeks are good, others, well, there are always those weeks from time to time...

I want to share some thoughts and questions to close out our thinking on INVITE. Last week I wrote about some of the foundations of the idea, and so today I want us to really connect this idea with our ministry at Calvary.

I think the biggest two roadblocks we have to inviting people are these:

1. Having something we're excited about so that we want to invite them. Let's be honest. It's way easier to invite someone to something you're confident they'll really enjoy than something you just think they'd like ok. Here's an example: we've got charge conferences coming up this Saturday at Calvary. In addition to our own, we're hosting something like 25. I am not, honestly, a hard-sell inviter for charge conference. We've changed the way they're done in this conference, and have stripped the reports to bare minimum. The District Superintendent doesn't preside at even the majority of charge conference, so it's no longer an opportunity for people to interact with the DS. It is important that people come, but unless there is some controversial issue to be decided, it's hard to justify inviting a parent to miss their kid's soccer game or something to come. It's am obligation thing, not particularly exciting.

Church is the same way. If we are inviting people because we have some sense they they have an obligation to go to some church (and so hey, why not ours?) then it's going to be more difficult to get ourselves to invite, and our invitation will be, well, lame. On the other hand, if we're super excited, it will show and we will be a lot more likely to invite someone. Therefore, our "inviting" has to do with our entire ministry. And why we purposely can use special events as an entry for new people. Your input is helpful for us as well. Is there something happening (or not happening) that if changed would make you even more excited about what's happening at Calvary? If so, let us know! Unfortunately we can't do everything, especially all at once, but we can do a lot. Sometimes we do or don't do something simply because no one has ever suggested another option.

2. We don't want to be one of those people. You know the ones I mean. The hard-sellers. The Christians will bullhorns on street corners (or the ones who might as well have one). All of us have our stories about run-ins with the forceful, aggressive "evangelists". Watch the film Jesus Camp. It's pretty intense for some people. I still can't figure out, though, how we think this sort of hard sell is going to make people want to come be one of us. After all, isn't that, essentially, what we're asking them?

There's this implicit side (sometimes it's not even implicit but evident) that comes out in these forceful attempts...like if someone doesn't agree with us they're going to hell. And for most of us, we don't want people to read that into what we say when we invite them to church. All we may mean is, "I like this place and these people, and I think you might too." But we worry they'll remember all those forceful Christians and think we're doing the same thing.

How to fix that? Well, first off, don't walk around with a bullhorn. Second, if someone doesn't seem interested, don't pressure them. Remember it's God that works in people's lives, not us. If you keep being Christ in your life and to that person, they will see that. But don't be afraid to offer your invitation, just make sure you are doing so in an authentic way. Be in relationship with someone before you suggest they come to church (except in certain circumstances)...after all, isn't that how you would want to be approached? How likely would you be to attend a political rally for a candidate if some random person invited you? How much more likely if your good friend and neighbor invited you.

This is pretty basic stuff. Just be yourself. Act like you would with anything else in life. If you're excited about your relationship with God and your involvement in the congregation, inviting people will come a lot more naturally.