Friday, March 27, 2015
Focus
Thom Rainer:
The key here is not to be outwardly or inwardly focused, but to be both. However, the inward must precede the outward. Moses had his wilderness time. Between Damascus and ministry, Paul spent time in training and growth. Even Jesus had to grow up. And even one He was grown Jesus would often steal away to be alone with His Father or a few of His followers.
"Outward focus" is marketing advice, not spiritual advice. It's useful, but it is not the end of the story. Yet so many churches think it is, and a cultural wasteland where Christianity is considered irrelevant is the result.
Just sayin'.
church focus marketing v evangelism
"Stated simply, the most common factor in declining churches is an inward focus."I grow very weary of reading this in place after place after place. One cannot focus outward without some work on oneself. I would argue that one of the biggest reasons the church has lost the culture war is becasue we have been so outwardly focused that we no longer know what we are. We have grown for the sake of growth rather than grown towards the Lord. We add people labeled "Christian," but do we add people that behave like the label we attach to them?
The key here is not to be outwardly or inwardly focused, but to be both. However, the inward must precede the outward. Moses had his wilderness time. Between Damascus and ministry, Paul spent time in training and growth. Even Jesus had to grow up. And even one He was grown Jesus would often steal away to be alone with His Father or a few of His followers.
"Outward focus" is marketing advice, not spiritual advice. It's useful, but it is not the end of the story. Yet so many churches think it is, and a cultural wasteland where Christianity is considered irrelevant is the result.
Just sayin'.
church focus marketing v evangelism
