In.Motion

Round 5 brings up to our next topic: Listen to Outsiders. I think this is the biggest hurdle to get over for most churches in general. The chapter starts with an illustration about car salesmen and how they usually interact with customers. Usually, when you walk onto a car lot, you’re bombarded with several money hungry salesmen looking for the biggest sale. You’re seen as a commodity and a pocketbook and are treated as such. But what if you walked onto a car lot where they were concerned with helping you rather than selling you a car? When the motive changes, the reaction changes.

This is something we can definitely take to heart as the church. Maybe some of the ways we approach visitors at our churches make them feel like they are at a car lot. Do they feel like a commodity? Like they are being bombarded? “But this is how we’ve always done things” or “If we change our approach, people might get upset a leave”. This begs the question: Who are we trying to reach? Let me back up. In churches, or any organization for that matter, there are insiders and outsiders. Insiders have been around and are plugged into the mission of the church. Outsiders are those who aren’t in the church.

“The church is primarily characterized by insiders reaching insiders” & “millions of outsiders see what the church does as being irrelevant, and yet most continue to do business as usual.” That sums up the two biggest problems we face when it comes to outsiders. We keep catering to those who have already committed their lives to Christ. If our mission is to reach the lost for Christ, then they are now a part of the mission rather than the object of the mission. And if we continue to focus on how insiders see things, we will only attract insiders, when it is outsiders we are trying to seek out.

So how does this relate to our worship/creative communities? I think this has great weight when it comes to how we do what we do. I find it to be foolish to ignore our culture when it comes to seeking inspiration for creative elements. Whether it be ideas for videos or for series topics, we should look to what people (outsiders) find interesting or are asking questions about. If we are seeking them out, we should know them. Know what they like. Know what they need (besides a relationship with Christ). This is more important than a “customer/business” relationship, therefore, I think we’ve got to put in the due diligence in understanding the outsiders. Staying “outsider-minded” has got to be a priority when it comes to programming our services.

How can you Listening to Outsiders help in your worship/creative community?

One.Love

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