Open Doors Church
This picture is of a Government building here in Gibraltar. It got me thinking. The sign says "Public entrance" yet the branches and growth of the surrounding trees are effectively barring the entrance creating an impassable, uninviting yet unofficial "barrier". We all proclaim to the four winds that we have an open doors church, yet how often do we have "stuff" that has grown around our organization in such a way that, though we want to have an entrance, this stuff acts as an unofficial, but very real, "barrier" that says to people "This gate is shut"!
We need to examine our attitudes, our "Christianeze" (The language and jargon we use as a cultural subset), and pay particular attention as to how our social norms and churchiquette (church etiquette) plays on first time visitors, especially the un-churched that have probably never stepped inside a church building before.
This would be an interesting exercise for pastors and church leaders. Enter into your church building on a typical Sunday as if that were your first time visiting and just observe. I am doing this and I am identifying lots of stuff that needs to change if we really want to reach people.
Tags: church, evangelism
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