If you Had to Explain Church to someone, not from your Own Experiences, but by what The Bible says; What would You Say?' asks Francis Chan

LISTEN NOW! According to George Barna, the Church presently spends $1.3 million PER baptized believer. While at the same time we are spending hundreds of dollars on floral arrangements to be placed in front of pulpits for messages to be spoken to people that most likely are not going to do anything about it. Barna also reveals that ‘81% of self-professing Christians don’t read the Bible; and of the 19% that do, only 3% make life decisions based on what the Bible says.’ As staggering as this sounds, it lines up with an encounter that Bob Jones had when He went to the Lord in death. In this encounter, he saw a line made up of 98% of the world’s population that was going to spend eternity with their gods while the line that Bob Jones was in, only had 2% in it. We have to rethink what Church is all about.

As one who is known to pull no punches but to simply share the truth directly from the Bible, Francis Chan asks a revealing question about this very matter. “If someone asked you to describe Church, just using the Bible, like you’re not allowed to use any of your experiences, just use the Bible and explain Church to them, what would you say?” If we are not basing our understanding of what the Church is off of what the Bible says, are we doing what God calls us to do? After asking this question to people, he’s confronted with the additional question of are we experiencing what the Bible says in our own lives?

When we look at the scriptures, we see a gathering of individuals that have such a love for one another, it is strange and rare to the eyes of the world. But, this is how we are called to live our lives for one another in the Body of Christ. Chan continues to highlight, “Man, that was the Holy Spirit. That’s something that God has done in us. But, when have you seen that?” There is supposed to be an urgency to get the Good News of Jesus Christ out into the world and into the hearts of those who do not yet know this truth. “It doesn’t seem that there is that type of participation in the Church. It seems more like going to the movies rather than going to the gym…it’s sit back and let them do it versus no, I’m gonna give to this and I’m gonna leave feeling great because I put effort into this.” We should be training believers up in the ways and teachings of the Lord so that they can go out and do the same. “It feels like we’re trying to recruit leaders rather than develop them and send them out.”

When we look at Scriptures, we see an explosive growth rate when the Church gathers. People simply share the Gospel in obedience to the Holy Spirit and amazing testimonies begin to happen. Presently, we carry a handful of assumptions that we think must take place in order to grow. “When we start a Church, we usually assume, that means we need a preacher…we need a building, we need a guy that leads a few songs, we need a youth pastor, we need a children’s pastor…I don’t see that in here [Scripture].”

Regardless of who we are or where we are, God has the same expectation for all of us: to become His disciple and to make disciples who will ultimately go into all the world and repeat the same process. Be stirred and encouraged as you are greatly challenged in your understanding of what the Church is, what you are called to do before the eyes of the Lord, and so much more. Also shared in this segment: church plants, evangelism, relationship, family, Emmaus Road. Greg and Steve shared in this segment.

screen capture from youtube.com/Aron Sakhrani

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evangelism Francis Chan George Barna

Loving God, Loving Others and Leading Others to do the Same

If you Had to Explain Church to someone, not from your Own Experiences, but by what The Bible says; What would You Say?’ asks Francis Chan

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