Are You Called To Start A Church?

Ok, here's my theory. Well, maybe it is not a theory so much as something I've observed several times and extrapolate to broader application (Yeah, that's a theory, right?). Here goes:

If you sit down and talk to people in their mid 20's who grew up going to church, you will find that for many, they at some point stopped going to chruch. Mosst of these will tell you that one of the main reasons they stopped was that they just didn't seem to fit, or that their seemed a lack of something real going on there and so they stopped, no anouncement, no declaration, they just stopped going. And if you ask them, the problem wasn't God, it wasn't Jesus. The probem was church -- even if they couldn't really explain what exactly it was. And, they felt a little guilty about it. Some of the these people are back at church, some arn't.

But, for ever one of these church disatisfied but not God disatisfied people, there are 15 or so others in thier sphere of influance, people who they grew up in church with, who had a similar experience, but were not so thoughtful about where the problem lay, instead they chucked it all -- God, Jesus, church. The put them all in the no or I don't know catagory. And they are not back in church.

That's my theory, this 1-15 ratio. People who are disatisfied with church but not God and people who are less thoughtful who have chucked the whole thing.

The theory gives rise to a call: While none of these 15 would go with you to church, they'd all come to your house -- if your one of the 1's (even on a regular basis) to share a meal, share concerns, share prayer requests, and even share questions about the Word, written and incarnate.

Church