Comeback Churches

Is it enough to show up for church on Sunday mornings? The answer is, no. Churches that just have the philosophy of ‘showing up’ do not last. Another ministry comes along and takes energetic and willing participants away. People follow vision. If there is no true vision, people leave to find a church that has one.

In his book, Comeback Churches, Ed Stetzer says, “Churches are rediscovering the need to focus on the mission of God and be missionaries in their communities.” That is a key when one truly defines exactly what a missionary is and what a missionary does. They do not go into a village or community and try to change everything to be the way that they expect it to be. They come in and analyze what is happening and try to become one of them and share their culture. Then they choose their battles wisely. When the opportunity arises, they share Christ in real and relevant ways that the culture can understand.

This is Biblical. When Paul was in Athens in Acts 17, he was troubled by all of the tributes to false gods. He did not immediately start smashing them to rubble. He complimented the people for their religiosity and from that had an audience to share Christ. Because of the strategy that Paul used, people came to Christ through his words.

There must be something in a community that a local church can ‘build’ on. It is up to each local ministry to discover that issue or item and use it for the glory of God. Missional churches are churches that survive and grow. Those churches without a mission are those that are most likely to suffer.