3 Signs Your Church Is Ready to Reach Lost People

Almost every church I know says they want to reach lost people, people who have never been connected to a local congregation or who have drifted from one. But after a peek behind the "ministry curtain", few are actually doing it.

Part of the problem stems from the fact that many churches don’t really understand unchurched people or what are called the "nones" today (those who say they have "no" religious affiliation).

Another part of the problem is that our model of "church" is designed to reach and serve the already convinced, and not really reach lost people. Very few churches seem to be ready to change in order to really reach the lost.  So you can say you want to reach people all day long; you can preach about it every week from the pulpit. But if you haven’t designed your ministries around reaching people who don’t trust Christ, you might as well be preaching that you want to lose weight while having Pizza Hut on speed dial!

Here are 3 signs that indicate your congregation is set up to reach the lost as well as better equip the found:

1.  People who attend your church actually know unchurched people.  Many Christians say they want to reach unchurched people, but they don’t actually know any unchurched people well enough to invite them. That's why at St. Mark we encourage people to have unchurched friends, to invest in their lives and, when given the opportunity, to invite them to worship or some event.  There is a reason we end every worship service reminding people that they are "now entering their mission field."

2. Your attenders are prepared to be non-judgmental.  Unchurched people do not come ‘pre-converted’. They will have lifestyle issues that might take years to change (and let’s be honest, don’t you?). Cleaning up your behavior is not a pre-condition for salvation, at least not in Christianity. What God has done for us in Jesus saves us; not what we have done for God. We need to be ready to love unchurched people, not just judge their behavior.  Jesus’ genius approach was to love people into life change. If we can remember this truth, churches (including St. Mark) will be better equipped to reach lost people.

3. Questions are okay.  Embracing the questions of unchurched people is a form of embracing them; letting them know that questions are part of the learning process.  This is one of the reasons we often have a message series about "Difficult Questions" or "I Have A Brother Who Says ...."  In fact, at our new Green Bay site worship service (starts Sunday, September 13 at 10 am) and this Fall at our Monday night services, we will be offering a Q & A period in the worship service itself.  Yes, people on the path toward Christ have questions (I do too).  You need to give them the time and opportunity to find answers.