Here is my favourite quote:
"Retailers such as McDonald's have always realised the fundamental truth that it is the people not inside one of their restaurants that are most critical to their ongoing business. That is why their first prority is to gain the notice of those who are not their customers, and to draw them into the McDonald's experience. They key to successfully growing any business is connecting with those people who are not yet customers."The outsider is the key to our life and calling as Christians. What do you think?
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I think...
ReplyDeleteI'm unconvinced... I agree that it is one of a number of very important things that we must focus on as Christians.
There are far too many Biblical references to specific teaching that disciples are privy to, that the crowd is not, to the idea of loving one's brother, in particular the work of deacons, growing as Christians, craving pure spiritual milk. There are too many references to these things to claim that "the outsider is the to our life and calling as Christians".
McDonald's focuses on hamburgers and customers. If, as Youth Minister of HTD, you take your cues from them, I think you are in danger of treating people inside and outside God's Church in a misguided way. You will unduly make a big deal of non-Christians and tend to treat those within the household of the faith as second class citizens - or not too interesting to be around. I would take your cues from the Apostle, Paul:".."let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Gal 6:10.
ReplyDeleteChris, don't be over-obsessed with how many people you get into the organization.The main thing to focus on is God and how you relate to Him and to all of God's creatures, whether in or out of the Church. But Paul lays stress on how we treat those within the Church.
Hey Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I'm not a massive fan of people leaving anonymous comments which are aimed at rebuking me or correcting me. Please own your statements.
But to respond. I'd forgotten I'd even written this article and I certainly haven't forgotten about the scriptures... so I don't think you need to worry about me taking my cues from McDonalds.
I pose this question, If your church hasn't seen a new believer for a few years, is it possible that you might have the emphasis on those within the church too high? Perhaps so corrective over-adjustment is needed to get back to a proper balance of building up and reaching out. Jesus tells us to make disciples, and he tells us to GO and do it. I take it that means make more and more, not just the 5 or 10 or 30 you start with when you get to a place. And part of that is by encouraging those you disciple to make other disciples.