A Lesson On Making People Hate Church
If you are a church leader, pastor, or otherwise church-y kind of person---this will sting a little, but it needs to be said: You are probably the reason someone, somewhere doesn't want to ever go to church again. I know. Feel the sting. It's like Bactine on a knee-scrape. Admitting you have a problem is the first step. The second step is asking the obvious question: "In what ways have I caused others to hate church?" Or to put it in corporate terms, "What is my church doing to make people hate coming to church?" A lot, as it turns out. There are hundreds of things that church-y people do to make people who aren't that church-y feel like an outsider because... they aren't that church-y. It could be the way a church welcomes--or doesn't, insider-friendly worship, closed groups, you name it. But I have come to believe that the biggest culprit when it comes to antipathy toward church is when a congregation, faith community or ...