Published: June 01, 2008
Have you ever asked yourself this question: Would your community be any different if your church disappeared tomorrow? If your church suddenly disappeared, could the community even recover? Or would they go on as though nothing at all had changed?
In Pop Goes the Church, a new book just released by Power Publishing, pastor and author Tim Stevens explores the decline in church attendance and simultaneous rise in spiritual conversation throughout pop culture. Tim contends that the church should begin leveraging the culture to help people know how much they matter to God.
The following is an excerpt from the introduction to the book...
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What is happening at your church that is worth talking about?
When people leave your service, are they thinking about the e-mails they need to send and the football game they want to watch, or are they thinking deeply about their own choices and how they might make a difference in someone's life?
Sadly, for most of us, the answer is a resounding "no." We didn't even have to think that long about the answer. Our church is great for our friends, our family, and us, but there is little measurable impact on the community.
And so our world is filled with impotent churches. Nothing is happening. A few people attend, someone mows the lawn, and the pastor visits people in the hospital; but when you look for the impact on the community, you see nothing.
Wouldn't it be great if a local church had a vision big enough to capture people's hearts and motivate them to action, so it had an impact on the community? Wouldn't it be awesome if a church was so effective people began following Jesus, growing in their faith, and as a result, the community was being loved and served?
I love the way John 1:14 is written in The Message. It says Christ "became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood." He came to us and met us where we were. In Jesus' case, the neighborhood was a rural, agricultural society in first century Palestine.
He immersed himself in that culture. He wore the clothes, used the language, and illustrated his stories with the signs and symbols of the day to communicate the Gospel of an upside down kingdom here on earth.
If Jesus physically entered twenty-first century America, I believe he would do much as he did in the first century. He would hang out with normal people in the real world, and he would reserve his strongest words for the entrenched religious leaders who love their traditions more than they love their people. I believe he expects no less from us.
Pop Goes the Church will stretch your thinking. If you have bought into the belief that church is exclusively for building up the believers, I want you to reconsider. If you think a church service cannot help believers grow AND be attractive to non-believers, I want to convince you that it can.
The community around you is dying without Jesus, and it is your God-ordained duty to wrestle until you find the best way to reach them. And once you do, don't apologize.
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What others are saying...
Pop Goes The Church should be read by every pastor, church leader, and layperson that wants to connect people to Jesus but is finding it hard to be heard in our media-saturated culture. Stevens makes the case that a local church can be transformational in its community.
Bill Hybels
Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church
Stevens writes with a sense of urgency that will inspire your ministry to an authentic and relevant presentation of God's transforming Word.
Craig Groeschel
Senior Pastor, Life Church.tv
Tim Stevens serves as Executive Pastor of Granger Community Church. Tim has been instrumental in inspiring church leaders across the nation to creatively reach and impact their communities for the cause of Christ. You can find Tim blogging at http://www.leadingsmart.com.
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