Okay…so I didn’t get to my entire neighborhood but I did get to 240 homes. With an investment of time totaling 8 hours and about $10 in supplies I was able to invite 240 families to a FREE party. I figured if every fast food joint in town takes time to do it must be worth the minimal cost and effort. Harmony whipped up a little flyer that we printed and secured with a rubber band through a punched hole. I know that personal invitations are way more effective but it would be impossible for me to meet everyone in my neighborhood. I did have the opportunity to hand four out but that was the only sign of life last night.
On Saturday we will find out the payoff but so far it has cost me an angry call from the homeowners association. Apparently there are a few people in the neighborhood that don’t like being invited to FREE parties. Now maybe these people have called in to complain about every restaurant and pizza joint that has done the same thing. I hope so because it is encouraging for me to think that people may be trying to keep the church “element” out of the neighborhood. Why is that encouraging? It is encouraging to me because people often times need what they least want because what they need makes them uncomfortable. I don’t know maybe they just don’t like the Subway sandwiches we are going to serve.
Even though I won’t SPAM my neighborhood again because I have been told not to I will not stop being aggressive in promoting Christ and our church. I know, I’m the pastor and that is my job, right? Well, I don’t claim to be a great theologian but I am pretty sure that The Great Commission (leading people to Christ) was given to all believers. By inviting people to an event like this my whole goal is to establish relationships that could facilitate The Great Commission. I love what this translation gives as the reason for Jesus giving The Great Commission, “Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.” So Christ was responding to them being passive in their worship/faith.
So, how can I expect our church to be aggressive in their faith and be crazy inviters if I don’t lead by example? With all of the negative influences that are thrown in our faces everyday I think we should be willing to express our faith. I know this isn’t common practice in our politically correct world where expressing religion is a big NO NO, but it is okay to promote sex, drugs, lust, envy, etc. Expression of your faith isn’t always about preaching on a street corner but also includes being hospitable. So my bad…I solicited a FREE party.
Who knows, there may be one person out of those 240 homes that finds Jesus because of my FREE PARTY SPAM. I have to tell you that would completely erase the frustration I have right now with the few party poopers!
this is awesome. i’m inspired that you’ve gone to such lengths these past six months to reach weston. i have a half dozen friends that live in weston.
as a matter of fact, if you have a dog, markham park is a great place to meet people (at the dog park). we’re there 3 times a week, and some of our friends are there every single day.
was this a party at your house you were throwing? cause 240 homes is a lot of people to invite. i usually invite about 70 people and hope that 50 show up.
Lew,
We don’t have a dog just a 3 year old. Which is just like a dog in many ways…tough to potty train, eats a lot, needs a bath or they stink and you can’t leave them home alone or they destroy the house. I haven’t made it to the park yet but I hear that they have some great “mountain” bike trails that I want to check out.
The party was in our subdivision community park. The last event we had in our house I invited about 70 families with no responses. I don’t know it is almost like people don’t realize that they actually need Jesus.
its not about them needing Jesus (of course that isn’t even on their radar), its about them needing a friend and a true neighbor. Most of our neighbors who’ve come to our house for parties, dinners, and bonfires have said that they have never been invited over to a neighbors house before. When I show up at their door on a Saturday morning in my boxer shorts to borrow eggs, they tell me “we’ve never had a neighbor like you before. (in a good way)” For the moment, I’m not trying to introduce them to Jesus verbally (though I am introducing them to Jesus through my actions), nor am I inviting them to attend church. Despite this lack of “agenda” on my part, they have consistently sought out my wife and i for relationship advice, spiritual advice, invited themselves to our Bible study, invited themselves to go to church with us,etc.
Rather than the people in your community percieving you as “the pastor of that church”, try to get them to percieve you as the “pastor of their community”. They’ll come to you. sooner or later.
i’ve got a friend in weston who is a serious bike rider, if you’d like me to connect you with him. he’s actually the first blog listed on my site - my living mind.
We have had pretty good success with our immediate neighbors and it all started by borrowing a screwdriver. The tool not the drink, which they were all out of anyway. HAHA It is a two edged sword because I want so desperately to introduce people to Jesus not to mention trying also to plant a church that multiply the spreading of the gospel. This is tough in part because the days of high pressure, high guilt evangelism are over. In addition, the days when people went to church just because they believed it was the right thing to do are in large part over, accept in small portions of the “Bible Belt”. I think if we are looking for the biggest paradigm shift in how we do church it is the investment we have to make in people in lieu of the investment we used to make in churches.
Anyway…I am going to shut down a long tangent on the calling of the modern day church and say keep borrowing eggs and scramble them with some great commission.
Thanks for the feedback and the encouragement. Oh and regarding the serious bike rider I would love to meet him. The fact that you used the word “serious” tells me I can’t hang with him on a bike but that has never stopped me from trying.