I happen to catch a listen on the radio this week of how author and apologist Lee Strobel became a Christian.
Part of his journey to faith was accepting an invitation to church.
At church, he heard Christianity explained to him with such clarity that it started his thorough investigation into the Christian faith.
I found myself thinking:
How do unchurched people find their way into a church?
It usually starts because a friend invites them.
Has this happened to you?
You invite a friend to church because you are excited about a new sermon series.
They are polite, but continue to dismiss your invitation with “Some day.”
The timing of your church invitation just doesn’t resonate with them.
How can you change that?
How can you increase the likelihood that your friend will say Yes and come to your church? [Read more…] about When to invite someone to church and not get rejected
As much as I believe in giving personal invitations to church, I can’t say that I personally know that many people who sit at home just hoping someone would invite them to church.
Statistics show that some people will respond to an invitation to church, and that such invitations are often part of the conversion process.
But in our busy culture, it might take months of repeated invitations before a person accepts and attends.
Why is that? [Read more…] about Personal Invitations to Church are not Enough
As I finished out my chapter through chapter re-read of the book of Acts, I see believers and non-believers in various settings:
The biblical DESCRIPTION of what happened in the NT church involved these elements. It gets mighty confusing to look at the book of Acts and to say
What is obvious is that people were being regularly and daily saved. This no basis to say that these conversions were occurring within or outside of the gatherings.
Acts merely describes what was happening.
It does not define a how the church will function following this particular era.
The church as a gathering PLACE is in development.
The earliest glimpses in Acts shows groups of people meeting in synagogues, public squares, and in houses. Today’s PLACES of gathering is very different than the gatherings in the book of Acts. Most of us meet in a dedicated space or building set apart for church meetings.
The church as a gathered PEOPLE is still a theological concept in development.
It is later spelled out in Paul’s letters.
The church gathered for the PURPOSE of a particular expression of worship is not the same.
It does not look like the weekly gathering of God’s people for worship as we know it in nearly any form today.
To ask the book of Acts for evidence about inviting non-believers to a church is ultimately a practice that will fail.
As the remaining passages deal with the missionary expansion of the early Christians there were no “churches” in these towns for the gathering of the saints They were being created as the apostles went forth, so looking at these passages for evidence of church practices may be pointless.
As I’ve discussed this with people, I’ve encountered a few uses of Scripture and examples that attempt to prove the point that we should not invite unbelievers to church.
I want to touch a few of those points below.
2 Corinthians 6:14 reads:
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
I’m not convinced that applies to inviting a unsaved person to church hear the gospel message. Inviting a unsaved friend to church is not spiritually uniting with them. It is not asking them into membership. It is not offering them a leadership position. Instead it is inviting them to come and hear the word of God proclaimed, where they can evaluate the message for themselves.
The underlying imagery from the OT is two different animals walking together.
I see this passage applying to marriage, business partnerships, church leadership and other places where two would walk together in close unity. I’m not sure Paul talks specifically about church gatherings, but a lifestyle.
In terms of church life, I’d see it applying to membership, church leadership positions, pastors etc.
They are the leaders of the church. Members who have joined a church should of course profess faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. We do not have atheists as church members, unsaved as elders, etc.
I don’t think this “yoking” or spiritual mixing occurs when we invite a non-believer to hear the word of God proclaimed in our worship services. If I invite a non-believer into a leadership position – to help me lead the church in some way – THEN that line is crossed.
1 Corinthians 14:22-25
Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”
Paul challenges the Corinthian church to be sensitive to visitors. At this point in the development of the church meetings as a gathering of people, unbelievers are in their midst.
This passage ASSUMES their presence, but doesn’t indicate the manner in which the non-believer arrived. The verb is simply “COMES IN” but gives no indication of the manner: by invitation, by curiosity, by advertising, nothing.
I’ve seen this passage used to share that the presence of such visitor was RARE. That assumes facts not in evidence. The one clear mention of a non believer being present doesn’t mean it was rare. It is an unprovable assertion. Paul’s point is addressing the misuse of tongues, not church invitations. Likewise, I cannot prove from the texts that it was a COMMON practice. I’d have to assume facts not in evidence.
One cannot say the practice was RARE or COMMON without assuming facts. What we can say is that Paul does not prohibit the presence of non-believers in the midst of the assembly, nor does Paul specifically command that we give invitations.
The point of this passage is that the Corinthian church should be sensitive to the non-believing visitors in their midst. I believe this should be part of every church’s DNA, whether you speak in tongues or not. You want your unsaved visitors to declare that God is in your midst.
The assertion that I’ve seen is that Jesus did not have a non-believer in his group of 12, then we shouldn’t have them as well in our churches.
However, the particular question we are discussing – can we invite the unsaved to our church services – does not seem to be answered by Jesus as an example. This is a straw man, I think, for this discussion.
There was no church to invite people to. He lived in a different time than an organized church.
Of course he didn’t yoke himself with a non-believing sinner who advocated for things not of the Lord. But he did hangout with people who needed him. He clearly hung out with people, welcomed people who sought him out etc.
I don’t see him rejecting people who don’t yet believe based on a meeting place or specific type of gathering.
Let me ask you this:
For what reasons SHOULD we invite our non-Christian friends to church? Answer in the comment field. . .
Should we invite non-believers to our church services? The question came up in a discussion group I am a part of, so I’ve chosen to examine the early church patterns from the book of Acts.
As I have looked at the gatherings of the disciples so far, what is clear so far there is no pattern of inclusion or exclusion, or if it is even possible to make a definitive conclusion.
Now that I’m at Part 5 and into the missionary expansion of the church, Luke is even less helpful in answering the question that I want a clear answer to. My question was not Luke’s question. After these passages, I will stop this particular review from the book of Acts, even though I’m 10 chapters from the end. [Read more…] about Invite Non Believers to Church?–Part 5
Should we invite non-believers to our church services?
So far through the three parts of rereading the book of Acts (part 1 covers Acts 1-5, part 2 covers Acts 6-9, part 3 covers Acts 10-11), I don’t see a clear answer to the question.
As I have looked at the gatherings of the disciples so far, what is clear so far there is no pattern of inclusion or exclusion, or if it is even possible to make a conclusion.
Particularly starting in this next section, it starts to get confusing to say “that’s a church meeting” and “that is not a church meeting.”
They are gatherings where the word of God is proclaimed, gifts of the Spirit are manifested, and elders are set apart with fasting and prayer. The only hints of locations are a few references to the synagogue.
In today’s section, I’ll continue in Acts as I watch the church develop in various cities as the gospel goes forth.
It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them . . . . So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. . . . . he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark,where many people had gathered and were praying.
Luke uses the word church to identify the disciples, not to speak of a specific gathering for worship. The use in verse 5 may refer to a specific meeting in the house of Mary that is described in verse 12.
It is likely that this gathering for a prayer meeting was made up only of known disciples, but that is a a likely inference rather than a clear statement.
It doesn’t address the question about inviting the unsaved to our church meetings to hear the proclamation of the word of God.
Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
Luke’s use of the word church refers to disciples in Antioch. Was it the one church meeting (specific event), or a general description of the church as disciples with various meetings in various parts of the city? Verse 2 moves us to a specific meeting for the setting apart of Barnabas and Paul.
This passage shows only believers (prophets and teachers) by name.
But this verse doesn’t address the question – are unbelievers present or excluded? It’s not Luke’s point.
As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. . . . When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. . . The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.
Paul had been teaching in the synagogue in Psidian Antioch. He preached a simple message and people believed. He was invited to return and it is said almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
I think it is very likely that unbelievers and believers were in this mix. They had come to hear the word of God. Some believed after hearing.
What is clear is that this is a gathering of people. If one holds that unbelievers are not to be invited to church, then this meeting must not be church.
No specific gathering is mentioned, other than Paul teaching in the synagogue. A great number of Jews and Greeks believed. Verse 3 adds:
So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.
There is no mention of a place where this occurs other than the synagogue.
I would imagine that the believers and non-believers continued to mix at gatherings to hear the word of God taught during that considerable time there. Luke doesn’t record any kind of division or separation into “believer only group” and mixed group.
They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
Luke gives generalized statements about people coming to faith in various cities, the appointment of elders, prayer and fasting.
There are no details here to suggest a “believers only” worship gathering, except maybe in the final sentence.
“they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.”
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