It’s time to stop assuming people know

July 8, 2011 in Outreach

There are lots of misperceptions about what is Christian is.

  • Some people think a Christian is someone who tries to be good.
  • Some people think that a Christian is someone who goes to church each week.
  • Some people think that a Christian is someone tries really hard not to smoke, swear or have sex before marriage.

What other misperceptions exist about what a Christian is?

There are lots of misperceptions about what Christians believe about the future, too.

For example, many people think that when we die, God weighs up the good things that we did, and as long as there’s more of them that the bad, we get the thumbs up for heaven. I think this misperception is far more common than we realise – and the consequences are eternal.

People who hold these misunderstandings aren’t to blame. It’s just a reflection on a society that is increasingly less ‘churched’ and ‘Bibled’ as the years roll on. And perhaps a church that isn’t doing so well at connecting with people who are less ‘churched’ and ‘Bibled’.

Sadly, I don’t think we invest enough time or energy in being accessible to those who find the church and Christian teaching to be an entirely foreign concept.

However, it is our responsibility, as Christians and churches, to explain the basics in language that people with no knowledge can understand.

If we want to see our churches filled with people who don’t know Jesus, we need to pray for this, and then remove whatever barriers we can to their connection with us. This isn’t about watering down teaching – most people won’t even get the chance to hear the Bible’s teaching, because of their misperpections about the church that prevent them from even considering walking in the front door of a weekend gathering.

We need to realise that the very basic concepts of what we believe aren’t universally understood anymore.

For example, we need to realise that many people might not even think that they’re welcome to visit unless they already are a Christian! We assume that people know they’re welcome – they don’t.

This is why I’ve been brainstorming content for posters for our noticeboard, and thinking about the questions people might have before visiting church for the first time.

I want to make sure that we communicate with people as effectively as possible that they are welcome and that we’d love to meet them and introduce them to Jesus.

  • http://arthurandtamie.wordpress.com Arthur

    I wonder if the greatest misperception is that Christians aren’t normal people. Christians are “other”, not “people like me”.

    As long as Christians don’t have outsider friends, outsiders are liable to believe any number of strange things about Christians and Christianity: that Christians are uptight or boring or fanatical or unthinking; that Christianity is dry or controlling or credulous or irrelevant.

    In other words, the concepts aren’t understood because we who own the concepts remain unknown.

    So, is this a question of friendship circles and community boundaries as much as a question of explanation?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1199898011 Sean Boucher

    Brilliant article, it inspired me to blog on wec.com.au – http://wec.com.au/blog/seanb/lies !

  • http://www.communicatejesus.com Steven Kryger

    Interestingly, tonight before church a woman walked past. She was interested in coming to church tomorrow, but wondered if she needed to get a ticket. She also wondered if she could sit anywhere, or if there were reserved seats.

  • http://apologies.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/donkeys-in-the-church/ Donkeys in the Church « God Is My Constant

    [...] read this on the Communicate Jesus website recently and it struck a chord: We need to realise that the very basic concepts of what we believe [...]