Uncool People Need Jesus Too (Bill Streger)

Wow, I always kinda suspected this but was never able to put it into words. Here is one of my problems with the whole Acts 29 thing (Depending on how you define Acts 29)...maybe its because I'm not a cool guy and I'm bitter, or maybe I'm to "religious" or whatever that means this week. I just thought this post was right on the money. I just don't like it when a church tailors to one kind or perceived segment of society, when they are pursuing the wrong kind of person in society. They should be finding the lost sheep that Christ died for. I know many are, I'm not saying they are, but when churches spend so much time trying to be cool, not in a stupid seeker sensitive way, but in a sophisticated naturally relevant way, they end up attracting one element of society. I don't want one element of society in my church. I don't want church that is only full of men in skinny jeans (I'm sorry i am not relevant enough to know the proper female equivalent to the guy in skinny jeans).
This goes for you too, churches that only strive for one ethnic group. African American and Asian American churches as i see it are the most flagrant offenders in this category, but I'm sure there are others. I want a church full of Black people, and Asian people, and Mexican People, and Arab or Indian people (especially if we have some native Americans as well), divorced women with 3 kids in her 50's, single women in their teens and early 20's, young men who are in college, old men who are in college, anyone over 70, and every segment of society i can think of. And yes...Even guys in skinny jeans and the appropriate female equivalent. The way to do that is not focus on being cool. I know that's a generalization, I know they don't focus on being cool, they do focus on the Gospel and the doctrines of Grace. I mean in their orthopraxy, not their orthodoxy.
Church is a little slice of what heaven will be like. Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, man and woman, and all the nations of the world singing praises and worshiping God our Father in Spirit and Truth. I think its much harder to do that when we exude cool. I don't want anything to do with the coolness of the world. I want EVERYTHING to do with the Glory of God...So please read, and comments will be welcomed for conversation.

the original post may be found HERE


Uncool People Need Jesus Too

Through my work with the Acts 29 Network, I get the privilege of assessing a number of potential church planters each year. I also get to hear about dozens more from fellow pastors as well. When I guy comes in to get assessed, by the time he gets to the interview stage he’s already submitted a lot of paperwork. Resumes. Plans. Budgets. Demographic Analysis. Dental history. (Ok, just kidding on the last one).

And as I’ve looked at some amazing plans from church planters, I’ve started to notice a trend. They all sound the same.

It seems as the unique vision that God’s given so many church planters is almost identical. Phrases like “gospel-centered”, “missional”, and “cultural renewal” are littered throughout their proposals. It seems that the phrase “In the City. For the City.” or some variation of such has become church planting boilerplate.

Not only is the language the same, but so is the target group. It’s amazing how many young pastors feel that they are distinctly called to reach the upwardly-mobile, young, culture-shaping professionals and artists. Can we just be honest? Young, upper-middle-class urban professionals have become the new “Saddleback Sam”.

Seriously, this is literally the only group I see proposals for. I have yet to assess a church planter who wants to move to a declining, smaller city and reach out to blue collar factory workers, mechanics, or construction crews. Not one with an evangelsitic strategy to go after the 50-something administrative assistant who’s been working at the same low-paying insurance firm for three decades now.

Why is that? I can’t offer a definitive answer. It could be that God is legitimately calling an entire generation of young pastors to turn their focus to a small segment of the population that happens to look very much like they do.

Or it could be that we’re simply following in the footsteps of the church growth movement that we’ve loved to publically criticize while privately trying to emulate – we’ve just replaced Bill Hybels and Rick Warren with Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll.

Just thinking out loud…